U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

October 1, 2007

CONTACT:Stephanie Valencia – 202-228-3630

Cody Wertz 303-350-0032

 

Sen. Salazar Lauds Passage of Defense Authorization Bill; Highlights Colorado Priorities He Fought to Include

WASHINGTON, DC- Today, as the Senate passed the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1585) 92 to 3, United States Senator Ken Salazar released the following list of Colorado priorities that he worked to have included in bill. Senator Salazar’s amendments would curb encroachment around military bases, address Army expansion at Pinon Canyon and establish a deadline for weapons destruction at Pueblo Chemical Depot, among others. The bill will now go to conference committee where it will be reconciled with the House-passed version.

“Colorado is home to the keystone facilities of our Nation’s defense system,” said Senator Salazar. “I am pleased to have worked to include several provisions in the Defense Authorization bill that will have long lasting impact on the military installations in Colorado and ultimately, the safety and security of our Nation.”

I. CURBING ENROACHMENT NEAR MILITARY INSTALLATIONS LIKE BUCKLEY, SCHRIEVER AND PETERSON AIR FORCE BASES: The amendment requires the Department of Defense develop and present a legislative proposal to further address the military installation encroachment problem (to be presented to Congress when the President submits the budget for Fiscal Year 2009), and to provide to Congress by March 1, 2008 a report on what steps the DoD has taken to address the issues.

Senator Salazar recently met with Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne to discuss how the Air Force might use existing authorities and the opportunities provided by Senator Salazar’s amendment to better protect Colorado’s Air Force bases from encroachment pressures.

Military installations, ranges and airspace throughout the country have been constrained by increased development, population growth and loss of habitat on non-military lands. To address this problem, in 2002 Congress gave the Secretary of Defense the authority to work with government and private partners to establish buffer zones to protect training and testing areas. The Secretary of Defense implemented this authority by creating the Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative (REPI).

A recent DOD report and a RAND corporation report indicated that the REPI project could be further strengthened with additional resources, policy changes and commitment from the services. To help implement the recommendations of these reports, Senator Salazar introduced an amendment that directs the Department of Defense to:

  • Ensure that the Department of the Air Force takes full advantage of its authority to address encroachment, particularly regarding military airspace;
  • Develop additional policy guidance for further REPI implementation;
  • Continue to give emphasis to regional, landscape scale partnerships and initiatives;
  • Give greater emphasis to protecting biodiversity and effective cooperation and collaboration with other federal land managing agencies on matters of mutual concern;
  • Provide significant additional resources to the program, including staffing and outreach.

II. PINON CANYON MANEUVER SITE: The amendment requires the Army to provide a report on any justification for the expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. It would require them to address he following questions:

  • Is there a need for expansion, given the 2005 BRAC Commission finding that Fort Carson has sufficient training land to support its needs?
  • Is the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site being used to capacity? How can the Army better use the existing land at PCMS to meet its training needs?
  • If the Army needs additional land to train Fort Carson units, can it use other federal lands or land at other installations?
  • If the Army added land to PCMS, what training capacity would be added to Fort Carson?
  • If the Army were to expand PCMS, what economic benefits would it provide to local communities and how could the ranching heritage of Southeastern Colorado be preserved?

The amendment requires the Army to provide answers to these questions and to solicit public input on its report. In addition, the amendment would require that the General Accounting Office (GAO) review the Army’s report and justification for expansion.

III. Expanding Access to Paralympic programs for Wounded Warriors: Salazar’s amendment allows the Department of Defense Office of Special Events to provide support for certain Paralympic programs that involve veterans or military personnel. Currently, they can only provide support for international Paralympic events that include more than 500 participants. The amendment would allow DOD to provide transportation, logistical support or funding for the Paralympic Military Program, along with national and international Paralympic competitions that have more than 100 participants. Most of these events include military participants, and DOD support for each event is at the discretion of the Secretary. Two examples of how Colorado will benefit:

  1. The USOC holds Paralympic Military Program camps around the country, including in Colorado Springs, through which they bring veterans and military personnel to train and compete for five days.
  2. The 2009 Paralympic Alpine Skiing World Cup will be held in Aspen (February 2009). The competition will include 200 athletes from 40 Nations. Without the support of DOD OSE, Challenge Aspen may not be able to pull the event together.

IV. SETTING A HARD DEADLINE FOR CHEMICAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION AT THE PUEBLO CHEMICAL DEPOT: Senators McConnell, Salazar, Allard and Bunning filed an amendment which would set a hard deadline of 2017 for destroying the weapons stockpile at Pueblo, halting the Pentagon’s practice of permitting the completion date for destruction of the chemical weapons at Pueblo to continue to slip. The hard deadline of December 31, 2017 for the completion of chemical weapons destruction would only be enforced if the Department of Defense fails to meet the Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty deadline of 2012 as currently required. The amendment also authorizes the Secretary of Defense to add $32 million in military construction funds at PCD, over and above the $67 million already in the Military Construction bill, if it can be certified that it is in the interest of our National security.

V. PROVIDING BETTER TRAININGFOR HELICOPTER PILOTS AT THE HIGH ALTITUDE AVIATION TRAINING SITE: The High-Altitude Army National Guard (ARNG) Aviation Training Site (HAATS) in Gypsum, Colorado is the only facility in the Nation where helicopter pilots can learn power management skills in high altitude, mountainous terrain. Pilots from around the world come to HAATS for a week of intense training that teaches them to operate their helicopters routinely and safely in the high, hot and heavy environments that they will find in Afghanistan and Iraq. Currently, the Army has a “Bring your own helicopter” policy, which requires that crews fly their helicopter to Colorado to receive training at HAATS. This practice is expensive and limits the number of pilots who are able train at the facility.

Senator Salazar’s amendment requires the Army to examine the potential cost-savings and operational benefits of permanently stationing 6 additional helicopters at HAATS: 2 UH-60 (Blackhawk) 2 CH-47 (Chinook) and 2 LUH-72 (Lakota).

VI. CREATING A PLAN FOR THE FUTURE OF CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN AIR STATION/NORAD: In February, 2006, a study was conducted to see how to save costs and maximize efficiencies at Cheyenne Mountain. The centerpiece of the proposal was placing Cheyenne Mountain on “warm standby.” This means that Cheyenne Mountain would no longer be a day to day operations center, but would be able to function as an operational back-up and training site. NORTHCOM is already beginning the “transformation” to Peterson, which will eventually involve a shift of 150 personnel.

In May, the GAO released a report on the “Full Costs and Security Implications of Cheyenne Mountain Realignment” that had the following conclusions and recommendations:

NORAD/USNORTHCOM cannot provide documentation to support the $150 million to $200 million/year savings.
NORAD/USNORTHCOM has not done an analysis of the operational effects – positive and negative – of the move from Cheyenne Mtn. to Peterson AFB.
NORAD/USNORTHCOM has not completed an assessment of the security implications of the move and of the projected costs to address security deficiencies at Peterson AFB.

Senator Salazar’s amendment requires the Secretary of Defense to provide Congress with documentation describing the operational benefits of the transformation, along with an assessment of any costs or cost-savings associated with the move. The Air Force must also prepare a plan to rehabilitate aging infrastructure to allow for a continued mission at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Station.

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