08.02.25

Hoeven: Senate Approves Funding for North Dakota Military Construction, Veteran Priorities

Includes Hoeven Provisions to Advance Nuclear Modernization & Guard Facilities, Improve VA Health Care and Veterans Cemeteries

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement after the Senate approved key priorities to strengthen North Dakota’s military missions and provide the state’s veterans with the health care, benefits and recognition they have earned. Hoeven successfully included provisions in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (Milcon-VA) funding bill to:

  • Advance nuclear modernization at the Minot Air Force Base. Hoeven included measures in the bill directing the Air Force to prioritize and fund security enhancements at Minot Air Force Base’s existing Weapons Storage Area, and develop a plan, including a construction timeline for Sentinel launch facilities that incorporates concurrent construction at all three missile bases.
  • Benefit the North Dakota National Guard:
    • $1.5 million in additional funding for the North Dakota National Guard’s Jamestown Readiness Center.
    • Hoeven-provision to ensure the Army National Guard meets lodging needs at facilities like Camp Grafton’s Regional Training Institute.
      • The housing project is currently in the planning and design phase, supported by $2 million in funding Hoeven secured in FY2024.

Veterans Affairs

  • Support the construction of additional infrastructure at Rural Initiative national cemeteries, like the Fargo National Cemetery (FNC) and ensure the VA prioritizes investments that involve state and local contributions, similar to the Veterans Memorial Center being advanced by the Hoeven-led FNC working group.
  • Improve veteran access to long-term care by recruiting and retaining more partners and pressing the VA to work toward permanently exempting providers from onerous contracting requirements at the Department of Labor.
  • Expand access to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) by encouraging the VA to continue researching the therapy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress (PTS) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), while permitting case-by-case referrals for HBOT through VA Community Care.

“We secured provisions in this bill to keep our nuclear modernization efforts on track for Minot Air Force Base and to advance the construction of Guard facilities in Jamestown and at Camp Grafton,” said Hoeven. “This legislation also helps keep our promise to care for and honor our veterans with our provisions to keep the momentum going to construct infrastructure at the Fargo National Cemetery, and improve veteran access to critically-needed health care services, like long-term care and HBOT.”

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