[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 134 (Wednesday, September 25, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1693-E1694]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   DEFENSE BREAKS COMMITMENTS TO GUAM

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 24, 1996

  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, in the past four weeks, Guam has shown 
once again its immense value to the projection of our national 
interests in the western Pacific. Guam is the base that launched the B-
52s against Iraq. Guam is now the temporary home for over 2100 Kurdish 
refugees who were evacuated from Iraq. And Guam may be called on again 
in the coming days to do even more to help with the Kurdish refugees.
  Guam is the reliable partner for United States interests in Asia, 
indeed the world. But recent actions of the Department of Defense 
threaten to undermine this partnership, and to determine the good will 
between the people of Guam and the military.
  Today DoD sent a letter to the Chairman of the House Committee on 
Resources objecting to certain provisions of my bill to return excess 
federal land to the people of Guam. The basis of the DoD objections 
cause us to wonder if any progress has been made in Guam's efforts to 
return excess lands over the past twenty five years.
  In 1993 and again in 1994, I hosted two Guam Land Conferences that 
DoD participated in. The first land conference, held on Guam, allowed 
our people to make a direct plea for land no longer needed by DoD. The 
second conference built on the initial good will as we discussed 
actions to be taken to return land.
  It used to be our common ground to agree that DoD should in fact give 
up land it no longer needs. In preparing for the Guam Land Conferences, 
DoD prepared a comprehensive study detailing its needs for the future--
a study drafted by operational commanders in the Pacific and on Guam. 
Now we learn today that past assurances by a whole array of military 
officials over the past twenty five years are no longer valid. Now we 
learn that DoD does not know what its land needs are, and in fact, 
would rater not return land to the people of Guam, preferring instead 
to give its excess holdings to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
  It is impossible for Guam to make a case for excess lands if we do 
not know what DoD's needs are. It is troubling if DoD does not know 
itself what it needs are. But it is even more ridiculous, if just for 
the sake of the Fish and Wildlife's interests, DoD would now repudiate 
its own report issued just seventeen months ago by the operational 
commands where releasable lands were listed in great detail acre by 
acre.
  We are told today that DoD prefers to give land to the Fish and 
Wildlife Service just so that it may take these lands back at some 
indeterminate point in the future for some unknown contingency.
  Yet, I would point out that all the operational commanders who gave 
their input to the 1994 Guam Land Use Plan did in fact consider all 
their needs for any credible contingency. It is now amazing to me that 
the Department of Defense has surrendered its military planning 
functions to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
  I want to enter into the record the three taskings that the Guam Land 
Use Plan addressed:
  (1) Review the requirements for military land holdings based on 
foreseeable mission taskings and force levels;
  (2) Develop a comprehensive plan for all DoD land requirements on 
Guam which considers combined service use of property where feasible; 
and
  (3) Identify opportunities for functional consolidations and joint 
use arrangements, and address environmental considerations that affect 
land use.
  Nowhere in the Guam Land Use Plan is there any mention of giving 
excess lands to the Fish and Wildlife Service for some unknown 
contingency. But now that Congress is considering legislation to give 
the people of Guam the first right of refusal for any excess Federal 
land, DoD suddenly remembers that this is what they want to do with 
excess lands.
  This is wrong. This is unfair to the people of Guam who have been the 
most accommodating community for the needs of our national security.
  We cannot make progress on land issues on Guam unless we deal with 
the issues in a forthright and open manner. We cannot accept double 
dealing and broken promises. We cannot let a special interest, the 
environmentalists, and their narrow agenda define and not influence the 
entire relationship between the people of Guam and the military bases.
  That is what happened today in the DoD letter to Congress. I hope 
that those who are serious about solving land issues to ensure the 
future good will of the people of Guam to the military presence on our 
island will work with us to undo the damage done by this DoD action. 
After this latest crisis with Iraq passes, Guam will be called upon 
again to serve the national security interest. If we want to have a 
reliable partner in Guam, we have to work to return unneeded land to 
the people of Guam.
                                            General Counsel of the


