June 19, 2009 08:07 PM UTC

Salazar Corrects Record On Pinon Canyon

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Pueblo Chieftain reports:

After a Denver newspaper mistakenly said Rep. John Salazar was calling a “truce” in his opposition to the Army’s expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, the three-term Democrat sent out an even tougher statement Thursday, saying he would oppose any expansion of the training area while he serves in Congress.

The confusion came after the House Armed Services Committee voted down an amendment from Salazar on Tuesday that said no training areas could be expanded in the future without explicit approval of Congress. The amendment would have been added to the 2010 Defense Authorization Act, the massive defense bill that spells out Pentagon programs next year.

For Salazar, the amendment was an effort to slam the door on the Army’s three-year campaign to expand the 238,000-acre training site near Trinidad.

But despite having a Democratic majority on the committee, Salazar’s amendment was rejected after Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., argued that it was unnecessary…

But Salazar also declared victory, saying the committee vote showed that Pinon Canyon could not be expanded in the future without congressional authorization.

“No authorization exists to expand Pinon Canyon – period,” he said in a statement Thursday. “You cannot have expansion without authorization and funding and I will oppose any effort to get either. The fight to permanently end expansion may be a long one, however, for as long as I serve in Congress, I will fight any effort to advance an expansion of Pinon Canyon.”

Salazar has succeeded for two years running in putting a ban in the federal budget on the Army spending any funds on the expansion. He intends to repeat that ban again this year from his position on the House Appropriations Committee.