[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 1 (Thursday, January 4, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S133-S134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ALLARD:
  S. 135. A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Army to acquire land 
for

[[Page S134]]

the purposes of expanding Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Armed Services.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, another bill dealing with the large 
military presence in Colorado relates to the expansion of the Army's 
Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. Due to an emphasis on rapid mobility, 
modularity, and maneuverability in recent years, the Army's ability to 
project force across the battlefield has increased exponentially. As 
such, the Army transformation is also driving higher their requirement 
for training space.
  With its close location to Fort Carson, Pinon Canyon was perfectly 
suited for the Army's training needs 20 years ago. However, with the 
arrival of 10,000 new soldiers to Fort Carson, the Army has determined 
that the size of the site needs to be increased in order to meet Fort 
Carson's new operational training requirements.
  I have been told repeatedly by Army officials that the genesis of 
Fort Carson's expansion proposal occurred when several landowners 
approached Fort Carson and expressed their strong desire to sell. I 
also understand that sufficient numbers of willing sellers exist to 
support a significant expansion of the site. However, many in the 
community surrounding Pinon Canyon have major questions that need to be 
answered.

  In order to get some of these major questions answered, a reporting 
requirement was placed in the 2006 Defense Authorization bill, approved 
by both the Senate and the House. However, the Department of Army is 
restricted on communicating about any specific land acquisition 
proposal until a waiver for that site has been granted by the Secretary 
of Defense, which has yet to be granted. Thus, the Army's hands were 
tied and they were unable to meet the full reporting requirements in 
the 2006 Defense authorization. I understand the difficult position the 
Army is on this issue, but I believe it is absolutely necessary that 
they provide the information to the community and to Congress prior to 
any acquisition of property.
  The leadership at Fort Carson has done a great job of reaching out 
and providing what information it could to the local communities. 
However, the Pentagon has not been as forthcoming. I believe the 
Congress and, more importantly, the local communities in Southeastern 
Colorado need more information before we can decide whether this 
proposed expansion is necessary and appropriate.
  With these objectives in mind, today I am introducing a bill that 
clearly defines the process under which the Army can expand the Pinon 
Canyon Maneuver Site. This legislation prohibits the use of eminent 
domain, requires the Army to pay fair market value. Most importantly, 
the bill does not allow the Army to proceed with land acquisition until 
it delivers the answers previously sought on the environmental and 
economic impacts of expansion and also must offer options for 
compensating the loss of property tax revenue.
  It is vital that the Army take the time to answer these important 
questions to help alleviate the affected communities concerns. A number 
of counties and small towns in Southeastern Colorado could be adversely 
affected by this expansion, and this study will help us better 
understand the extent of these impacts and provide options for 
mitigating them.
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