U.S.
Senator Member: Finance, Agriculture, Energy, Ethics and Aging Committees |
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For Immediate
Release Tuesday, July 15, 2008 |
CONTACT:Michael Amodeo – 303-249-5286 |
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Sen. Salazar Requests One-Year Extension of Pinon Canyon Moratorium Gives Time for Public, GAO, Congress to Review Army Proposal WASHINGTON, DC – Last Friday, in a letter to Military and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Johnson, United States Senator Ken Salazar asked that the moratorium on the Army’s plans to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site in Southeastern Colorado be extended another year. Last year, Sen. Salazar was successful in establishing the current one-year moratorium and in creating a thoughtful process for evaluating the Army’s proposal that gives surrounding communities the opportunity to provide input, requires the Army to report on its need for the expansion, and ensures a full GAO review of the report. This review process is expected to last into 2009. The Subcommittee is expected to mark up the Fiscal Year 2009 Military and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act on Wednesday, July 16. The text of Sen. Salazar’s letter is below. For a full copy, click here. July 11, 2008 Senator Tim Johnson,
Chairman Dear Chairman Johnson: To ensure that the Army provides the public and Congress the information we need, I also added an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008. This amendment required the Army to provide a detailed report on its plans, the need for the expansion, and the possible effects of its plan. That report has not yet been completed and is due at the end of July. Once the Army's report has been finalized, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) will have up to180 days to review the report's findings and the public will have 90 days to comment. This process will extend into the next fiscal year and likely the next calendar year. Until these reports are complete and the local communities and Congress have had time to review them and decide how to proceed, the moratorium on expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site should remain in place. I therefore respectfully request that you extend the moratorium on the Pinon Canyon expansion through 2009 by including the following language in the Subcommittee's mark of the bill: "None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available in this title may be used for any action that is related to or promotes the expansion of the boundaries or size of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, Colorado." This language is
of utmost importance to protecting the livelihoods of farmers in ranchers
in southeastern Colorado and to upholding the thoughtful and reasonable
process Congress has created for the Army to justify its stated requirement
for additional training land. The House of Representatives continues
to support this moratorium as well, approving similar language on the
floor last year and incorporating identical language into the subcommittee
mark this year. ###
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