Bordallo Attends White House Signing Ceremony For 2010 Defense Authorization Act

By Jeff Marchesseault

GUAM - Guam Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo made the list of invites to today's momentous White House signing ceremony for the $680 billion Defense Authorization Act of 2010. The  new law marks a clear-cut departure from a tradition of largesse that President Obama and his top military advisers railed against in their fight to trim expenses to start building a leaner, more tactical military that is less saddled by unnecessary expense.

Bordallo joined several Washington, D.C. colleagues from both sides of the aisle and both houses of Congress for the occasion.

Guam's share of the budget totals $734 million. Every penny of those dollars is dedicated to military operations supporting the island's longterm armed forces buildup beginning this fiscal year. Construction that makes way for the transplant of 8,000 Okinawa-based U.S. Marines to Guam is slated to get underway sometime between next summer and next fall on island, as Japan's new government decides how to readdress the transfer of a U.S. air base.

Japan's just-installed premier has yet to commit to relocating the base from its present site in Futenma to the new location near Camp Schwab in coastal Nago, Okinawa, as prescribed in his nation's a 2006 bilateral accord with the U.S. He wants to wait until some unknown time after President Obama's mid-November Tokyo visit to announce a new plan, projected to be ready by the end of this calendar year -- a proposal that may or may not stick to the original agreement or that may depart from it substantially enough to complicate or delay progress on Guam's buildup. The Okinawa air base transfer and the Marines' move to Guam are inextricably and strategically linked.

Recently, a visiting Department of Defense official acknowledged that Guam's civilian-side buildup needs must be addressed before the Pentagon's installation plans can proceed much further. After expressing grievances about not having enough alloted time, nor the qualified resources, nor the necessary funding to fully weigh the meaning behind the federal government's 8,000-page Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the military buildup, the Department of Defense is beginning to show signs that it will help Guam translate this voluminous, arcane document. In fact, the Joint Guam Program Office will begin briefing local news organizations on the DEIS next week.

Meanwhile, several key White House and Washington-area officials have been invited to a Guam Military Buildup conference on island, including the President himself, just following Mr. Obama's visit to Tokyo. It isn't yet clear who will attend.

Here is the official news release from the Congresswoman Bordallo's Washington, D.C. Office:

Congresswoman Bordallo Attends White House Signing Ceremony On Defense Bill

The FY10 NDAA authorizes spending and sets policy for the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2010. The bill also provides the Department of Defense with $550.2 billion in budget authority while authorizing $130 billion to support defense operations overseas. Servicemembers will receive a 3.4% increase in their pay, a 0.5% increase over the President's Budget. Moreover, the FY10 NDAA provides for significant military construction funding for Guam in support of the Guam International Agreement. Specifically, the bill authorizes $734,154,000 in military construction on Guam for the current fiscal year.

The FY10 NDAA also includes a provision that prohibits any inpatient fee increases for TRICARE beneficiaries for fiscal year 2010. This provision was added in response to a recent Department of Defense announcement that inpatient co-pay would be increased by 20% for retirees on TRICARE standard. The bill also builds on the provisions from the previous defense authorization bill to ensure greater oversight and accountability of the military build-up on Guam. In particular, it designates the Deputy Secretary of Defense as the leader of the Department of Defense's federal government interagency efforts.

"This bill reaffirms the Congress's and this Administration's commitment to the military build-up on Guam," Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo said today. "It authorizes $734 million in military construction projects on Guam, which are critical projects to prepare for the realignment of Marines from Okinawa. This bill includes provisions to protect our local workforce by requiring contractors to ensure that reasonable efforts are taken to hire U.S. workers before foreign guest workers are certified. The FY10 NDAA also protects our military retirees by prohibiting any inpatient fee increases for TRICARE beneficiaries. I thank Chairman Ike Skelton, Congressman Solomon Ortiz, and Committee leadership for their work on this bill, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to make sure that the military build-up on Guam is done right and benefits our local community."

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