136th Year... and still on the job!	Thursday May 12, 2005

FINALLY, WE should soon see some real action on the job of destroying mustard gas munitions at Pueblo Chemical Depot.

The U.S. Senate gave final congressional approval of an $82 billion supplemental budget bill this week that includes $327 million, plus tough language requiring the Pentagon to destroy the weapons at Pueblo and the Blue Grass Chemical Depot in Kentucky. The vote to approve was 100-0.

With anticipation that President Bush will sign the legislation, the main portion of which funds the war on terrorism, the Senate vote should finally put the Army on notice that it must proceed with the demilitarization projects now, not some time in the far off future. The demil provision was co-sponsored by Colorado Sens. Wayne Allard and Ken Salazar and Rep. John Salazar.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Allard was able to trump the several-year Army stall by putting specific language in the legislation requiring the Army to spend the previously budgeted money on the chemical weapons projects. Specifically, the Army will have 120 days to commit the first $100 million to work at both sites.

“We have, in effect, engraved this in stone,” said Sen. Allard, who was a member of the House-Senate conference committee that finalized the bill and ensured that the language stayed in the legislation. The bill also forbids, by law, any consideration of moving the chemical weapons out of Pueblo for disposal.

Additionally, it directs the Department of Defense to begin contracting for disposal of the chemical weapons on site. “Now that this bill is law, there is no way the department can misconstrue or second-guess Congress’ intent,” Sen. Allard said.

The bill also forbids the expenditure of the funding provided for Pueblo and Blue Grass on any other program, and it specifically forbids any expenditure whatsoever, either directly or indirectly, on any study related to the transportation of chemical weapons across state lines.

Sen. Allard said after the final passage that it was his hope that the Pueblo Depot cleanup project will now move forward toward meeting the 2012 Chemical Weapons Convention treaty deadline. As a result, the project will be an economic shot in the arm for Pueblo.

We applaud the work by Sens. Allard and Salazar and Rep. Salazar. We also appreciate Sen. Allard’s political savvy in crafting this legislation to unequivocally give the Army its marching orders.