Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell introduced an amendment today to the Defense Authorization bill that addresses the elimination of the U.S. stockpile of chemical weapons, a significant portion of which is stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County, Kentucky. Senator McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday regarding his amendment:



“There’s an old saying that goes, ‘If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.’ For years I have led the fight in Congress to push the Department of Defense to safely and efficiently dispose of the deadly chemical weapons stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County, Kentucky, and in other facilities across the country.



“For years, forces burrowed deep within the middle layers of the DOD bureaucracy have dragged their feet on this issue, and refused to comply with Congress’s directions.



“And as a result, for years, the people of Madison County have had to live with 523 tons of chemical weapons in their midst, including VX nerve agent, one of the deadliest nerve agents ever created.



“Just 10 milligrams of VX is enough to kill a human being. And they have over a hundred tons of the stuff, stored just down the road from a schoolhouse.



“Well, my colleagues and I have had enough. And we have concluded that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.



“Therefore, I rise today to speak about an amendment I filed on Tuesday, Amendment Number 2061, that will set a deadline into law for DOD to complete work on the disposal of the chemical weapons at the Blue Grass Army Depot and other facilities.



“The deadline in this amendment will hold DOD to complete work on disposal within 10 years—no later than 2017.



“Thanks to years of delay and mismanagement, last year the Defense Department formally notified Congress that it could not make the deadline set in the Chemical Weapons Convention, or CWC, of 2012.



“The United States has committed itself to that document, and therefore will be in violation of its treaty obligations.



“But now DOD’s latest projections would put off the completion of the disposal process at Blue Grass Army Depot to 2023, 11 years past the original deadline. That’s simply unacceptable.



“I have documents from DOD that confirm that, with sufficient funds, the entire U.S. chemical weapons stockpile could be eliminated by 2017, the deadline set by this amendment—or possibly sooner. If that goal can be met, then it certainly should be met.



“Compounding the longstanding mismanagement within DOD on this issue is that DOD has consistently failed to request sufficient funds for disposal efforts. For years, Congress has had to do the heavy lifting by increasing funds and making clear our commitment that these weapons be disposed of safely and with dispatch.



“A formal deadline in law, along with a regular reporting requirement, should finally push DOD to request sufficient funds in the future. That seems to be the only way to get DOD to ask for the funds it needs to get the job done.



“Authorizers and appropriators of both parties, and in both houses, have repeatedly expressed great frustration at DOD’s sluggish response to Congress’s will. For years, DOD has flouted Congress and continued business as usual. That’s got to stop.



“Passing this amendment will send a strong signal to DOD that this Congress has had enough of their pig-headed stubbornness on this issue—and we are not going to take it anymore.



“To prove we mean business, this amendment will also provide an additional $49.3 million for chemical demilitarization activities at Blue Grass Army Depot and a comparable facility at Pueblo Depot in Colorado. Those funds are fully offset in the bill.



“The money will be targeted to the two depots that have the furthest to go to dispose of their stockpiles, so this extra funding will help speed up the elimination of chemical weapons.



“Delaying the disposal of the chemical weapons in Kentucky and Colorado until the 2020s would cost the taxpayers an additional $3.3 billion. Appropriating $49.3 million and setting a firm deadline in law now will save us that $3.3 billion later.



“The Department of Defense has over 16,000 tons of lethal chemical agents stored in military depots across America. VX nerve gas stolen by a terrorist from the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky could have grave consequences for Americans living as far away as Los Angeles, Houston, Miami or even here in Washington, D.C.



“The risk from these weapons is particularly acute for those who live near these storage facilities. Every risk assessment ever done has concluded that the longer these deadly weapons lay fallow, the more unstable and dangerous they become.



“The threat of terrorism posed by our failure to dispose of these weapons is not limited to the storage of such materials in the United States. With America soon to be in breach of its treaty obligations under the CWC, it will be all the more difficult for us to prod Russia to dispose of its outstanding chemical weapons.



“Storage of Russia’s chemical weapons is much less secure than America’s. The longer those weapons continue to sit in storage throughout Russia, the greater the opportunity for them to fall into terrorist hands.



“At its core, continued foot-dragging poses a national security and homeland security risk to the nation.



“Finally, I would note that this is a bipartisan amendment. My good friend Senator Salazar of Colorado, on the other side of the aisle, joins me as a co-sponsor.



“On this side of the aisle, we are joined by his Colorado colleague, Senator Allard, and my Kentucky confidant, Senator Bunning, as well.



“A vote for this amendment will tell DOD that Congress is fed up with its intransigence on this issue. A vote for this amendment is a vote to save the taxpayers $3.3 billion. A vote for this amendment is a vote to dispose of deadly nerve agents that are just down the street from our homes, our churches, our schools.



“Most importantly, a vote for this amendment is a vote to make the American people safer and more secure.



“When this Congress directs DOD to safely and efficiently dispose of these deadly weapons, and when we authorize and appropriate a sufficient amount of money so they can get the job done, that’s exactly what we expect them to do.



“It is a shame that we have to place a legally binding deadline on the Department to get them to do this. But if we want this job to be done right, we are going to have to step in and set a deadline ourselves. I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.”



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