[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 28, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H2379]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 IN SUPPORT OF FORT McCLELLAN, ALABAMA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Alabama [Mr. Browder] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWDER. Mr. Speaker, I know something about chemical warfare. I 
represent Fort McClellan, AL, home of the chemical school that trains 
our Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine personnel at the only live agent 
chemical defense facility in the free world.
  I represent Anniston Army Depot, home of a huge stockpile of 
dangerous deteriorating chemical weapons which pose a threat to more 
than 100,000 civilians who live or work in the impact zone of those 
weapons.
  I serve on the House Committee on National Security as a specialist 
on chemical warfare, chemical weapons, and chemical defense.

                              {time}  2030

  I chaired a congressional study of the chemical weapons threat and 
what our country needs to do to counter that threat.
  I have worked with the administration at home and abroad to 
facilitate progress on the Chemical Weapons Convention which would ban 
chemical weapons and the Bilateral Destruction Agreement which commits 
the United States and Russia to destroy our huge stockpile of old 
chemical weapons.
  I have worked with the Chemical Weapons Convention Preparatory 
Commission at The Hague to support implementation of the Chemical 
Weapons Convention and the Bilateral Destruction Agreement.
  I have traveled to Russia several times to monitor their chemical 
weapons and help military and civilian leaders meet the requirements of 
the Chemical Weapons Convention and Bilateral Destruction Agreement.
  To repeat, I know something about chemical warfare. And Mr. Speaker, 
I tell you that to demonstrate that while what I am about to say 
involves my own congressional constituency, my outrage goes beyond 
parochialism to our national and international security.
  I am convinced that Secretary of Defense William Perry's 
recommendation to the Base Realignment and Closure [BRAC] Commission--
specifically the proposal to close Fort McClellan, AL--is a mistake 
with significant and dangerous ramifications.
  With this recommendation, the Pentagon jeopardizes the American 
soldier's ability to survive chemical warfare, breaks faith with the 
100,000 Alabamians at risk from their neighboring stockpile of aging 
chemical weapons, and seriously undermines the Chemical Weapons 
Convention and Bilateral Destruction Agreement.
  Mr. Speaker, time does not allow me to go into this discussion any 
further tonight but I will return for other special orders on other 
nights to point out what is wrong with this recommendation, and why it 
is significant, and dangerous for our world, and I will return to 
detail what I intend to do to correct this situation.


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