Russ Feingold: “today, I am introducing the Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Act of 2002. This bill would require the Secretary…”

“today, I am introducing the Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Act of 2002. This bill would require the Secretary of Defense to establish at least one Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team, WMD-CST, in each State by September 30, 2003. The cost of establishing, training, equipping, and operating these new teams would be paid for from existing fiscal year 2003 resources, thus requiring no additional spending. I am pleased to be joined in this effort by Senators Leahy, Lieberman, Kohl, Reid of Nevada, Sarbanes, Torricelli, and Jeffords. WMD-CSTs are comprised of 22 full-time National Guard personnel who are specially trained and equipped to deploy and assess suspected nuclear, chemical, biological, or other threats in support of local first responders. The emerging chemical, biological, and other threats of the 21st century present new challenges to our military and to local first responders. The September 11 terrorist attacks emphasize the need to have full-time WMD-CSTs in each State.”