Among those delivering remarks at the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s announcement on Wednesday was Brad Otten, West River representative for South Dakota Congresswoman Kristi Noem.

Otten read a letter written by Noem to Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), the Chairman of the House Committee of Veterans’ Affairs, and dated June 24, in which she formally requested a field hearing, at the Hot Springs VA Hospital.

“In the more than two years since the VA’s intended closure announcement,” Noem’s letter reads in part, “data discrepancies on VA information have yet to be reconciled and congressional requests for additional data and meets have gone unanswered. Many have also raised concerns about the systematic reduction of services provide at the hospital, which could later be used to justify closure.”

Noem’s letter coincides with a South Dakota American Legion Executive Committee resolution that also calls for a Congressional Hearing, to take place in Hot Springs, with the express purpose of determining the accuracy of the data being used to justify the closure of the Hot Springs VA hospital.

The resolution was passed at the S.D. American Legion state convention last weekend and has been forwarded for consideration at the National Legion convention in August.

“The VA has avoided answering critical questions and has failed to reconcile date with community statkeholders,” Noem wrote, “and has repeatedly disregarded the requests of the veterans it serves in South Dakota. I request the Chairman to hold a field hearing on the issue at the Hot Springs Veterans Affairs Hospital campus.

“Now is not the time to close the facilities that veterans rely on.”