for more information contact:
Craig Williams (859)986-7565
for immediate release: Wednesday May 9, 2001
Today U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered a strongly-worded letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, calling for cooperation between the Pentagon and Congress to restructure the Army's Chemical Weapons Disposal Program. This comes only two weeks after Hearings were held by the powerful Senate Defense Appropriations, on which Senator McConnell serves, to look into problems inside the agency.
In his letter, McConnell expressed his "frustration with the alarming lack of oversight and accountability" of the disposal program and he accused the Army of "providing misleading testimony and ignoring the concerns raised by citizens who are directly impacted by this program." McConnell cites the "obfuscation" by the Army in their response to documents presented to the Committee by the Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG). The internal documents show that information concerning the program's cost and schedule presented to the communities and Congress was knowingly underestimated by the Army and they reflect major technical and management problems.
McConnell's letter reads, "Hundreds of thousands of citizens live in the immediate danger zone around these weapons. This is not the kind of program that should be run with an emphasis on public relations in lieu of safety and candor - too much is at stake."
Craig Williams, Director of the CWWG who presented the internal documents to the Committee, agrees with McConnell. "This program has developed a mindset that places image over safety," he said. "They are more concerned with 'selling' the program than in telling the truth, and when you're dealing with the most lethal chemicals on the planet, that approach is dangerous and unacceptable."
The internal Army documents presented to the Committee show that the Army knows it's weapons disposal program is projected to cost $10 billion more and take about 9 years longer to complete than the Army has admitted to impacted communities. The Army claims the documents were written to present a "worst-case scenario" and the CWWG misused them. Williams disagrees. "We caught them with their own documents," he said. "Now the public relations team steps in with their 'spin' in an effort to protect the program's image - refuting what their own analysis says. It's time to make the changes Senator McConnell is calling for - this program's broke, so let's fix it."
Copies of Senator McConnell's letter are available from the
CWWG office or at <www.cwwg.org>.
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