S.Amdt. 1533

SA 1533. Mr. MARTINEZ (for himself and Mr. Nelson of Florida) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1042, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2006 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe personnel strengths for such fiscal year for the Armed Forces, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place insert the following:

Sense of the Senate Regarding Oil and Gas Exploration on Military Operations

(A) Findings.--The Senate finds the following:

(1) Whereas the U.S. Air Force and Navy conduct vital and critical national security preparedness missions in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico

(2) Whereas the U.S. Air Force and Navy have had to move their live-fire training operations from Vieques, Puerto Rico

(3) Whereas these training operations are critical for the battle-preparedness of military personnel

(4) Whereas the training areas for these live-fire missions are restricted to an increasingly limited area

(5) Whereas a oil and gas exploration operations in the vicinity of U.S. military training operations poses a risk to human life and

an accident could threaten and impact coastal communities and beaches

(6) Where as military personnel have expressed concerns with oil and gas operations impeding on their training in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico

(B) The Sense of the Senate.--It is the Sense of the Senate that oil and gas exploration operations should not interfere with the training missions and operations of the Department of Defense.