                                        Department of Defense,

                               Washington, DC, September 24, 1996.
     Hon. Don Young,
     Chairman, Committee on Resources, House of Representatives, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: In response to your request, the 
     Department of Defense provides the following views on H.R. 
     3501, the ``Guam Land Return Act.''
       The Department of Defense opposes enactment of Section 2 of 
     H.R. 3501. Section 2 would give the Government of Guam a 
     priority over Federal agencies with respect to the 
     acquisition of Federal real property declared by one agency 
     to be excess to that agency's needs. Specifically, Section 2 
     would amend the Organic Act of Guam to require the 
     Administrator of GSA to transfer to the Government of Guam, 
     at no cost, all Federal real property on Guam declared excess 
     by any Federal agency, notwithstanding the possibility that 
     another Federal agency may have a demonstrable need for that 
     property. In this way, the proposed bill would, in effect, 
     trump the existing GSA property disposal process.
       Our principal objection to Section 2 is that it represents 
     a piecemeal approach to the resolution of issues currently 
     being discussed with the Guamanians in the context of a draft 
     Guam Commonwealth Act. The Guamanians, through Mr. John 
     Garamendi, Deputy Secretary of the Interior and the 
     Administration's Special Representative for the Guam 
     Commonwealth negotiations, have proposed a draft Guam 
     Commonwealth Act for consideration by interested Federal 
     agencies. (An earlier version of this draft was introduced in 
     the 104th Congress as H.R. 1056, the ``Guam Commonwealth 
     Act''; the draft under consideration in these negotiations 
     has evolved significantly from that which remains before 
     Congress.) The Department of Defense has been actively 
     engaged in discussions and is working with all concerned 
     parties to develop a mutually satisfactory position on all 
     issues presented in the draft Guam Commonwealth Act, 
     including those concurrently presented by Section 2 of this 
     bill. Because the disposition of excess Federal lands on Guam 
     is being addressed in the context of negotiations on the 
     draft Guam Commonwealth Act, and because resolution of this 
     issue is closely linked to other land issues presented by the 
     Guam Commonwealth Act, the Department of Defense believes 
     Congressional action on Section 2 of H.R. 3501 is not 
     appropriate at this time. We recommend instead that this 
     issue be considered only in the context of the more 
     comprehensive Guam Commonwealth discussions. The Department 
     of Defense is committed to making every reasonable effort to 
     reach a mutually satisfactory resolution of all the issues 
     presented by the draft Guam Commonwealth Act, and to that end 
     will continue to participate cooperatively in interagency 
     discussions of that draft Act.
       In the event Congress elects to consider H.R. 3501 outside 
     of the Guam Commonwealth discussions, the Department of 
     Defense has several more specific concerns with enactment of 
     Section 2 as currently drafted.
       The Department of Defense currently relies on the 
     flexibility inherent in the GSA land disposal process to 
     ensure the viability of current and future missions. The 
     existing process allows the Department of Defense to transfer 
     lands not presently being actively

[[Page E1694]]

     managed for core needs (e.g., certain safety and buffer 
     zones) to another Federal agency to further that agency's 
     mission, yet retain the ability both to protect continuing 
     operations on retained lands and, under certain limited 
     circumstances, obtain access to the transferred lands to meet 
     national defense contingencies. This flexibility is 
     critically important to the Department of Defense and the 
     nation. While the Department is quite willing to discuss with 
     Guam alternative ways of providing this needed flexibility, 
     the Department believes these discussions would more 
     profitably take place in the context of the overall Guam 
     Commonwealth proposal.
       In addition, Section 2 is unclear with respect to its 
     effect on existing Federal environmental laws. As currently 
     drafted, it is difficult to reconcile the requirement of 
     Section 2 for the immediate transfer to Guam of all excess 
     federal lands with the requirement of Section 120(h)(3) of 
     the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
     Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) that all necessary 
     environmental cleanup actions be in place and operating 
     successfully before property may be transferred from Federal 
     ownership. In order to meet the requirements of Section 
     120(h)(3) of CERCLA, the Government of Guam must be prepared 
     to wait until all necessary cleanup actions have been taken 
     (which may--depending on the complexity of the situation, the 
     risk presented, and the availability of resources--take 
     several years).
       In summary, the Department of Defense opposes enactment of 
     Section 2 of H.R. 3501 as currently drafted. While we prefer 
     resolving this issue in the context of the Guam commonwealth 
     discussions, if Congress elects to consider H.R. 3501 at this 
     time, we request that it consider the attached redrafting of 
     that bill. I am forwarding a letter expressing similar views 
     on S. 1804 (which contains language identical to Section 2 of 
     H.R. 3501) to Senator Murkowski, Chairman of the Senate 
     Energy and National Resources Committee and Senator McCain, 
     Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Readiness 
     Subcommittee.
       The Office of Management and Budget advises that there is 
     no objection, from the standpoint of the Administration's 
     program, to the presentation of these views for the 
     consideration of the Committee.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Judith A. Miller.

