Senate Panels OK $360 Million
for KY & CO Chem
Demil
CHEMICAL
WEAPONS WORKING GROUP
128 Main
St. Berea KY 40403
859-986-9868
859-986-2695 (F)
www.cwwg.org kefcwwg@cwwg.org
for more
information contact:
Craig Williams
859-986-7565
859-302-1103
for immediate release, Tuesday,
July 18, 2006
SEN. McCONNELL
GETS SENATE PANELS TO OK $360 MILLION FOR KY & CO CHEM DEMIL
Provisions
Also Ensure Funds Won't Be Spent on Other Demil Sites
Two Senate Appropriations
Sub-Committees
have approved requests by KY Senator Mitch McConnell to fund chemical
weapons
disposal activities in Kentucky and Colorado, to the tune of $360
million in
Fiscal Year 2007. This represents
an increase of $327 million over the amount the Pentagon estimated they
would
request for 2007 just last year.
Pentagon plans to reduce
funding for CO
and KY to a mere $33 million each year for five years, beginning in
2007, were
revealed by the Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG) back in 2005.
Acting on
this information, and determining what level of funding would be
required to
adequately execute the program, McConnell wrote the Pentagon urging
they
increase their funding request for 2007 to between $300 and $400
million. The
Pentagon responded by requesting $350
million.
However, the House Military
Construction
Appropriations Sub-Committee proposed a $40 million cut out of the
military
construction portion that request.
In May 2006 CWWG first revealed
the House
Sub-Committee's $40 million budget cut.
Then in June, the CWWG released an internal Pentagon document
showing
this cut would wind up costing taxpayers an additional $220 million
over the
long term and, more importantly, add at least an additional year to the
disposal schedule in Colorado and Kentucky.
McConnell got the Senate
Military
Construction Sub-Committee to not only restore the $40 million, but add
an
additional $10 million to the construction budget for next year.
The total of $360 million in
Construction
and Research & Development funding will allow the Army and its
contractors
to continue ongoing construction activities and continue work on
facility
design, equipment testing and other activities associated with the
chemical
weapons disposal project.
McConnell also got provisions
accepted
requiring the 2007 funding for the Assembled Chemical Weapons
Alternatives
program (ACWA), the agency within the Defense Department responsible
for
chemical demilitarization at Kentucky and Colorado, not be spent at any
other
weapons stockpile sites. This
restriction was necessary because in previous years, funds appropriated
for
ACWA sites have been used to cover skyrocketing costs at other
locations.
In a statement released from
his office,
McConnell said, "This additional funding will help hasten the day when
Kentucky citizens no longer have to live with deadly chemical weapons
being
stored in their midst. I remain
committed to ensuring that these heinous weapons are disposed of as
safely and
quickly as possible."
CWWG Director Craig Williams,
said,
"We should all be thankful for the Senator's dedication on the chemical
weapons disposal issue. We have
consistently relied on him to represent the concerns of communities
affected by
these weapons and he has always delivered solid results."
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