Addition to war spending bill raises questions

WASHINGTON -- The House Appropriations Committee has added $20 million to the supplemental war spending bill to bail out a privately built brain injury treatment center for U.S. troops after the facility's supporters gave almost $100,000 in campaign contributions to the panel's senior Republican, according to federal records and interviews.

Backers of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence said they would use only private donations to build a $60 million facility to treat and rehabilitate troops at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The cost of the project, which would be turned over to the government, included $20 million for special imaging equipment.

However, the organization building the center, the non-profit Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund led by New York real estate developer and philanthropist Arnold Fisher, failed to meet its fundraising goals. Fisher blames this on the economic downturn.

On Feb. 4, with deadlines for new construction and equipment purchases approaching, Fisher met with Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Florida, the top Republican on the subcommittee that writes the defense budget, say Fisher and Young spokesman Harry Glenn.

Federal campaign-finance records show that Fisher, members of his family, board members of the Intrepid center and the affiliated Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York and business associates had donated at least $99,000 to Young's re-election campaign last June and August, shortly after the ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony in Bethesda.

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Fisher says he and his associates donated to Young because he supports the military and veterans. "I don't want it to sound like I have bribed a government official," Fisher says. "That's not the case. "

Veterans groups, such as the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, also wanted the project. "It is something that should be built ASAP," says Paul Rieckhoff, the group's founder and executive director.

Now, however, Fisher says the government money may not be needed after all. He told USA TODAY he had since raised all but $4 million of the total amount needed to complete the center.