Guam lawmakers two years ago introduced, but did not pass, a bill that would have allowed Guam voters to state whether they support the military buildup and whether public land should be leased to the military.
Since then, they have sent the federal government, including the president, Cabinet members and Congress, several buildup-related messages of their own, "on behalf of the people of Guam," through legislative resolutions.
Some of those messages are:
•The pending military buildup "gravely and impermissibly imperils the human rights" of the island's Chamorro people and threatens them "in near ethnocide proportions"; and
•The buildup should not happen unless the federal government pays the island for war claims and examines and resolves "other federal/territorial issues," such as the island's political status, unfavorable transportation policies and funding caps on Medicaid and Medicare.
"The community should have the right to determine whether or not they are in favor of the military buildup through a special election," Vice Speaker Benjamin Cruz, D-Piti, stated two years ago in his election bill's committee report.
The bill had a public hearing but never made it to session for debate and wasn't one of the 239 laws passed by Guam senators during that two-year term.
If the bill had become law, the buildup-related election results would have been presented to the president, Congress, the military and the Interior Department.
Cruz, during the Legislative speaker's address last week, argued that it doesn't matter what local senators say about the buildup. He said a recent status report to Congress about the Guam buildup doesn't mention "the myriad of resolutions" and letters passed and sent by local lawmakers, and the buildup has stalled because of other reasons.
Resolutions
The Legislature passes dozens of resolutions a year, sending mostly congratulatory messages on behalf of the people of Guam. There is no public hearing process for legislative resolutions and no opportunity for residents to weigh in on those messages.
Six legislative resolutions during the past two Legislatures have been sent to federal officials, sending Guam's message about the buildup on behalf of island residents. Two other resolutions, asking for support to increase the island's prevailing wage, and to give Guam's delegate a vote in Congress, both in connection with the buildup, were introduced but never passed.
Most of the buildup-related resolutions were passed during the last Legislature, which served from 2009 to 2010.
The current Legislature has passed only one buildup resolution, by Sen. Rory Respicio, D-Agana Heights, stating "there will always be resistance from (the Legislature) and the people of Guam" toward an expanded military presence that does not consider the constraints it places on the island.
Respicio's resolution says the people of Guam can't be convinced the military is serious about their concerns unless "measurable progress" is made on the following issues: self-determination; political status; war reparations; unreturned ancestral lands; cleanup of military-created environmental hazards; and treatment of health problems caused by those hazards. The resolution notes those issues aren't "specifically connected to the buildup," but they strain the relationship between the federal government and Guam.
The people of Guam will be ready to embrace the buildup when they are treated equally and with the dignity they deserve, the resolution states.
War claims
The payment of war claims to Guam, to compensate residents who survived the Japanese occupation of the island during World War II, has been one of the issues that local lawmakers have linked to the buildup.
It is mentioned in two of the eight resolutions. Congress more than two years ago was poised to approve the payment of war claims to some residents, but Guam's congressional delegate turned it down.
Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo in October 2009 rejected a federal budget proposal that would have allowed war claims to be paid to living survivors of the Japanese occupation.
Bordallo was holding out for more war claims funding -- to also pay the families of occupation survivors who have since died -- and said there would be more opportunities to include war claims in the federal budget. Congress hasn't included war claims for Guam in any final budget since then.
Sen. Judith Guthertz in 2009 proposed an alternative way to collect money for war claims and other debts she said Guam is owed by the federal government.
She introduced a bill that would have spent $5 million in federal grant money to install 24-hour toll booths at the entrances to the island's military bases and all other federal facilities, charging fees to federal employees and dependents who go in and out.
Some local lawmakers also have sent the message that the people of Guam are offended when visiting federal officials don't meet with the Legislature while on island.
Sen. Frank Blas Jr., R-Barrigada, in 2009 sent a letter to then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, complaining that Mabus didn't meet with the Legislature during his recent trip to Guam.
Blas, in his letter, said Mabus' "refusal to acknowledge" the Guam Legislature adds to the number of federal and military officials "who have chosen to continually offend the people of Guam and not take their concerns seriously."
Blas is running for the office of Guam's Delegate to Congress.
Although he didn't meet with local senators while on island, Mabus did meet with the governor and had dinner with several members of the Guam Chamber of Commerce.
Source: http://www.guampdn.com/article/20120305/NEWS01/203050303/-1/NLETTER01/Senators-send-messages--Resolutions-speak-to-federal-government-on-buildup?source=nletter-news
No comments:
Post a Comment