STATEMENT
BY THE UNITED STATES ARMY:
THE HONORABLE CLAUDE M. BOLTON, JR
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE ARMY
ACQUISITION, LOGISTICS, AND TECHNOLOGY
BEFORE
THE
COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
SUBCOMMITTEE ON TERRORISM, UNCONVENTIONAL
THREATS AND CAPABILITIES
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ON
CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION
OCTOBER
30, 2003
Mr.
Chairman and members of the Committee, I am
Claude Bolton and am grateful to have the
opportunity to address this committee.
As the Assistant Secretary of the
Army for Acquisition, Logistics and
Technology and Army Acquisition Executive, I
am responsible to the Acting Secretary of
the Army and to the Defense Acquisition
Executive for the execution of the Chemical
Demilitarization Program.
I consider it an honor to serve in
this capacity and to lead the program at
this critical juncture when operations have
just begun or soon will begin at most of the
destruction facilities.
Be
assured that I am fully committed to
successful implementation of the Chemical
Demilitarization Program.
I am also committed to ensuring that
the public, the Congress, the Secretary of
the Army, and other senior Department of
Defense leadership have timely, accurate
information about the progress of the
Program.
This
past February, the Secretary of the Army
transferred the secretariat-level oversight
and overall program responsibility from the
Assistant Secretary of the Army,
Installations and Environment (ASA(I&E)),
to the Assistant Secretary of the Army,
Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)).
With that transfer, the former
Program Manager for Chemical
Demilitarization organization was merged
with the former Soldier Biological and
Chemical Command storage and security
organization into a new organization, the
U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency, headed
by Mr. Michael Parker.
This organization is jointly overseen
by the ASA(ALT) and the Commanding General,
Army Materiel Command, General Paul Kern.
Under the new organizational
structure, I retain overall program
responsibility and will maintain oversight
over all phases of the program.
With
this reorganization, I am confident that we
are moving forward with
an
organizational
structure that enables us to safely
and efficiently rid the nation of these
outdated weapons.
As
you are aware, last year’s Defense
authorization act mandated that the program
continue to be managed as a major defense
acquisition program.
Be assured that I intend to strictly
adhere to this direction.
In addition to maintaining emphasis
on cost, schedule and performance, as well
as safety, I will ensure that Defense
Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA)-certified
acquisition professionals participate fully
in the management of the program throughout
its life cycle.
The mission of the Chemical
Demilitarization Program is to destroy all
U.S.
chemical warfare materiel while ensuring
maximum protection to the public, Program
personnel, and the environment.
This is an exciting and successful
time for the Program.
I am proud to inform you that our
first destruction facility on
Johnston
Island
, in the Pacific successfully destroyed over
2,000 tons of agent, completing its mission
in November of 2000.
A closure ceremony for that facility
will be held next month to commemorate the
end of our mission in the Pacific.
In addition,
we have three plants in operation,
destroying the nation’s stockpile of
chemical agents and munitions, and expect to
have three of our five remaining sites
operational by the end of next year.
We also have made tremendous strides
in community protection in the past few
years, ensuring the local communities are
fully prepared.
Each day a chemical destruction
facility operates, the threat posed to the
public by continued storage is reduced.
The danger of continued storage of
these agents and munitions is the impetus
that drives the Program forward; the safety
of American citizens is the paramount
concern for the Army, and indeed, all in
attendance today.
Since the U.S. Chemical
Demilitarization Program began, we have
safely destroyed over 26 percent of the
nation’s stockpile of lethal chemical
agents and munitions, which originally
included over 31,000 tons of chemical agent.
We are proud of the progress to date,
but the true challenges are just beginning.
With the commencement of destruction
operations across the
United States
, we will continue to rely heavily on the
professionalism of our talented workforce to
to perform their duties in a safe and
expeditious manner.
Presently, incineration facilities
for chemical weapons destruction are
operating at
Tooele
,
Utah
and
Anniston
,
Alabama
and a neutralization facility is operational
at
Aberdeen
,
Maryland
. Our
incineration facilities at Umatilla,
Oregon
and
Pine Bluff
,
Arkansas
are complete and undergoing systemization.
These facilities are scheduled to
become operational in calendar year 2004.
The
Pine Bluff
,
Arkansas
facility was completed ahead of schedule and
under budget; we have truly learned from the
past to better our approaches.
Construction is nearly complete at
our neutralization-based facility located at
Newport
,
Indiana
. The
two remaining stockpile sites at Pueblo,
Colorado and Blue Grass, Kentucky have
selected technologies under the Assembled
Chemical Weapons Alternatives Program and
will use neutralization followed by
bio-treatment and Super Critical Water
Oxidation, respectively.
I would like to reiterate that our
paramount objective is to reduce the risk to
the communities surrounding chemical storage
sites as we safely eliminate the
United States
stockpile of lethal chemical agents and
munitions.
We are also committed to meeting the
United States
’ obligations under the Chemical Weapons
Convention and will continue to explore any
available means to accelerate the
destruction of the nation’s stockpile
safely and effectively.
In closing, Mr. Chairman, I ask for
your continued support of this critical
national program.
That support will demonstrate our
commitment to both the communities
surrounding our storage sites and our
international partners.
Thank you for the opportunity to
present my statement to you and to members
of your Committee.
I look forward to responding to your
questions.
