Congress Wants Review of Live Fire Practices

Washington, D.C. The current version of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Reported in House Bill H.R. 5658) has an interesting new requirement related the use of military munitions. Section 359 "Sense of Congress Regarding Procurement and Use of Munitions" requires the Secretary of Defense to undertake a review of live-fire practices for the purpose of reducing UXO and munitions constituent contamination without impeding military readiness.

UXOInfo.com will continue to track the FY09 Defense Authorization Act as it makes it way through Congress to see if this new reporting requirement makes it into law.

Congress Considering Report on Adequacy of MMRP

Washington, D.C. The current version of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Reported in House  H.R. 5658) has an interesting new requirement related to the Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP). Section 345 of HR 5658 "Comptroller General Report of Adequacy of Funding, Staffing, and Organization of the DoD MMRP" states:

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UXO Blocks Chelsea Clinton

Vieques, Puerto Rico Chelsea Clinton has been very busy actively campaigning for her mother's presidential race. With the Puerto Rico primary scheduled for June 1, Chelsea has been very busy planning campaign stops throughout area. In her planning, Chelsea made a request to the Navy to access Vieques. Her purpose for accessing the former range area was not reported. The Navy denied Chelsea access to the range due to safety concerns associated with UXO and because U.S. law forbids campaigning on federal property.

Senators Urge Pentagon To Cleanup UXO Near School

News Story Source - Senator Mel Martinez's website

Washington - U.S. Senators Mel Martinez (R-FL) and Bill Nelson today called for immediate action by the federal government to find and remove any remaining explosive devices or harmful chemicals from an area surrounding an Orlando middle school.

In a letter to the Pentagon, the two senators asked that the Army Corps of Engineers be dispatched at once to survey the site for live bombs or chemical toxins left over from what was a World War II bombing range and training base for, among others, B-17 Flying Fortress crews.

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MILCON Bill Introduced in the Senate Outlines Operational Range Report Requirements

Washington, D.C.  Senate Bill 3834, The Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, outlines requirements for operational range reports for the Army and the Marine Corps. The Bill, if approved, would require the Army to assess the cost and potential military value along with the legal impediments regarding the expansion of the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana. The proposed expansion would involve the acquisition or lease of land currently under the control of the U.S. Forest Service. The Army report would also include an assessment of the impacts to U.S. training facilities in Germany under the Integrated Global Presence and Basing Strategy.

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$250M Iraq Demining Fund Proposed in Congress

Washington, D.C.  Buried in the "Bring the Troops Home and Iraq Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2007" (H.R. 508) is a $250M authorization for the destruction of landmines, UXO and cleanup of depleted uranium (DU) artillery in Iraq. The funding also known as the "Iraq Demining Fund" is in addition to the amounts otherwise available for such purposes. The language in the Bill allows the President to determine the exact terms and conditions in how the money is to be appropriated.

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DoD Requests Additional Funds to Defeat IEDs

Washington D.C.  Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine General Peter Pace told the Senate Appropriations Committee that the fiscal 2007 emergency supplemental request includes money ($ 2.4B) to fund research into defeating IEDs. The money is in addition to $2 billion Congress already has appropriated this year to deal with the IED problem.

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Bill Introduced in Congress to Place Restrictions on Submunition Sales

Washington, D.C  Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) announced that they have introduced legislation to restrict U.S. Federal funds for the use, sale or transfer of cluster bombs (i.e. submunitions) unless specified that they will only be used against clearly defined military targets and not where civilians are to known to be present or areas normally inhabited. It would also restrict the sale or transfer of cluster bombs with a failure rate if more that one percent.

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Congresswoman Visits Laos to Discuss UXO

Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D- FL) recently completed a visit to Laos to discuss UXO and landmine removal efforts. As a four-year member of the U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Committee, Congresswoman McCollum helped to secure $2.5 million in aid from the U.S. Congress for UXO removal in Laos.

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President Bush Takes Issue with UXO Response Plan in Defense Spending Bill

President Bush signed the Defense spending bill authorizing over $530 billion in spending for FY07 but not with several caveats. One of those caveats included the objection to the Section 313 requiring a response plan for the remediation of UXO, discarded military munitions (DMM), and munitions constituents (MC). In a two-page response, the White House documented the administration's disagreements and reservations with Section 313 and about a dozen other provisions that lawmakers put in the bill. In the response letter, President Bush reminded lawmakers of his constitutional authority to withhold information from disclosure, which "could impair the security of the nation". His response was undoubtedly provoked by terrorist and homeland security concerns as other provisions objected to include topics on North Korea and nuclear weapons, and Section 1402 requiring the Department of Defense (DoD) to submit quarterly reports on their response to IED threats.

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