(Tribute News Service) — The U.S. House of Representatives approved an amendment to a Pentagon spending bill to pave the way for a full-service Veterans Affairs hospital in New Hampshire on Wednesday.

Alaska is the only other state in the country without a VA hospital that has the full menu of inpatient and outpatient services for veterans.

“It is past time that we right this wrong and fill this gap,” Rep. Maggie Goodlander, who sponsored the amendment, said during House debate.

Goodlander is a former intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

An executive order issued by President Donald Trump on May 9 instructed the Department of Veterans Affairs to begin a feasibility study on expanding services to support a full-service medical center in New Hampshire within 30 days and submit an action plan to the president within 180 days.

The amendment states the House Armed Services Committee supports the feasibility study and looks forward to this development so that New Hampshire “is no longer the only state in the contiguous United States without such a center.”

Rep. Chris Pappas, who co-sponsored the amendment, proposed a bill last week with the backing of Goodlander and the state’s two U.S. senators to accomplish this objective.

“Our veterans have put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms, and they ought to receive the care and benefits they have earned after their service,” Pappas said in a statement. “I’m glad to see this amendment to put New Hampshire veterans on equal footing with those in other states pass the House.”

klandrigan@unionleader.com

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