138th Year... and still on the job!	Wednesday April 26, 2006

Colorado's senators want their colleagues to go on the record asking that the nation meet its treaty obligations and destroy chemical weapons stockpiles by 2012.

On Tuesday, Republican Sen. Wayne Allard and Democrat Ken Salazar introduced a Sense of the Senate resolution that also urges the secretary of defense to provide Congress with a comprehensive schedule for the safe destruction of the U.S. chemical weapons stockpiles, part of which is stored at the Pueblo Chemical Weapons Depot.

Two weeks ago, Congress was told by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that the work was too far behind schedule to meet the 2012 deadline, but Allard complained then that delays were the Pentagon's own fault and that he was concerned that the secretary's warning might lead to even more delays in the Pueblo program.

Salazar said Tuesday, "The people of Pueblo deserve to have this project completed as quickly as possible. I offered this resolution to ensure that the Department of Defense does not lose sight of their goals to meet their 2012 deadline. While I understand that deadline will be missed, that does not mean that the eventual destruction of all the weapons at the Pueblo Chemical Weapons Depot should become less of a priority."

Allard added, "We want to ensure that the Department of Defense keeps focused on chemical weapons demilitarization, and the deadline the United States agreed to in 1993 when the treaty was approved. This measure also makes it clear that Congress expects the department to provide a detailed schedule for the work and the completion of these projects."

Referring to Rumsfeld's letter, he said, "This is simply not acceptable. Congress is committed to continuing and completing these projects on schedule. The Department of Defense should be, as well."

"The U.S. must remain accountable for the promise - under the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty - it made to clean up Pueblo Chemical," Salazar added. "The people of Pueblo deserve no less."