[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 155 (Saturday, September 27, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2035]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E2035]]


 DUNCAN HUNTER NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 24, 2008

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, as a Member of the House Armed 
Services Committee, I rise in support of this important legislation.
  I applaud Chairman Skelton for his leadership in guiding this bill to 
the floor today. He and Ranking Member Hunter have done a tremendous 
job, and they have been ably supported by the expert staff of our 
committee. We passed the Defense Authorization bill in the House over 
four months ago--but there was concern that the Senate wouldn't pass 
its bill before Congress adjourned for the year.
  Fortunately, the Senate acted last week, and we're able to move ahead 
today to complete this important annual task. Chairman Skelton and 
Ranking Member Hunter and their staff were not about to let this be the 
first Defense Authorization bill in 42 years not to become law. They 
worked very hard to reconcile the House and Senate legislation, and I 
commend them for the outcome. I expect the Senate to follow our lead 
and send this bill to the President for his signature.
  This bill rightly focuses on our military's readiness needs. After 
more than five years at war, both the active duty and reserve forces 
are stretched to their limits. The bill will provide what's needed to 
respond, including funds to address equipment shortages for the active 
duty and reserve forces, improve the quality of our military barracks, 
maintain ammunition, and expand training opportunities, among other 
important readiness needs. The bill also improves the quality of life 
for our forces and their families by including a 3.9 percent pay raise 
for all service members, preserving important health benefits by 
prohibiting fee increases in TRICARE and the TRICARE pharmacy program, 
and including new preventive health care initiatives.
  With regard to Colorado provisions, I am pleased that the bill 
includes language requiring the Secretary of Defense to maintain 
redundant facilities and equipment--along with the staff necessary to 
ensure continuity of operations--at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station 
until the Secretary can certify that security measures have been 
instituted to bring the consolidated command center for NORTHCOM/NORAD 
at Peterson AFB into full compliance with Protection Level One 
requirements. Currently, the Secretary has waived compliance to allow 
Peterson to meet these requirements--defined as resulting in ``the 
greatest possible deterrence against hostile acts'' and providing ``the 
maximum means to achieve detection, interception and defeat of a 
hostile force before it is able to seize, damage or destroy 
resources''--though Peterson AFB does not yet meet this level of 
protection. Such a waiver would not be permitted to meet the 
requirement under this legislation.
  It is important that the House and the Senate have recognized that 
Northern Command's decision to relocate the nation's air and space 
defense command from Cheyenne Mountain to the new NORTHCOM/NORAD 
command center at Peterson AFB was flawed, particularly without fully 
analyzing the full range of threats. The Government Accountability 
Office in its recent report highlighted the lack of a comprehensive 
threat analysis, and the Department of Defense (DOD) finally concurred 
that a thorough analysis still needs to be completed. While that study 
is ongoing--and certainly while Peterson AFB cannot yet comply with 
protection level requirements for the highest level of threats--
redundant operations should be maintained at Cheyenne Mountain.
  I'm also pleased that the bill increases overall military 
construction project authorization at the Pueblo Chemical Depot by $223 
million, raising the five-year-old authorization cap that had forced 
the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative (ACWA) program and its main 
contractor Bechtel to cancel some work earlier this year and would have 
resulted in layoffs if it had not been increased. Although Congress 
appropriated sufficient funds last year, ACWA did not have 
Congressional permission to spend the funds until this cap was raised.
  Finally, the bill includes language that prohibits DOD from 
transporting away from the Pueblo Chemical Depot in the next six months 
the hazardous wastes left after chemical treatment of mustard agent. 
This is based on legislation I introduced with Rep. John Salazar 
earlier this year, and sends an important message to the Department of 
Defense.
  There is no question that the ACWA program has been poorly managed 
for years. But I believe the people of Pueblo shouldn't have to pay for 
DOD's mistakes. Pueblo needs the jobs that the biotreatment process 
will provide, and the community deserves the certainty that clean-up 
will be completed in a timely fashion. I am disappointed that the final 
language is not as strong as the language I helped pass in the House, 
but it is still an important step forward. I will continue to work to 
ensure the secondary wastes are not transported off-site.
  The Pueblo Chemical Depot holds 2,611 tons of liquid mustard agent 
and is part of the DOD's ACWA program, which is responsible for 
destroying the chemical weapons stored at Pueblo and at the Blue Grass 
Army Depot in Kentucky. The Chemical Weapons Convention, ratified by 
Congress in 1997, requires these munitions to be destroyed by 2012. 
Because of schedule delays, management problems, and funding shortfalls 
for the ACWA program, the DOD has said that the U.S. will not meet the 
Chemical Weapons Convention treaty deadline.
  Last year, Congress mandated that DOD complete all chemical weapons 
destruction activities by 2017. The DOD has suggested that a 2017 
deadline at Pueblo cannot be reached if wastes are treated on-site. DOD 
is again studying whether to transport these wastes for treatment off-
site, despite approved plans to treat the wastes at the Pueblo Chemical 
Depot, and despite the fact that construction of an on-site 
biotreatment facility has already begun. In addition, studies have 
shown that shipping these wastes would not yield benefits. The 
community of Pueblo and the Colorado Citizens' Advisory Commission, 
established by law to represent community interests, have repeatedly 
expressed their preference for treating the wastes on-site.
  The bill also authorizes $474 million for military construction 
projects at Fort Carson, as well as $65 million for construction at the 
Pueblo Chemical Depot, $4.9 million for land acquisition at Peterson 
AFB, $18 million for Colorado National Guard readiness centers in 
Denver and Grand Junction, $3 million for a satellite pharmacy and $4.2 
million for Alert Crew Headquarters at Buckley Air Force Base, and $18 
million to upgrade academic facilities at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
  Mr. Speaker, the bill we are considering today does an excellent job 
of balancing the need to sustain our current warfighting abilities with 
the need to prepare for the next threat to our national security. It is 
critical that we are able to meet the operational demands of today even 
as we continue to prepare our men and women in uniform to be the best 
trained and equipped force in the world.
  This is a good bill, a carefully drafted and bipartisan bill, and I 
urge its passage.

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