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PRYOR PRAISES ARSENAL

By Rick Joslin/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Friday, August 10, 2007 9:57 AM CDT

WHITE HALL — The future of America’s military action in Iraq is “uncertain” and void of “guarantees,” according to Mark Pryor, Arkansas’ junior U.S. senator.

Pryor, a Democrat, said during a Thursday tour of some Pine Bluff Arsenal facilities here that he believes the Iraq War has become “much more different than President Bush thought it would be” and called upon the president to “adopt and implement” recommended bipartisan strategies.

Pryor said he and others in Congress are “working on a bipartisan” approach to the war and bringing it to a successful end. The study group has focused on “diplomacy and economics” as among key tools in concluding the fighting.

“We want the president to move on the war in a constructive way,” said Pryor.

He praised the arsenal for “playing an important role in Iraq” with the installation’s production of chemical detection kits, gas masks and other supplies.

“The Pine Bluff Arsenal is responsible for a number of things that our troops use in Iraq every day,” he said. “This is a very proficient and efficient government facility that maximizes each dollar of its federal appropriations.”

While at the arsenal, Pryor toured a white phosphorus facility, inspected a bio-protected mobile shelter and received a hands-on presentation of the Domestic Preparedness Equipment Technical Assistance Program (DPETAP), a Homeland Security function administered here by General Physics Corp. He said DPETAP is certainly deserving of congressional support.

DPETAP here counts 36 instructors who have provided training to more than 80,000 professionals in 48 states and elsewhere. The instruction focuses on weapons of mass destruction but supports all potential hazards.

“DPETAP provides an invaluable service in training first responders and getting needed equipment (to an incident scene),” said Pryor. “Not many agencies can afford to send their people to different locations for training, so it’s vital that necessary training be brought to them.”

Pryor said he had been looking forward to receiving an update on the white phosphorus facility — the only plant of its type in North America — and credited it for playing “a critical role in fulfilling our national military objectives.”

As a member of the Senate’s Armed Services Committee, Pryor said he always appreciates opportunities to visit the arsenal.

“The Pine Bluff Arsenal is a strong and vibrant operation and an essential installation for the military and for Arkansas,” he said.

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