Published: September 29, 2006    08:56 am

Congress  restricts misuse of funding

Ronica Shannon
Register News Writer

Stakeholders in the demilitarization of weapons at the Blue Grass Army Depot and in Colorado will soon have no need to worry about the Pentagon's misuse of project funds.

A bill that includes Sen. Mitch McConnell's provision, which prevents ACWA (Assembled Chemical Weapons Altrnatives) funds from being diverted to non-ACWA sites, passed the Senate this week. The bill will now go to President Bush for his signature, according to a statement from McConnell's office.

The Pentagon had a billion dollars saved in preliminary construction for a chemical demilitarization facility at Blue Grass Army Depot, when it ordered a funding freeze in February 2005.

In March, an annual U.S. Senate Budget Committee report included language that emphatically told the Pentagon to stop studying alternatives to chemical weapons disposal projects at depots in Richmond and Pueblo, Colo. The report also told the Pentagon to free frozen funds appropriated for the projects.

Authored by Sens. Jim Bunning and Wayne Allard of Colorado, the report condemned the Pentagon's delays in Kentucky and Colorado and warned against continuing those tactics.

McConnell included a provision in the fiscal year 2005 Supplemental Appropriations Act to protect funds for the Blue Grass Army Depot. The provision ensured that the Department of Defense would not divert prior year ACWA money to other sites. It also forced the department to spend $100 million at the ACWA sites within four months.

"This is an insurance policy that will prevent the Pentagon from repeating what has been done in the past," said Craig Williams, director of the Berea-based Chemical Weapons Working Group. "What they've done in the past is take the money appropriated and spend it on another site. Our money is their favorite target to make up for short-falls elsewhere."

In addition to prohibiting any redistribution of funding, McConnell also was successful in securing the $215 million in funding for the ACWA program in the fiscal year 2007 Defense Appropriations Conference Report.

In addition to this funding, Sen. McConnell also obtained over $140 million for ACWA in the fiscal year 2007 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriatiions bill, which is expected to pass later this year -- bringing the total funding for the program this year to nearly $360 million.

"This funding will enable the ACWA program to continue its mission to safely eliminate the chemical weapons located at the Blue Grass Army Depot," McConnell said. "I want the people of Madison County to know that I am committed to ensuring that these weapons are disposed of in a safe and timely manner. Today's action takes us another step closer to that goal."

Last year, McConnell inserted a provision in an appropriations bill that prevented ACWA funds from being spent at other sites and forced DOD to begin spending funds for disposal efforts at Blue Grass and Pueblo. He also encourage DOD to request between $300 million and $400 million for ACWA in fiscual year 2007. The Department of Defense responded by requesting $350 million which was $317 million above their request last year.

"McConnell deserves credit for realizing that there needs to be something done to keep this from happening again," Williams said. "Once the bill is signed into law, that money is ours to move forward with this."

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.