RS20458 -- Vieques, Puerto Rico Naval Training Range: Background and Issues for Congress Updated August 20, 2004 The Vieques Training Range. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory in the Caribbean whose people are U.S. citizens. Vieques (pronounced vee-EH-kez) is a small Puerto Rican islandafew miles east of mainland Puerto Rico. The Department of the Navy (DON), which includes the Navy and Marine Corps,purchased the western and eastern ends of the island between 1941 and 1950; the two DON-owned parcels totaled about22,000 acres, or about two-thirds of the island. Almost all of the 8,000-acre western parcel, which was used primarilyas anaval ammunition depot, was returned by DON to the Municipality of Vieques on May 1, 2001. The remainingDON-owned14,000-acre eastern parcel was used by U.S. naval and other military forces since the early 1940s for training exercisesinvolving ship-to-shore gunfire, air-to-ground bombing by naval aircraft, Marine amphibious landings, or some combination. The parcel included a roughly 11,000-acre Eastern Maneuver Area for Marine Corps ground exercises and a roughly900-acre Live Impact Area (LIA) designed for targeting by live ordnance. The LIA was at the eastern tip of the island,several miles from the civilian-populated center section of the island, which has about 9,300 residents. Until April 1999, the Navy used the Vieques training range about 180 days per year. Of these, about 120 days were forintegrated (i.e., combined land-sea-air) live-fire exercises (i.e., exercises with explosive ammunition) by U.S. Atlantic Fleetaircraft carrier battle groups and amphibious ready groups preparing to deploy overseas on regular six-month-longdeployments to the Mediterranean Sea or Persian Gulf. Until 2001, DON officials argued adamantly that there was no siteother than Vieques where Atlantic Fleet naval forces could conduct integrated live-fire training operations, and that suchtraining operations are critical to fully preparing U.S. naval forces for deployment. Puerto Rican Discontent and Opposition. U.S. military activities in Puerto Rico had been a source of discontent among Puerto Ricans for several decades. Puerto Rican opposition to DON activitieson Vieques increased after 1975, when DON withdrew from Culebra, another small Puerto Rican island near ViequeswhereDON had conducted some of its live-fire training operations. After withdrawing from Culebra as a consequence of strongPuerto Rican opposition to DON's use of that island, DON consolidated its live-fire training operations at Vieques. PuertoRican dissatisfaction regarding military training activities on Vieques was driven by several issues: (1) lost potential foreconomic development due to lack of access to most of the island's land, interruptions to local fishing operations, and theeffect of DON's activities on reducing the potential for developing the island as a tourist destination; (2) the inadequacy ofDON economic development efforts intended to compensate the Vieques community for this economic loss; (3) damagetothe island's environment, ecology, natural resources, historic resources, and archaeological sites caused by DON trainingactivities; (4) concern that the incidence of cancer or other diseases might be increased by pollutants released into the localenvironment by DON training operations; (5) noise, especially from nearby ship-to-shore gunfire; (6) safety (the risk of anoff-range accident), and (7) perceived DON insensitivity in conducting its relations with the Vieques community. April 19, 1999 Bombing Accident and Subsequent Impasse. On April 19, 1999, the pilot of a Marine Corps F-18 on a training mission mistakenly identified an observation post located just to thewestof the LIA (but still well within the overall range perimeter) as its intended target. The two 500-pound bombs dropped bytheplane struck the post, killing David Sanes Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican civilian employed as a security guard, and injuring fourothers. Following the accident, DON temporarily suspended its use of the range. The accident galvanized Puerto Ricanopposition to DON's activities on the island. Puerto Rican political leaders and overwhelming segments of Puerto Ricanpublic opinion soon declared their firm opposition to any further military training operations on the island and called forDONto withdraw from the island immediately and return the land to Puerto Rico. At the same time, dozens of demonstratorsentered the range (most of which was off-limits to the civilian population) and established several protest camps, preventingDON from easily resuming training activities there. Rush Panel. On June 9, 1999, President Clinton