for immediate release, Tuesday, January
25 , 2005
COLORADO SENATORS TO INTRODUCE
LEGISLATION BLOCKING STUDY OF TRANSPORTING CHEMICAL WEAPONS
Senators Allard (R-CO) and
Salazar (D-CO) call such a study,
"A meaningless intellectual exercise"
In what the Chemical Weapons Working Group is calling a"timely and appropriate
response to the Pentagon's continued pattern of misinformation and bungling
of priorities" two Senators from Colorado announced that they plan to introduce
legislation that would prohibit even studying transporting chemical weapons
across State lines.
In a press release earlier today, Senators Allard and Salazar clearly showed
disgust with being misled by Pentagon officials concerning transportation
of the Colorado weapons stockpiles. The press release also identified Kentucky
and Indiana as possible sites for shipment of these materials.
"It is extremely disturbing to me that the Pentagon would study the possibility
of relocating the Pueblo's chemical weapon stockpile after the Pentagon assured
Sen. Salazar and myself last week that such an option was unrealistic, not
to mention illegal," Sen. Allard said.
Salazar said ,"We believe we were given a good faith commitment last week
that the destruction of the weapons would continue at Pueblo ......and that
the munitions would not be transferred elsewhere,"
The press release then explained how, the next day, internal documents [made
public by the Chemical Weapons Working Group] proved those assurances to be
in direct conflict with Pentagon directives issued just days before by Deputy
Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, Patrick Wakefield..
As Denver Post editorial last week noted, "Pentagon official Patrick Wakefield
was supposed to send Allard and Salazar another memo explaining the contradiction
by Friday. He missed the deadline."
Williams said he wasn't surprised at Wakefield's foot-dragging and less
than honest communication with the Senators. "In 2001, after a Defense Appropriations
Hearing, Mr. Wakefield, then with the Army, provided Sen. McConnell's
(R-KY) office with misinformation on the cost and schedule of the disposal
program. McConnell had the Congressional Research Service do an independent
investigation of Wakefield's facts, which they found to be erroneous."
"This pattern, by Wakefield and others, of telling Congressional leaders
whatever fits their immediate agenda is dishonest and undermines the entire
U.S. effort to rid ourselves of these weapons," said Williams. "It's unfortunate
that, while so many dedicated individuals are trying their best to get a tough
job done, the leadership at the Pentagon continues to tarnish their efforts
by their less than candid representations."
The transportation option, which Senators Allard and Salazar seek to halt,
comes on the heels of other documents made public last week by the CWWG,
showing the Pentagon plans to gut the funding for disposal facilities in
both Colorado and Kentucky over the next five years,
--30--
All referenced documents are available upon
request from the CWWG.
