A Message from Congressman Adam Smith

Dear Scott,

Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about proposed
exemptions from public health and environmental laws for the
Defense Department. I appreciate you taking the time to share
your thoughts and concerns with me on this important matter.
You will be pleased to know that these exemptions were not
included in the final version of H.R. 1815, the FY06 Defense
Authorization bill that passed the House on May 25, 2005. I share
you concerns that the inclusion of these exemptions could lead to
serious environmental damage. The Defense Department
submitted a request for broad exemptions from the Clean Air Act,
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Superfund
law regulating the disposal of toxic waste. The Pentagon argues
that these provisions are necessary to ensure readiness.
As you may know, the FY04 Defense Authorization bill, H.R.
1588, included similar exemptions from environmental laws.
Despite my efforts and the efforts of many of my colleagues, the
legislation included provisions that provided broad exemptions to
the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection
Act. There were amendments offered to strip these provisions
from the legislation during the House Armed Services Committee
mark-up, but they failed to pass. I was disappointed that these
provisions were included in the final version of the FY04 Defense
Authorization bill. The Senate Defense Authorization bill (S.
1050) that passed 98-1 on the same day included the Pentagon's
request to alter the Endangered Species Act to prohibit critical
habitat designations on military lands that already have an
Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan.
Please be assured that I am greatly concerned with the health of
our environment. I was pleased to see that these most recently
proposed provisions were not included in the final version of the
FY06 Defense Authorization bill. I strongly oppose the inclusion
of these environmental provisions. As a member of the House
Armed Services Committee, I am focused on the need to ensure
our servicemen and women have all the tools and resources they
need to train and defend our nation. Also, I believe the military
should not be exempt from the same standards as other entities.
The readiness of our troops is a critical objective of military
training, but I believe this goal can be accomplished without
bypassing important environmental protections.

Again, I want to thank you for sharing your thoughts with me
about this legislation. If you have any additional questions,
comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Adam Smith
Member of Congress