Today was another important day in the quest to rid central Kentucky of the dangers of chemical weapons.  For more than 20 years I have been working on this effort, and I am hopeful that today’s news that the Senate Appropriations Committee adopted my language to mandate a date-certain for destruction of the Bluegrass stockpile will move us even closer toward our goal.

That last sentence is a mouthful, so let me explain it in basic terms.

The Army stores chemical weapons near Richmond, Kentucky, at the Bluegrass Army Depot.  These things are among the most dangerous instruments of death man has ever conceived.  The U.S. vowed to never use them in warfare decades ago, yet they remained in storage.

Once a decision was made to eliminate these weapons the Army chose a method that neither the local community nor I thought made sense – they wanted to burn them.  Working with dedicated folks like Craig Williams and his cohorts we stood firm and through a lot of hard work we finally won our fight to ensure that only the safest methods possible would be used to get rid of these awful things.

But our work was not done yet.

The military continued to drag its feet and slow walk their efforts every step of the way.

So today, I offered and the Appropriations Committee accepted language that will mandate that the Department of Defense get rid of the stockpile by 2017, nearly a decade sooner than their current insufficient plan.

Let’s hope we are on the road to finishing this important job.  Read today's news coverage of this topic.