Statement of Senator Ron Wyden on Proposed Environmental Waivers for the Department of Defense

Statement of Senator Ron Wyden
On Proposed Environmental Waivers for the Department of Defense

"The importance of adequate training and preparation to ensure the safety and survival of American troops has been proven over and over again in recent weeks. What has not been proven is that additional environmental waivers are needed today to make that training possible. Since the Vietnam War, the Department of Defense has had waivers in numerous major environmental laws to allow for military readiness, but has never found the need to invoke those waivers. No sufficient justification has been provided for the new proposed exemptions, which would certainly endanger the health and welfare of citizens here at home while providing no apparent or immediate benefit to the readiness of our troops. The Congress is being asked to make a false choice between combat readiness and public health and welfare. Both are possible - and in fact currently exist - under the environmental laws as they stand."