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NEW CASTLE NEWS |
Published: June 29, 2006
Editorial:
McConnell to hold Bush to his promise
In an effort to
assure that
there are no further delays in plans to destroy chemical weapons stored
at the
Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County, in Colorado and elsewhere, an
amendment co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. and Ken
Salazar, D-Colo.,
has been approved by the full Senate.
The amendment,
which has been
added to the 2007 Defense Authorization Act, exhorts the Department of
Defense
to continue to make the destruction of the now-banned weapons a top
priority
and is the best way of assuring that there is no more foot-dragging by
the Bush
administration on plans to dispose of the weapons.
The Chemical
Weapons
Convention dictates that all signatory nations--of which the United
States is
one--destroy their chemical weapons by April 2012. However, DOD
notified
Congress in April that it would not be able to meet the deadline.
That's not
surprising. In
recent years, battles have raged over inadequate funding of the
disposal
program, especially in Kentucky and Colorado.
At times the
foot-dragging
has seemed intentional. After all, the Bush administration has made no
secret
that it prefers the less expensive option of transporting the chemical
weapons
to existing incinerators instead of building incinerators on site, the
plan
approved after years of debate. Some have speculated that by delaying
construction of the incinerators the administration may be attempting
to impose
its plan to transport the weapons to other incinerators in order to
meet the
2012 deadline.
That won't be
allowed to
happen, McConnell and Salazar promise. The amendment approved by the
Senate
Monday directs the secretary of defense to submit a comprehensive
schedule to
Congress annually and to make every effort to ensure adequate funding
to
complete the elimination of the United States stockpile. "...The Senate
will not
tolerate further delays in funding or schedules on this matter."
"I want DOD to know
that
I will continue to keep a close eye on its chemical weapons disposal
efforts,"
said McConnell. "The people of Madison County can rest assured that my
goal remains the same and that is to have the chemical agents at the
Blue Grass
Army Depot disposed of as safely and efficiently as possible."
That's the promise
made to
the people of central Kentucky and, despite the best efforts by the
Bush
administration to renege on it, it is a promise that Uncle Sam is
obligated to
keep.