Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) teamed up once again with Senator John Curtis (R-UT) to urge the Army to continue allowing the Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) to maintain its own social media accounts.
The Context
In June, the United States Army issued a directive to centralize social media, which means both the YPG and Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) in Utah cannot have separate social media accounts and must rely on higher-level Army organizations to share information.
The Problem
In a letter to Army Under Secretary Michael Obadal, Sens. Kelly and Curtis argued that while the need for a unified voice was understandable, "the Directive risks undermining installations for which direct communication with local communities, industry, and other stakeholders is integral to mission success."
After all, YPG and DPG are weapons testing facilities, and being able to quickly communicate with nearby residents and potential contractors is paramount.
"Social media provides a low-cost way to highlight testing capabilities, reach prospective industry partners, and direct customers to Army test resources—outreach that is particularly important to ATEC organizations that rely on reimbursable testing," Sens. Kelly and Curtis continued, adding, "Proving grounds must also be able to communicate quickly and directly with surrounding communities when testing activities raise public safety concerns, require timely public awareness, or could affect community support for their missions."
Past Collaboration
The Arizona and Utah Senators have worked together several times in the past year, starting last November with the Algorithm Accountability Act amending Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, two bills in June and July dealing with wildfire deterrence, another July bill encouraging male mentorship and teaching, and the State-Sponsored Visa Pilot Program Act in August, which posits that each state can establish temporary visa programs tailored to its labor market demands with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) approval and federal control over security screening, visa issuance, and immigration enforcement.
