for more information:
Craig Williams 859-986-7565 or
859-302-1103
for immediate release, Wednesday, November 16, 2005
McCONNELL'S EFFORTS CONTINUE
TO KEEP CW DISPOSAL ON TRACK
Pentagon Complies With Senator's
Directive to Obligate Funds to ACWA
The ongoing efforts of Senator Mitch McConnell to
ensure that Kentucky's chemical weapons disposal project stays on track have
resulted in another significant milestone.
Senator McConnell inserted language in the '05 Supplemental Defense Bill
requiring the Pentagon to release all previously appropriated ACWA funds
(>$370 million) and specifically to obligate not less than $100 million
of those funds to the ACWA program within 120 days of passage of the Bill.
ACWA (Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives) is the agency inside the Army
responsible for disposal of the chemical weapons stored in Kentucky and Colorado.
In a letter sent to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leadership
on 7 November, the Under Secretary of Defense certified that, as of that
date, over $110 million in previously frozen funds have been obligated to
the ACWA program.
The Pentagon's compliance with this directive assures continued progress
towards weapons disposal in Colorado and here in Kentucky.
Early in 2005 the Chemical Weapons Working Group revealed the Pentagon's
intentions to put the Kentucky disposal project in a "caretaker status" for
the next five years - leaving the munitions to sit with no funding for a
destruction facility. This proposal was soundly rejected by the communities
surrounding the stockpile and led to McConnell taking action.
"The level of attention to detail Senator McConnell has afforded Kentucky's
chemical weapons disposal program is astonishing," said Craig Williams, Director
of the Chemical Weapons Working Group. "Despite his grueling schedule as
Senate Majority Whip, he has not taken his eye off the ball for a second."
"Because of McConnell's diligence, Kentuckians will realize tangible progress
at the Blue Grass project in the upcoming months," said Williams.
--30-
A copy of the 7 November letter is available at <www.cwwg.org>.
