[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 12, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H1778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CLEAN UP UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, it is interesting this week that there 
is a proposal from the administration brought forward to exempt the 
Department of Defense from a series of environmental regulations.
  Mr. Speaker, as somebody who has been working for the last 4 years to 
help the Department of Defense have the resources to clean up after 
itself with unexploded ordnance that is found in all 50 States, the UXO 
problem, slowly we are making progress, but it is a problem that 
Congress has not been providing clear direction to the Department of 
Defense or resources to clean up after itself.
  Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely the wrong message for us to be 
delivering to the Department of Defense at this point. What we ought to 
be doing, rather than providing short circuits for environmental 
protection, we ought to step up to the plate. Congress should not be 
missing in action when it comes to take care of the legacy of past 
military actions within our own borders, provide authority, provide 
money to help make sure that these sites are cleaned up and that our 
families are safe and healthy in bases and training areas around the 
United States.
  I do hope that we are able to divert this action going down the wrong 
way, giving the military the wrong orders. When we give them the 
resources, the right orders, they do the job. We should do that when it 
comes to protecting our environment.

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