[CPEO-MEF] Inhofe Introduces Vieques Amendment

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@cpeo.org>]

[The following comes from John Lindsay-Poland at the Fellowship of
Reconciliation.  The Senate Defense Authorization bill is scheduled
to go to the Senate floor today at 2 PM where amendments will be
introduced.  We will update you as information becomes
available.  
--Aimee] 
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On Friday, Senator James Inhofe filed an amendment to the Defense
Authorization bill that, if passed, would essentially prevent the Navy
from
ever ceasing bombing of Vieques. The amendment could be voted on the
Senate
floor as early as today. It is important that Senate staff know about
the
amendment, and be prepared to vote against it.

The amendment is very similar to House language, in that it cancels
the
referendum scheduled for November 6. It also requires the Chief of
Naval
Operations and Commandant of the Marine Corps to certify that Vieques is
not
needed for training before the Navy can cease training there. And if
the
Navy does leave, the amendment would allow the Navy to resume training
there
- with live fire - in case of national emergency or declared war. The
only
major difference in the House Armed Services language is that the
House
would require the Navy to find a single location with equal or
better
conditions before the Navy could cease training in Vieques.

Such bombing practice has little to do with defending our people
from
terrorist attacks. On September 11, Admiral Kevin Green, commander of
U.S.
Navy South, acknowledged in an interview that the continuation of
training
by Navy forces in Vieques would not have prevented the destruction in
New
York and Washington. The reasons for President Bushıs decision to
end
training in Vieques in 2003 and why Vieques is not needed, as
previously
detailed by experienced naval analysts and officers, are still
valid.

The text of the Inhofe amendment follows.

-John Lindsay-Poland
***************************************************************************

Congressional Record, 21 September 2001 [Page: S9635]

SA 1595. Mr. INHOFE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him
to
the bill S. 1438, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2002
for
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
constructions, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to
prescribe personnel strengths for such fiscal year for the Armed Forces,
and
for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as
follows:

 On page 380, after line 15, insert the following:

 SEC. 1066. CLOSURE OF VIEQUES NAVAL TRAINING RANGE.

 (a) CONDITIONAL AUTHORITY.--Title XV of the Floyd D. Spence
National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (as enacted by Public
Law
106-398; 114 Stat. 1654A-348) is amended by striking sections 1503 and
1504
and inserting the following new section:

 ``SEC. 1503. CONDITIONS ON CLOSURE OF VIEQUES NAVAL TRAINING
RANGE.

 The Secretary of the Navy may close the Vieques Naval Training
Range on
the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, and discontinue live-fire training
at
that range only if the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of
the
Marine Corps jointly certify that the training range
is no longer needed for the training of units of the Navy and the
Marine
Corps stationed or deployed in the eastern United States.''.

 (b) ACTIONS RELATED TO CLOSURE.--(1) Section 1505 of such Act (114
Stat.
1654A-353) is amended--

 (A) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:

 ``(a) TIME FOR TAKING ACTIONS.--The actions required or authorized
under
this section may only be taken upon the closure of the Vieques 
Naval
Training Range by the Secretary of the Navy.'';

 (B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``Not later than May 1,
2003,
the'' and inserting ``The'';

 (C) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ``pending the enactment of a
law
that addresses the disposition of such properties '';

 (D) in subsection (e)(2), ``the referendum under section 1503'' and
all
that follows and inserting ``the Secretary of the Navy closes the
Vieques
Naval Training Range.''; and

 (E) by adding at the end the following new subsection:

 ``(f) MILITARY USE OF TRANSFERRED PROPERTY DURING WAR OR
NATIONAL
EMERGENCY.--

 ``(1) TEMPORARY TRANSFER BY SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.--Upon 
a
declaration of war by Congress or a declaration of a national emergency
by
the President or Congress, the Secretary of the Interior shall transfer
the
administrative jurisdiction of the Live Impact Area to the Secretary of
the
Navy notwithstanding the requirement to retain the property under
subsection
(d)(1).

 ``(2) TRAINING AUTHORIZED.--Training of the Armed Forces may
be
conducted in the Live Impact Area while the property is under the
administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy pursuant to
a
transfer made under that paragraph (1). The training may include
live-fire
training. Subsection (b) shall not apply to training authorized under
this
paragraph.

 ``(3) RETURN OF PROPERTY TO SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.--Upon
the
termination of the war or national emergency necessitating the transfer
of
administrative jurisdiction under paragraph (1), the Secretary of the
Navy
shall transfer the administrative
jurisdiction of the Live Impact Area to the Secretary of the Interior,
who
shall assume responsibility for the property and administer the property
in
accordance with subsection (d).''.

 (2) The heading of such section is amended to read as 
follows:

 ``SEC. 1505. ACTIONS UPON CLOSURE OF THE VIEQUES NAVAL TRAINING
RANGE.''.

 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.--Section 1507(c) of such Act is amended
by
striking ``the issuance of a proclamation described in section 1504(a)
or''.

Please note new phone number and address below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aimee R. Houghton                                 

Associate Director, CPEO

1101 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 1000

Washington, DC  20036

tel: 202-452-8039; fax: 202-452-8095

Email: aimeeh@cpeo.org

www.cpeo.org

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