Lawmaker: No need to review Guam move

By David Allen, Stars and Stripes

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Guam Rep. Madeline Bordallo says the move of some 8,000 Marines and their family members from Okinawa to her U.S. territorial island does not need to be reviewed and should go ahead as planned.

Bordallo, in a news release Friday from her Washington office, countered Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway’s assertion Wednesday to a House committee that the initial $4 billion estimated to be the U.S. share of the cost to move the Marines to Guam falls short of the actual cost.

Conway told the House Military Construction subcommittee that "it will be far more than that." He did not cite the cost, however, stating that the Marines’ move to Guam would be reconsidered as part of the upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review.

Bordallo said the military buildup on Guam is proceeding as planned, as it should.

"I have been reassured by officials at the Department of Defense that the military build-up on Guam is on track," she stated in her news release. "In particular, I was reassured that the Commandant was trying to address larger training as well as command and control issues that will be considered in the Congressionally mandated Quadrennial Defense Review."

In President Barack Obama’s proposed $3.4 trillion budget for the next fiscal year, $787 million is requested for military construction projects for Guam. It’s just the start of the $4 billion the U.S. has said it will spend for military projects on the island related to the transfer of several major Marine commands to Guam by 2014.

Included in the $787 million are $48 million for highway construction, $167 million for improvements to Apra Harbor and $259 to begin construction of a more modern naval hospital.

The total cost of the relocation project has been pegged at $10.27 billion, with Japan picking up $6.07 billion, or 59 percent, of the cost.

Japan’s House of Representatives approved $2.8 billion last month for the Guam project.

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US$787 million proposed for military construction projects on Guam

President Obama’s 2010 budget submission includes US$787 million in military construction projects on Guam.

Guam Delegate to the US Congress Madeleine Bordallo said that the funding targets key initial infrastructure to support the military buildup.

She said of particular importance is the $48 million in Defence Access Roads funding that will be used to improve the haul and access road network on Guam.

Additionally, the Department of Defence has programmed $259 million to begin construction of a more modern Naval Hospital that will ultimately provide better health care facilities and increased specialty care capacity for Guam.

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