Good news from Congress is often hard to come by but the recent announcement from U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s office that a plan to modify the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center in Walla Walla into an outpatient clinic is no longer an option was a bright spot among the usual fare of depressing information that leaks from the nation’s capital.

Wyden said in a press release earlier this month that he “welcomed the news” that a group of bipartisan senators will block the plan originally configured by the veterans Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission. That plan would have shut down the 31-bed residential rehabilitation and treatment program and moved it to Spokane.

Wyden, in a recent town hall meeting, reported he’d heard from veterans about how the plan to turn the facility into an outpatient clinic would make a negative impact.

All the gratitude for the decision can’t rest with Wyden, of course, as a number of other prominent senators also chimed in to stop the plan from becoming a reality. Yet, Wyden’s influence was surely a factor and we thank the senator for that assistance.

The fact is the concept was a bankrupt one from the very beginning. Why the federal government would want to shortchange our veterans on any issue is not only a mystery but grossly unfair. Surely money had a lot to do with the decision. It is no secret the costs of the Veterans Administration continue to climb at an unprecedented rate. Taxpayers are ultimately billed for those costs, just like taxpayers end up footing the bill for any conflict the nation finds itself in.

Caring for our veterans is one of those unseen and often not talked about aspects of our foreign policy. When the call erupts across the nation to let slip the dogs of war, the upfront costs are always high. Yet when a conflict is over, those costs continue as the men and women who shouldered the burden need long-term, costly care.

We owe our veterans a great deal, including excellent health care. The fact the plan to turn the Walla Walla clinic into an outpatient center has been abandoned is good news.