WASHINGTON (AP) -- A House committee chairman wants Attorney
                  General Janet Reno to order protesters removed from the U.S. Navy
                  bombing range on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, saying she is
                  endangering their lives by letting them stay.

                  "While I understand the nature of the ongoing political protest, I have grave
                  concerns that the presence of the protesters presents risk of terrible
                  tragedy," Rep. Dan Burton, R-Indiana, said in a letter to Reno that was
                  made public Wednesday.

                  Burton, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, said the
                  protesters are trespassing in an area full of dangerous munitions.

                  A Justice Department spokeswoman said Reno would answer the letter but
                  would not make a public statement before her response. Kara Peterman
                  said department officials were closely monitoring activities on Vieques, "but
                  it would be inappropriate to comment on any potential law enforcement
                  action."

                  Protesters, including children, have set up four encampments on the range.
                  The protests began several months ago when the Navy declared a
                  moratorium on its use while officials consider whether to heed Puerto Rican
                  demands that the military return its training grounds to the commonwealth for
                  civilian use.

                  A presidential panel has recommended that the Navy resume live-fire
                  training, including bombing on the inhabited island, but at a scaled-down rate
                  for five years until a new Navy training ground can be found.

                  Defense Secretary William Cohen plans to consult with those affected
                  before passing along his own recommendation to President Clinton,
                  Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said Wednesday.

                  Puerto Rican authorities accuse the Navy, which operates the Vieques
                  range, of endangering the island's 9,300 U.S. citizen inhabitants and
                  destroying its environment.

                  Bacon said that if the Navy continues to be unable to use Vieques, it will
                  "just be less ready than it was before it had the firing range."

                  When the possibility of a death was raised by Sen. James Inhofe,
                  R-Oklahoma, at a Senate hearing Tuesday, Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro
                  Rossello said someone already had been killed. He referred to the accidental
                  death in April of a Vieques civilian employee that triggered Puerto Rican
                  efforts to boot out the Navy.

                  Burton said in his letter Tuesday that letting the protesters remain cannot be
                  justified.

                  "I believe it is a dereliction of your duty as attorney general to turn a blind
                  eye to the possibility of terrible tragedy," Burton wrote.

                    Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.