[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 111 (Thursday, September 5, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8305-S8306]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Kohl, 
        Mr. Reid, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Torricelli, and Mr. Jeffords):
  S. 2908. A bill to require the Secretary of Defense to establish at 
least one Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team in each State, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Armed Services.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today, I am introducing the Weapons of 
Mass Destruction Civil Support Act of 2002. This bill would require the 
Secretary of Defense to establish at least one Weapons of Mass 
Destruction Civil Support Team, WMD-CST, in each State by September 30, 
2003. The cost of establishing, training, equipping, and operating 
these new teams would be paid for from existing fiscal year 2003 
resources, thus requiring no additional spending.
  I am pleased to be joined in this effort by Senators Leahy, 
Lieberman, Kohl, Reid of Nevada, Sarbanes, Torricelli, and Jeffords.
  WMD-CSTs are comprised of 22 full-time National Guard personnel who 
are specially trained and equipped to deploy and assess suspected 
nuclear, chemical, biological, or other threats

[[Page S8306]]

in support of local first responders. There are currently 32 full-time 
and 23 part-time WMD-CSTs across the country.
  The emerging chemical, biological, and other threats of the 21st 
century present new challenges to our military and to local first 
responders. The WMD-CSTs play a vital role in assisting local first 
responders in investigating and combating these new threats. The 
September 11 terrorist attacks emphasize the need to have full-time 
WMD-CSTs in each State. As the events of that day so clearly and 
tragically demonstrated, local first responders are on the front lines 
of combating terrorism and responding to other large-scale incidents. 
As we rethink the security needs of our country, we should support the 
creation of an additional 23 full-time WMD-CSTs as soon as possible. 
Establishing these additional full-time teams will improve the overall 
capability of Wisconsin and the other 18 States with part-time teams to 
prepare for and respond to potential threats in the future.
  According to the National Guard Bureau, WMD-CSTs performed 694 
operational missions between September 11, 2001, and August 26, 2002. 
These missions fall into three categories: ``response,'' ``standby,'' 
and ``assist.''
  Response missions occur when a team is deployed to sample a suspected 
or known hazardous substance. Since September 11, WMD-CSTs have 
deployed on 151 response missions, most of which were to investigate 
reports of suspicious white powder in the wake of the anthrax attacks 
of last fall. Other response missions included reports of the presence 
of unknown liquids or of suspicious pieces of mail.
  There have been 74 standby missions during this same time frame. On 
these missions, WMD-CSTs deploy to provide expertise to a specific 
community for the visit of a dignitary such as the President or a 
Governor, or for a large-scale event. In the past year, WMD-CSTs have 
been on standby for events including the Major League Baseball All-Star 
Game in Milwaukee, the 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Salt 
Lake City, the World Series, the Super Bowl, and Mardi Gras.
  Assist missions give WMD-CST members the opportunity to use their 
technical expertise to assist or provide advice to local first 
responders or other organizations and to participate in conferences and 
other events that focus on how to respond to attacks. In the past year, 
CSTs have performed 469 assist missions in support of local, State, and 
Federal agencies including law enforcement, hospitals, health 
departments, state emergency management agencies, the American Red 
Cross, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the United States Navy.
  As I noted earlier, a WMD-CST was deployed to be on standby during 
this year's baseball All-Star game, which took place in my home State. 
Because Wisconsin has only a part-time WMD-CST, the Minnesota team was 
deployed on a standby mission to Milwaukee for this event. The members 
of Wisconsin's part-time WMD-CST also participated in this deployment. 
According to the Wisconsin National Guard, if Wisconsin had a full-time 
team, deployment of the Minnesota team would not have been necessary.
  In light of the tragic events of September 11, the presence of at 
least one WMD-CST in each State is all the more imperative. These 
terrorist attacks, and the subsequent mobilization of tens of thousands 
of National Guardsmen and Reservists, also underscore the need to 
provide adequate resources for and to ensure full-time manning of the 
National Guard. As we move to establish at least one 22-member WMD-CST 
in each State, I call on the Pentagon to allocate the necessary 
resources to ensure adequate National Guard personnel end-strengths to 
provide for full-time manning and for the additional personnel 
necessary for these new teams.
  I am pleased that this bill is supported by the Wisconsin National 
Guard and by the National Guard Association of the United States.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:
       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Weapons of Mass Destruction 
     Civil Support Team Act of 2002''.

     SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF AT LEAST ONE WEAPONS OF MASS 
                   DESTRUCTION CIVIL SUPPORT TEAM IN EACH STATE.

       (a) Requirement.--The Secretary of Defense shall ensure 
     that there is established, by not later than September 30, 
     2003, at least one Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support 
     Team in each State.
       (b) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) The term ``Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support 
     Team'' means a team that--
       (A) provides support for emergency preparedness programs to 
     prepare for or to respond to any emergency involving the use 
     of a weapon of mass destruction (as defined in section 1403 
     of the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 
     1996 (50 U.S.C. 2302)); and
       (B) is composed of members of National Guard who are 
     performing duties as members of the team under the authority 
     of subsection (c) of section 12310 of title 10, United States 
     Code, while serving on active duty as described in subsection 
     (a) of such section or on full-time National Guard duty under 
     section 502(f) of title 32, United States Code.
       (2) The term ``State'' includes the District of Columbia, 
     Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam.
       (c) Funding.--The costs of establishing Weapons of Mass 
     Destruction Civil Support Teams to comply with the 
     requirement in subsection (a), and the costs of training and 
     equipping the teams established to comply with such 
     requirement, may be paid (to the extent properly allocable on 
     the bases of purpose and period of availability) out of funds 
     authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2003 for 
     purposes as follows:
       (1) For the Army, for--
       (A) military personnel;
       (B) operation and maintenance;
       (C) other procurement; or
       (D) military construction.
       (2) For the Air Force for military personnel.
       (3) For the Department of Defense for the chemical and 
     biological defense program.
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