[CPEO-MEF] Administration position on Vieques

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Despite the language in the Defense Authorization Act for 2002, the Bush
Administration remains committed, at least on paper, to the phasing out
of Naval training exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. The
Conference Report for the Defense Act contains the following:

"The conferees note the views of the administration on this matter, as
stated in a letter from the Deputy Secretary of Defense on November 29, 2001:

'Consistent with the commitments made by both the President and [Naval]
Secretary England, the Navy remains committed to identifying a suitable
alternative and is planning to discontinue training operations on the
island of Vieques in May of 2003, contingent upon the identification and
establishment of a suitable alternative. However, until a suitable
alternative is established, Vieques remains an important element in the
training of our forces deploying to fight the war.'"

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
lsiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org

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