138th Year... and still on the job!	Wednesday July 19, 2006

Senate bill restores chem demil funding

By JOHN NORTON

THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

A Senate panel has included the $40 million for chemical demilitarization slashed from the House version of next year’Äôs military construction appropriations bill, according to Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo.

Allard, a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, said Tuesday that he has restored $40 million in the Senate version of the bill.

The House bill, passed earlier this year, cut a vital amount of money from programs at the Pueblo Chemical Depot and the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, locations of chemical weapons stockpiles due to be destroyed.

Allard said that a total of $140.9 million was provided in the Senate version. Of that amount, $41.8 million was provided for the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant and $99.1 million for the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.

"I am pleased that my colleagues on the Senate Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee recognized the importance of this program to the people of Colorado and to the nation," Allard said. "Full funding of this program was absolutely necessary if we were to continue to move forward in destroying the hundreds of thousands of aging chemical weapons stored at Pueblo."

Regarding the House version, Allard said, "In my view, cutting the funding to this program was irresponsible. It was a penny-wise, pound foolish decision. Such cuts would set the program back at least a year and add as much as $190 million to the program life cycle costs."

The Senate and House are expected to meet to put together a final version of the bills in early September and Allard is expected to be named a conferee.