The U.S. Senate passed a spending package yesterday that includes provisions blocking the Pentagon from redirecting any money earmarked for chemical weapons disposal at Blue Grass Army Depot.

The package includes $82 billion for Iraq, Afghanistan and the global fight against terrorism. The House approved the measure last week. It now goes to President Bush for his signature, which is certain.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., tacked on the provision, which is designed to ensure that chemical weapons stockpiles in Madison County and in Pueblo Colo., are destroyed without further delays.

The measure ensures that $813.4 million appropriated to the two sites in previous budgets will not be transferred elsewhere.

It also requires the Defense Department to spend at least $100 million at those sites within four months of the bill's enactment and to provide Congress with a bimonthly accounting of spending at the sites.

"This is great news for the citizens of Madison County, and I am proud to have led the effort to make it happen,"-McConnell said.

Under an international treaty ratified by the Senate in 1997, the weapons stockpiled at eight sites across the country must be destroyed by 2012.

Meanwhile, two congressmen have written a letter to the Pentagon requesting information about a proposal to move the agency that oversees the two states' chemical destruction programs.

In the May 4 letter, U.S. Reps. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, and John Salazar of Colorado asked what the impact on the programs would be if the agency is moved from the defense secretary's office to an Army agency.

"While we understand there may be benefits to moving the program, we are concerned about how this may impact the future of the two facilities," they wrote.