After funding requested by U.S. Rep John Yarmuth (D-Louisville) for a new Veteran's Administration hospital was approved in a Senate subcommitee today, Yarmuth praised an unlikely ally on the other side of the aisle - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville).

"This is great news," said Yarmuth in a statement. "I was happy to have secured funding in the House for a new VA hospital in Louisville, and with the Senate now on board, we can confidently say that Louisville's veterans will have a new, state-of-the-art hospital very soon. I thank Senator McConnell for working with me to make sure that the veterans in our community get the care and treatment they deserve."

$75 million in funding for a hospital in Louisville - hometown to both Yarmuth and McConnell - was approved by the U.S. Senate subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, upon which McConnell sits.

Yarmuth had initially secured $45 million for the project in the House, but the amount passed by the Senate subcommittee was raised to "maximum the VA can obligate in 2009," according to a release from McConnell's Senate office.

“This is great news for the tens of thousands of veterans living in and around Louisville who rely on the VA for their health care needs,” said McConnell in the release. “This funding will not only help with the site selection and land acquisition, but it will also be used to begin the initial design phase of the new VA hospital, which will help ensure that America’s heroes receive the quality health care and other benefits they deserve.”

McConnell's work to increase the funding was also singled out by the ranking Republican on the subcommittee.

"I want to highlight the work of Senator McConnell. He has been tireless in his efforts to secure funding to establish a state-of-the-art VA hospital in Louisville," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.).

Despite working together on the hospital funding, McConnell and Yarmuth are on opposite sides of Kentucky's 2008 U.S. Senate race. In that competition, McConnell and is pitted against Louisville businessman and Democratic nominee Bruce Lunsford.

At a June rally organized by the Lunsford campaign, Yarmuth announced his intention to campaign for Lunsford "as much as he'll have me."