"I have long felt that because New Jersey is the nation's most populous state we should have a WMD response team," Saxton said. "I have for years maintained that a team should be at Fort Dix because of its central location, proximity to New York and Philadelphia and close ties to McGuire Air Force Base."

Saxton helped create the WMD civil support team program in 1998. There are 32 teams currently authorized in the United States. If the bill becomes law, the Department of Defense would be required to create WMD teams in all states which do not have one.

"This amended bill brings our case to the Senate," Saxton said. "The strong consensus in the House is that each state should have a team of trained individuals to respond to an attack against us involving weapons of mass destruction."

Saxton said that a team placed at Fort Dix could expeditiously be deployed to Long Island, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and other parts of the country using air mobility assets at McGuire AFB. He has meet with various Pentagon officials to get support for a Fort Dix team. The U.S. territories currently do not have a response team, nor are they slated to acquire one soon.

The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Gene Taylor of Mississippi, was added to the authorization bill in the Armed Services Committee last week. Members debated the WMD program and Taylor's motion to instruct House conferees to insist on full funding for the expansion of WMD teams. The motion passed Thursday, 419-2, and was sent to the Senate-House conference.