By James R. Carroll
jcarroll@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Following orders

You may recall that Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., last year put language in an emergency spending bill telling the Pentagon it must use the money Congress gave it for the chemical weapons disposal program and nothing else.

This was an issue because Defense Department officials at one point early last year wanted to slow down work on chemical weapons disposal at the Blue Grass Army Depot and a similar site in Colorado.

Now, as the McConnell provision also directed, the Government Accountability Office is keeping tabs on how well the Pentagon is complying. The GAO recently reported that the Pentagon has committed $103 million for the Kentucky and Colorado sites.

"Furthermore, we have no impoundment of funds occurring," GAO General Counsel Anthony Gamboa wrote to McConnell.