asked Secretary of Defense William Cohen to establish a special panel to study the situation. The 4-member panel was chaired by Frank Rush,who was the acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for force management policy. The Rush panel, as it was called, releasedits report on October 19, 1999. The report recommended, among other things, that DON should immediately conduct a priority assessment of the training requirements at Vieques with the objective of ceasing all training activities at Vieques within five years. The Navy should take necessaryprogramming actions to ensure that adequate resources are available to facilitate the identification and preparation ofalternative locations, to institute necessary changes in training methods, and to provide for restoration and transfer to PuertoRico of the Eastern Maneuver Area. Clinton-Rossello Plan. On January 31, 2000, President Clinton announced an agreement with then-Governor of Puerto Rico Pedro Rossello on a plan for resolving the dispute over Vieques. Theplancalled for holding a referendum of the registered voters of Vieques to determine the future of DON activities on the island. The referendum, which was later scheduled for November 6, 2001, and subsequently rescheduled for January 2002, wouldpresent two choices. One would be for DON to cease training activities no later than May 1, 2003; the other would beforDON to continue training, including live-fire training, beyond that date. If voters choose the second option, OMB wouldsubmit a $50-million funding request to Congress to finance further infrastructure-improvement and housing projects on thewestern end of Vieques. Under the plan, DON would be permitted prior to the referendum to conduct exercises on therangefor no more than 90 days a year using only non-explosive ordnance, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)would submit a $40-million funding request to Congress to finance a series of community assistance projects on Vieques. Theplan also called for transferring DON lands back to civilian use. Removal of Protestors and Resumption of Training. On May 4, 2000, more than 300 federal agents moved onto the training range and peacefully removed 216 demonstrators. On May 8, 2000,DON resumed training operations on the range using non-explosive ordnance. Hundreds demonstrators attempting toreenterthe range on various dates after May 4, 2000 were detained and removed by U.S. forces. Congressional Activity and Legislation in 1999 and 2000. Hearings devoted to the situation on Vieques were held by the House and Senate Armed Services Committees on September 22,1999, and by the Senate Armed Services Committee on October 19, 1999 (at which the Rush panel report was released). Several bills were introduced in September and October 1999 that proposed various measures for addressing the situation. Following the announcement of the Clinton-Rossello plan, Congress in 2000 debated the merits of the plan and acted ontheadministration's request for $40 million in community assistance funding and its proposed land-transfer legislation. Congress appropriated the $40 million in community assistance funding as part of P.L. 106-246 ( H.R. 4425 ) ofJuly 13, 2000, the combined FY2001 military construction appropriation and FY2000 supplemental appropriations bill. TheFY2000 supplemental appropriations portion of the bill (Division B) contains a provision under the Operation andMaintenance, Defense-Wide section that provides $40 million to Vieques for conducting a referendum and for variouscommunity and economic assistance projects. Congress authorized the $40 million, provided land-transfer legislation (with terms modified from those proposed under theClinton-Rossello plan), and approved other implementing legislation, as Title XV (Sections 1501-1508) of P.L. 106-398 ( H.R. 4205 ) of October 30, 2000, the FY2001 defense authorization bill. (See pages 365-373 and 879-881 of H.Rept. 106-945 of October 6, 2000, the conference report on H.R. 4205 .) Section 1502 provided for theMay 1, 2001 transfer of the ammunition depot on the western end of the island. Position of Governor Calderon. On November 7, 2000, Puerto Rico elected a new Governor, Sila Maria Calderon, who took office on January 2, 2001. Calderon did not support theClinton-Rossello plan and pledged to take steps that would appear to break the accord. Final Clinton Administration Actions. The Clinton Administration warned Governor Calderon that if Puerto Rico did not fulfill its obligations under the plan, DON would no longer be obliged toabideby the results of the November 6, 2001 referendum. On January 15 and 19, 2001, President Clinton issued two directivesconcerning Vieques.