[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 14 (Tuesday, February 15, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H415-H416]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           LIVE FIRE MILITARY TRAINING ON PUERTO RICAN ISLAND

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, a tragedy has recently occurred in the 
defense of our Nation and the protection of the men and women who serve 
in its defense. Specifically, we sent our USS Bataan Amphibious Ready 
Group, with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked, into a high 
threat area without the proper training and instruction required. The 
frustrating point about it was the training was available, planned and 
scheduled. But due to political considerations, it was canceled, 
leaving our Marines and sailors vulnerable and frankly unprepared.
  I am speaking about Vieques, a tiny island that is part of the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that the Department of the Navy has been 
using since 1950 as a live fire bombing range. The range provides the 
ability for the Navy and Marine Corps to conduct simulated amphibious 
landing operations while using combined arms of artillery, naval 
gunfire, and close air support. It serves as the culminating exercise 
for a series of workups that the ARG goes through prior to deploying to 
the Mediterranean for a 6-month cruise. Vieques is a unique training 
site. It is the only facility on the East Coast with unfettered air and 
sea space, deep water access, amphibious landing beaches, nearby 
military ports and airfields, and the capability to support live naval 
gunfire operations. Additionally, it allows the Navy and Marine Corps 
to conduct amphibious combined arms training, Naval surface fire 
support training, end-to-end strike training and high altitude air 
tactics. Our Marines and sailors are combat ready for all contingencies 
because of the realistic live fire training afforded by Vieques. The 
current situation on Vieques where the President ordered a cease to all 
operations on the range initially and has since worked out a ``deal'' 
with the Governor of Puerto Rico where inert ordnance vice live 
ordnance will be used turns this into a readiness issue. If our Marines 
and sailors cannot train, they will not be ready. We send them to 
hostile areas to protect a presence, show the Flag, with the 
understanding that if crises should arise, they will be prepared to 
quell it. I am here to report that we have dictated a mission that 
cannot be accomplished. Yet the solution is simple. Open the Vieques 
range to live fire bombing, naval gunfire, and artillery.
  We allow live fire bombing in nearly every State of the union. Why 
would we stop bombing a commonwealth when bombs continue to be dropped 
and rounds fired in Utah, Nevada, California, Florida and other places? 
Might I add that these bombs and rounds are fired in closer proximity 
to our civilian population, more so than on Vieques where there is a 
10-mile buffer zone.

[[Page H416]]

 The reason, I guess, is because there are no votes to be garnered by 
the Puerto Rican population in New York for not bombing those States. 
Think of the precedent we now set by compromising with officials from 
Puerto Rico. Closing Vieques could set off a host of issues in other 
countries as well as our own States where we currently conduct 
training. The net result is having a military that can put rounds on 
target in theory only. Without practical application, we put our forces 
in harm's way without even sending them to hostile areas. I do not 
think we should stand by and jeopardize our servicemen for someone 
else's political gain.
  There is no compromise when it comes to reopening Vieques. Opening 
the range as proposed for inert ordnance is not practical. More can be 
gained by conducting separate, compartmentalized exercises on ranges 
that accept live ordnance. Training with dud ordnance excludes 
artillery, mortars and direct fire weapons system as these systems 
either do not have inert ammunition available or insufficient 
quantities are on hand to conduct training. Limiting the range to inert 
ordnance denies the naval services from achieving essential live fire 
training and eliminates essential ``arms'' from the combined arms 
network that makes the Navy and Marine Corps so successful on the 
battlefield. Using live ordnance is the only way to simulate actual 
combat conditions. It instills confidence in our Marines and sailors on 
their procedures and equipment and validates every aspect of weapon 
employment. Without live fire training, the Navy-Marine team would 
deploy without having tested its ability to integrate, organize, 
execute and sustain high tempo combat operations with all weapons 
systems and live fire ordnance.

  Mr. Speaker, I cannot look myself in the mirror knowing that we have 
sent our troops out to do a job that we have not prepared them for when 
the tools to prepare them are in place and ready for use. Is it not 
unusual that the decision to end the live fire bombing rides on the 
coattails of the President's decision to grant clemency to convicted 
Puerto Rican terrorists? We can mask the reasons for the decision by 
saying that the bombing was stopped to prevent further casualties, but 
the real purpose seems to be political. Mr. Rodriguez was killed in a 
live fire accident several months ago in Vieques. However, his death is 
not justification to threaten several thousand of our military members 
by closing the range. If we stopped training every time we had a 
training casualty, we would never train.
  I implore my fellow Members of Congress to look at this situation 
carefully and apply some common sense. The encroachment of military 
training areas is alarmingly on the rise and this is another example. 
We must provide our military with the best possible facilities so they 
can be ready to respond to any contingency. This is proven in the 
recent events in Bosnia and East Timor where we called upon our service 
members and thrust them into hostile environments with the assumption 
that they were prepared and trained. Without Vieques, our naval forces 
are dealt a severe blow. With that, I make it a point to ensure that 
the island of Vieques is reopened indefinitely for live fire training 
with the intent that we provide our young men and women like those 
currently deployed with the USS Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and the 
22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit with the best possible training before 
sending them into harm's way.

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