Senator Warner traveled to Fort Belvoir today to receive an update from base commanders and officials from the Army Corps of Engineers on the BRAC-related base expansion and to tour the new hospital construction site.

In 2005, the Base Realignment Commission recommended the expansion of Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland and construction of a new medical facility at Belvoir to replace the aging Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

When the Belvoir project is completed in the Fall of 2011, an additional 20,000 personnel will be assigned to the base -- nearly double the current number of Belvoir personnel.

Today, Senator Warner was joined by Congressman Jim Moran to tour the new hospital site, which is now 50 percent complete.  

After touring the site, Senator Warner said:

Long term, this is going to save money and improve medical outcomes.  And I think that it's great that this most cutting-edge hospital perhaps in the whole military is being built right here in Virginia.

Senator Warner also highlighted the efforts he has made to relieve the impact of the base expansion on the civilian community.

Last December, he and Congressman Moran worked together to amend a military appropriations bill to include about $150 million specifically to address the significant traffic congestion issues that will be created along the Interstate 95/Route 1 corridor as a result of the expansion.