Nick Rahall: “Unfortunately, I am withholding my signature from the pending conference report in protest of the manner by which this…”

“Unfortunately, I am withholding my signature from the pending conference report in protest of the manner by which this legislation treats the controversy surrounding U.S. military exercises on Vieques. In effect, language contained in the pending legislation represents a major retrenchment from agreements between the federal government and Puerto Rico relating to Vieques in current law, as well as positions advanced by the Bush Administration in this area. To those of my colleagues who believe that U.S. citizens should not be subjected to live-fire military training exercises, that bombs and munitions should not be exploded in the vicinity in which they live, and that their land should not be laid waste with a legacy of unexploded ordnance and toxic substances, I say to you that this conference agreement seals their fate to these very situations.”