136th Year... and still on the job!	Friday April 29, 2005

Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., said Thursday that he received assurances from President Bush's nominee for the job that includes overseeing the destruction of weapons at the Pueblo Chemical Depot that the program would go on as Congress has directed.

Allard met with Kenneth Krieg, expected to replace Michael Wynn as undersecretary of defense for acquisitions and logistics in the Department of Defense.

That job includes supervising the destruction of chemical weapons.

On Wednesday, Allard said that he was considering putting a hold on Krieg’s nomination until he could determine that Krieg is committed to going forward with the Pueblo Depot chemical weapons cleanup in the manner prescribed by Congress.

“I am pleased to report that Mr. Krieg gave me his personal assurances that the program will go forward as Congress has directed,” Allard said. “I see no reason at this time to delay his confirmation.”

Pentagon officials have resisted Congressional pressure to get the project moving, freezing funds and launching studies that could have led to cancelling the project here and trying to ship the weapons to an incinerator, even though federal law currently prohibits that.

Wynn freed this year's funds just before the Senate passed a supplemental budget resolution that included language authored by Allard and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., ordering him to do so.

After meeting with Krieg, Allard said, “He pledged that he would put together an action plan for moving forward with this program in a constructive manner. Clearly, he plans to follow the law, including not transporting the chemical weapons across state lines, and complying with the Chemical Weapons Convention.

“I also strongly encouraged him to visit Pueblo and meet with the local community and officials from the state of Colorado,” the senator said.

“I will be holding Krieg to his word,” Allard said.

Although the Senate Armed Services Committee has conducted a hearing regarding the Krieg nomination, no date has been set for a committee vote on his nomination.