VA spends $20 million on art, $670,000 for the blind

The Washington Examiner
Paul Bedard
August 5, 2016

Sen. Chuck Grassley, the leading taxpayer watchdog in Congress, revealed Friday that the Veterans Administration has spent $20 million on art since 2004 — $16 million during the Obama years — even as it was cutting services to war veterans.

The Iowa senator said that over half a million was spent for artwork at a rehabilitation center for the blind.

Grassley said he is demanding that the VA explain the purchases which came a time when service to veterans was backing up due to a lack of money for facilities and doctors.

“The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was created with the aim of caring for those who have served to protect the United States, by honoring their faithful service and providing healthcare for the injuries sustained in that service. The funds that are given to the VA are intended to further this goal and ensure that our nation’s veterans are properly taken care of,” Grassley wrote to Secretary Robert A. McDonald.

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