Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

TESTIMONY OF
HONORABLE CLAUDE M. BOLTON, JR
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE ARMY
ACQUISITION, LOGISTICS, AND TECHNOLOGY

BEFORE THE
HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON TERRORISM, UNCONVENTIONAL THREATS AND CAPABILITIES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

REGARDING THE ARMY'S CURRENT FORCE PROTECTION PROGRAM INITIATIVES AND OTHER MAJOR GROUND COMPONENT ACQUISITION PROGRAMS

 APRIL 1, 2004 

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I am grateful to again have the opportunity to address this committee.  As the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology and the 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 will soon be ongoing at all of the destruction facilities under my purview. 

Be assured that I am fully committed to successful implementation of the Chemical Demilitarization Program.  I am also fully committed to ensuring that the public, the Congress, the Acting Secretary of the Army, and other senior Department of Defense leadership have timely, accurate information about the Chemical Demilitarization Program.  I am especially pleased to report that we will be bringing an additional three destruction sites on line this year.

At this critical juncture in our efforts to destroy the chemical agent stockpile, fully funding the President’s budget request is imperative.  The Army has carefully evaluated our requirements and we believe that we can meet them at the President’s proposed funding level and still ensure that the Program is executed with the highest fiscal and ethical standards.  I am currently reviewing the results of a number of internal studies that identified some shortcomings and proposed improvements in the way we do business.   Based on my review, I will direct the Chemical Materials Agency to take appropriate action to implement improvements in the overall program execution.

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.  The safety of our employees, communities, and environment is our highest priority.  We have made tremendous strides in community protection in the past few years, ensuring that the local communities near these facilities are fully prepared.  I would like to reiterate that our paramount objective is to reduce the risk to the communities surrounding chemical storage sites, in concert with our partners at the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (DHS-FEMA), as we safely eliminate the United States stockpile of lethal chemical agents and munitions.  We have recently updated an Army-FEMA Memorandum of Understanding that reinforces our partnership and continues our promise of providing maximum protection to the general public, workers, and the environment.  Each day that we operate a chemical destruction facility, we reduce the threat posed to the public by continued storage.  The danger of continued storage of these agents and munitions drives the Program to continue to strive to bring our facilities on line and begin destruction, which will enhance the safety of all Americans.

Since the U.S. Chemical Demilitarization Program began, we have safely destroyed more than 27 percent of the nation’s original stockpile of 31,000 tons of lethal chemical agents.  We are proud of the progress to date, and we anticipate similar progress as we bring more facilities into operation.  Today, state-of-the-art destruction facilities are destroying the nation’s stockpile of chemical agents and munitions at Tooele, Utah, and Anniston, Alabama, and a neutralization facility is operating at Aberdeen, Maryland.  Construction at our incineration facilities at Umatilla, Oregon, and Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and at our neutralization facility in Newport, Indiana is complete, and these sites are undergoing systemization.  We expect to have these three sites operating by the end of this year.  As we begin destruction operations across the United States, we will continue to rely heavily on the professionalism of our talented workforce to perform their duties safely and expeditiously.  As I previously testified, the Pine Bluff, Arkansas facility was completed ahead of schedule and under budget; we have truly learned from our past experiences to streamline our approaches without compromising safety, efficiency, or environmental protection.  I am proud of the government, civilian and contractor professionals performing this most important mission.

Since I last testified before this Committee, we have made several major achievements.  The Army recently completed development of a small hand-held reactor system known as SCANS (Single Chemical Agent Neutralziation Systems), which can destroy individual bottles or vials of chemical agent cheaply and quickly.  These systems have been tested, produced and provided in quantity to chemical response experts at the U.S. Army Technical Escort Unit for use in WWII training set recoveries or other emergencies.  In December 2003, we surpassed the 80 percent Former Production Facility destruction milestone in December 2004, 16 months ahead of the Treaty requirements.  Over the past five months, the Army has safely destroyed an additional 450 tons of chemical agent and 21,905 munitions.  And the Anniston Team recently completed destruction of more than 21,300 GB rockets stored there.  This represents 50 percent of the GB M-55 stockpile at Anniston.  This truly significant milestone includes more than 5.2 million man-hours worked without a lost time accident.  Through these destruction efforts, Anniston employees reduced by 12 percent the risk posed to the local community by continued storage.

The United States remains committed to meeting its 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 so that we may continue to demonstrate our commitment to the communities surrounding our storage sites, to the nation, and to our international partners.  Thank you for the opportunity to present my statement to you and to members of your Committee.