•HCON 212 IH
United States Navy training range on the island of
Vieques in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;
Whereas in April 1999, following an accident at that training
range that resulted in the death of a Navy civilian em-
ployee, training activities at that range were suspended
by direction of the Secretary of the Navy pending a safe-
ty review;
Whereas officials of the Department of Defense have testified
before congressional committees that the Vieques training
range is the only range along the Atlantic seaboard that
allows critical combined arms live fire training that in-
cludes the coordinated use of naval surface fire support
training, Navy/Marine amphibious combined arms train-
ing, Carrier Battle Group strike training and high alti-
tude tactics, and subsurface training;
Whereas officials of the Department of Defense have testified
before congressional committees that the safe conduct of
operations on the island of Vieques has been and will re-
main the primary concern of the Department of the Navy
and that the recent death of the civilian Navy employee
on the range was the first civilian death on the range
since its purchase in 1941;
Whereas the John F. Kennedy carrier battle group, which
was unable to continue training at Vieques after the
April accident, deployed in September 1999 in degraded
readiness condition and the Dwight D. Eisenhower car-
rier battle group, which is scheduled to deploy in the
spring of 2000, will be forced to deploy in a significantly
degraded readiness condition if not allowed to conduct
training activities at the Vieques training range before
departing on that deployment;
•HCON 212 IH
Whereas the suspension of training activities at the Vieques
training range has resulted in a loss of critical combat
training that is essential to the Nation’s Navy and Ma-
rine forces; and
Whereas, given that recently deploying Navy and Marine
Corps battle groups have been sent directly into combat
operations in Kosovo and Iraq, thereby placing service
personnel immediately in harm’s way, it would be un-
thinkable to knowingly deploy members of the Armed
Forces in the future without this essential training, since
to do so would place American lives, including the lives
of members of the Armed Forces from Puerto Rico, at
high risk: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) calls upon the Secretary of the Navy and
the Attorney General of the United States to
promptly ensure that the Federal property located at
the Vieques training range in the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico is safe and secure and, once the range
is safe and secure, for the Secretary of the Navy to
resume critical live fire training at that range;
(2) calls upon the President, as Commander-in-
Chief, to ensure that United States forces deploy
with 100 percent of the combat qualifications needed
to meet national security requirements;
(3) strongly urges the Department of Defense
and the Government of Puerto Rico to reestablish a
•HCON 212 IH
mutually supportive relationship, to resolve the
issues between the Department of the Navy and the
people of Puerto Rico, and to implement a program
that addresses the economic and social needs and
safety concerns of the residents of Vieques and the
citizens of Puerto Rico; and
(4) recognizes the significant contribution by
the residents of Vieques and the citizens of Puerto
Rico to the Nation’s defense.
Æ