138th Year... and still on the job!	Thursday July 12, 2007

Senators propose more money to chem demil


By JOHN NORTON
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAN

Expressing weariness over the delays in destroying chemical weapons in their states, U.S. senators from Colorado and Kentucky want the jobs done by 2017 and are willing to provide the funding to accomplish the task.

Sens. Wayne Allard, R-Colo. and Ken Salazar, D-Colo., along with Kentucky Republicans Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning this week filed an amendment to the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill setting a deadline for the two projects, providing additional money and requiring twice-yearly updates from the Pentagon.

Under the Defense Department's current timeline, work is not expected to be done until 2021 and 2023 in Kentucky, well past the 2012 deadline in the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty mandating destruction.

Both projects are run by the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative project, which has seen repeated delays while the Army's Chemical Materials Agency has proceeded with incineration and neutralization projects in other states.

Speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday evening, McConnell, the Senate minority leader, told his colleagues, "If you want something done right, do it yourself."

He charged that "forces buried deep within the DOD bureaucracy have dragged their feet."

"Thanks to years of delay and mismanagement, last year the Defense Department formally notified Congress that it could not meet its deadline," McConnell said.

He said that the Defense Department repeatedly had failed to request sufficient funds for the projects.

The amendment, he said, "will send a message that this Congress has enough of their pigheaded stubbornness on this issue."

The current funding stream, $150 million annually for each project, he said, would cost the taxpayers $3.3 billion more than if the the work were accelerated and finished by 2017.

McConnell also said that it was a security issue. Not only are the stockpiles a threat domestically, he said, but American delays make it difficult to prod Russia to destroy its stockpiles, which he said were more difficult to protect from terrorists.
Allard said that the amendment was straightforward. Accusing the Defense Department of pitting one facility against another, he said that the programs in Kentucky and Colorado had been delayed so others could advance.

Allard said, "The Department of Defense consistently has failed to provide sufficient funding for this program, and thus delayed the destruction of chemical weapons on site. Only by mandating a legally binding date will the DOD make chemical demilitarization at Pueblo a top priority and finally fulfill their promise to the Pueblo community."

Salazar added, "The Defense Department has taken way too much time to complete the tasks it was assigned, and agreed to complete, at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. The residents of Pueblo deserve to know that they are safe from the dangerous weapons stored there and that there is a clear and concise plan for completion."

Speaking to the Senate, Salazar said, "Every year, we have to come into this chamber and fight to put money back into the Assembled Chemical Weapons program."

While glad to see some earth-moving work under way in Pueblo, Salazar said, "Continued underfunding is preventing construction from moving along as it should. It is no secret that DOD is going to miss the 2012 deadline for weapons destruction at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. That is what happens when you drag your feet. With sufficient funding they could complete the work five years earlier."

The Pueblo Chemical Depot houses artillery shells and mortar rounds containing 2,611 tons of mustard agent. Kentucky's Blue Grass Army Depot holds both mustard and nerve agent weapons.

The amendment would provide an additional $32 million for military construction at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. That money would allow the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative project to construct buildings for weapons disassembly, water neutralization and support processes. It would raise the total funding for Pueblo Chemical Depot for fiscal year 2008 to $67 million for building construction and $132.4 million for acquiring weapon destruction equipment.

The amendment also sets a hard deadline of 2017 for destruction of the weapons if the Department of Defense fails to meet the treaty deadline of 2012 as currently required.

It also sets benchmarks for progress and requires the secretary of defense to report to Congress every 180 days on the progress in complying with the 2017 deadline.

The Senate is expected to continue work on the fiscal year 2008 Department of Defense Authorization bill through the end of next week.

On the House side, U.S. Rep. John Salazar thanked his brother and the other senators for their amendment.

"Holding the Department of Defense accountable and demanding a deadline for destroying the weapons stockpile will help protect local communities living near the Pueblo Chemical Depot," he said. "I commend our senators for moving swiftly on this serious issue."