Re: [MV] Demil Bill (S1438/Sec 1062)

From: Michael Howell (michael@tsixroads.com)
Date: Tue Oct 09 2001 - 20:50:20 PDT


>> I did some poking around on the Thomas web server this evening, I
>> found a few specific mentions of section 1062. One member of the
>> Senate (Senator Craig) noted the problems with the section. See page
>> 10050 of the congressional record.
>>
>> http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query Search for S10050 (a
>> Congressional Record Page) on the word search.
>>
>> I also searched sub-committee reports and found the following...
>>
>> Authority to ensure demilitarization of significant military
>> equipment formerly owned by the Department of Defense (sec. 1062)
>>
>> The committee recommends a provision that would provide authority to
>> ensure demilitarization of significant military equipment formerly
>> owned by the Department of Defense (DOD).
>>

Isn't this about the time that the press was making all the fuss about
things getting out of the DRMO that shouldn't. I remember something
about cobra helicopters and someone shooting coyotes with the mini gun
that was on it in news week and on TV. The guy had made a living out of
using huey helicopter in logging and was wanting to move on to the
cobras since that was what was coming up for sale. But noooo, Cobra
attack helicopters are too evil looking, nobody needs anything as evil
looking as that.

>>
>> The possession of improperly demilitarized DOD property by
>> individuals and business entities was the subject of a recent study
>> of the Defense Science Board and has raised considerable public
>> concern. Section 1051 of the Strom Thurmond National Defense
>> Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 required DOD to develop a plan
>> for improving the demilitarization of excess and surplus defense
>> property and propose appropriate legislation to clarify the authority
>> of the government to recover critical defense property that has not
>> been properly demilitarized. The Department complied with this
>> requirement and proposed legislation addressing this issue.
>>
>> The provision recommended by the committee would make it unlawful for
>> any person to possess significant military equipment formerly owned
>> by DOD that has not been demilitarized, without proper authorization.
>> Under this provision, the Secretary of
>>
>> Defense would be required to notify the Attorney General of potential
>> violations of this prohibition, and the Attorney General would be
>> authorized to take appropriate steps to ensure that the equipment is
>> demilitarized or returned.
>>
>>
>> From what I've been able to determine, the section (1062) is
>> something that Senator Strom Thurmond proposed as part of the
>> original S1416 bill. If someone is in his district, you may want to
>> give him a call and ask him what he was thinking.
>>

At least we know where this is coming from. The problem is the
authority to correct this is already there. It is the tracking down the
cruse missile parts etc. once they let them slip through their fingers
that is the problem.

Mike
Tishomingo, MS

>>



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