Mr. President, I rise today to discuss an issue of considerable importance to the people of Southeastern Colorado.
    
For nearly 50 years the people of Southeastern Colorado have lived with the knowledge that within a few miles of their homes, schools, and places of business lies one of the largest stockpiles of chemical munitions in the world.  The Pueblo Chemical Depot was built during World War II and continues to this day to serve as a ammunition and material storage facility.  Since the mid-1990s, the primary mission of the depot has been to protect the 780,000 chemical weapons being stored there.  
    
As required by the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Department of Defense in 1997 launched on an aggressive program to dismantle the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile.  The program has since repeatedly stumbled and has not met the expectations of international community, Congress, and most importantly, the people who live near these stockpiles.  
    
The costs of the program have risen from $15 billion in 1997 to $24 billion in 2001, an increase of $9 billion in four years.  Some have estimated that the program will cost as much as $30 billion by the time it is completed.    
    
The time schedule has experienced unconscionable delays.  Last year, the clean-up at Pueblo was expected to be completed by 2011.  The Department’s latest budget decision has pushed date all the way back to 2021, nine years after the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty deadline.
 
Numerous safety incidents have occurred at operational sites, shutting down one facility for nine months.  Poor contracting has resulted in the shutting down of another facility, which is now costing the federal government $300,000 a day to keep operationally ready.  It was hardly a surprise then when the President’s own management assessment last year labeled this program as being ineffective.  
    
On top of these numerous problems, the Department of Defense has failed to fully communicate its intentions to either Congress or the local community.  Last week  for instance, Senator Salazar, my colleague from Colorado, and I met with two Department of Defense officials to discuss this program.  
    
At that meeting, we requested that the Defense Department answer some questions and were promised a written response from UnderSecretary of Defense Michael Wynne within three days.   That meeting was held over a week ago and we have yet to receive a response.  
    
At least we in Congress can get a meeting.  Members of the local community in Pueblo, Colorado have been trying to get an official from the Defense Department to meet with them to discuss the Pentagon’s plans for weeks.  Despite the fact that the Defense Department is trying to unilaterally shut down the design work at Pueblo, the Pentagon has not taken the time to meet with the residents who, if the Pentagon gets its way, will be forced to live for another 15 years near an aging stockpile housing three-quarters of a million chemical weapons.
    
The latest and most frustrating Pentagon effort in this program is to study once again the possibility of transporting the 2,600 tons of mustard gas across the state of Colorado to an incineration site out of state.  Nevermind that this option has been studied at least three times in the past decade.   Nevermind that current law prohibits the transport of chemical munitions across state lines.       And, nevermind that transporting these weapons out of state would violate the agreement the Defense Department made with people in Pueblo.  
This study is unnecessary and waste of taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars.   I have already been told by Pentagon officials that the study is going to conclude that the transportation of chemical munitions across state lines is not practical.  If that is the case, why do the study?  Why waste $150,000 to study the feasibility of an option that is against the law and has already been determined by the Pentagon to be impractical.  With the Department wasting money on meaningless studies, it’s no wonder that this program is over-budget and behind schedule.  

I think it is time we took a stand against the Pentagon’s wasteful actions.  Therefore, I am introducing legislation today that will stop this study and force the Department of Defense to recognize that the only option for destroying its chemical munitions is to build a disposal site in Pueblo.   
    
I am pleased to announce that my colleague from Colorado, Senator Ken Salazar, has agreed to co-sponsor.   Senator Mitch McConnell, Senator Bunning, and Senator Shelby have also agreed to cosponsor.   We should not forget that Senator McConnell, in particular, has been fighting the Department on this issue for over a decade.  In many respects, Senator McConnell’s hard work has paved the way for the legislation I am introducing today.
    
I urge my other colleagues to join us in putting the Department on notice that this kind of wasteful, meaningless efforts will not be tolerated.  

Mr. President, I believe it is time that the Pentagon took a good long look at its chemical demilitarization program.   Our country cannot afford to throw away our scarce defense dollars into a program that continues to be so incredibly mis-managed.  
    
Nor should our nation’s diplomats be put in the position of having to explain why we can’t meet our treaty obligations to the likes of China, Iran, or France.   Most importantly, we cannot forget that thousands of innocent Americans continue to live near these sites.  They bear the burden of the Pentagon’s mis-management.  It is not fair to them when all they have asked for is that these munitions to be cleaned up in a manner that is safe and does not harm the environment.

Thank you, Mr. President.  I yield the floor.