       Enclosure.

                       Guam Land Use Plan Update

       The island of Guam is strategically located at the boundary 
     between the Pacific Ocean and Philippine Sea, and has been an 
     integral part of the U.S. military's base support complex 
     since World War II. Guam is a major logistic, communication, 
     surveillance, and weather center in the Western Pacific, and 
     is becoming more important as a training area for units 
     assigned to the island, as well as transient units.
       The intent of the Guam Land Use Plan Update (GLUP 94) is 
     to:
       Review the requirements for military land holdings based on 
     foreseeable mission taskings and force levels.
       Develop a comprehensive plan for all DOD land requirements 
     on Guam which considers combined service use of property 
     where feasible.
       Identify opportunities for functional consolidations and 
     joint use arrangements, and address environmental 
     considerations that affect land use.
       The study area for GLUP 94 includes all land currently 
     owned by the Department of Defense (DOD) on Guam. This 
     amounts to a total of approximately 44,800 acres of land. Of 
     this, about 24,500 acres are owned by the Navy and 20,300 
     acres are owned by the Air Force. The total DOD land holdings 
     constitute approximately 33 percent of the total land area of 
     Guam.
       Projected base loading requirements provided the major 
     focus for GLUP 94. The Air Force's current personnel loading 
     is 2,500 persons (PN). No personnel loading changes are 
     anticipated in the near- or long-term, although there is a 
     need to maintain an adequate footprint on Guam to accommodate 
     the Air Force's contingency plan for the Pacific Region. The 
     Navy's current authorized personnel loading is 7,700 PN. 
     Reductions in the near-term are expected to occur due to the 
     closure of Naval Air Station (NAS) Agana and the transfer of 
     supply ship operations from military control to the Military 
     Sealift Command (MSC). These actions would result in an 
     estimated loading of 5,600 PN. Based on the recent decision 
     to temporarily relocate the VQ-1 and VQ-5 squadrons to CONUS, 
     this figure will decrease to approximately 4,600 PN. Neither 
     the Air Force nor the Navy have long-term land requirements 
     to accommodate a potential rollback scenario.
       [Note: During the final stages of the preparation of this 
     report, potential changes to baseloading on Guam were 
     announced as part of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) 
     process for 1995. These proposed changes were not 
     incorporated in this report since the final decisions for 
     BRAC 95 will not be final until Fall of this year.]
       DOD land requirements were addressed through analyses of 
     various functional areas. This effort was guided by an 
     overall land use concept which recommended the consolidation 
     of military activities in the northern and southern sectors 
     of the island. Such a concept would create more efficient 
     operations and lower operational costs. The result of the 
     functional analyses was the identification of lands which are 
     currently developed and required for military use, in 
     addition to undeveloped areas that are impacted by DOD 
     missions (i.e., training areas, explosive safety zones, 
     electromagnetic interference/hazard zones, and aircraft 
     safety zones). The process also identified areas not required 
     for DOD mission requirements.
       An overview of land release recommendations is presented in 
     Figure ES-1. Recommendations of this study propose the 
     release or potential release of an estimated 8,207 acres. 
     This includes 3,670 acres of land owned by the Air Force, and 
     4,537 acres owned by the Navy. When combined with 3,200 acres 
     previously identified as excess, the DOD footprint on Guam is 
     projected to decrease by about one fourth.
       Several major steps must be completed prior to final 
     disposal of the property. First, plant account holding 
     activities need to submit reports of excess, environmental 
     certification forms and McKinney Act checklists to the 
     Pacific Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command 
     (PACNAVFACENGCOM) via their chain of command to the major 
     claimant level. Environmental baseline surveys may be 
     prepared to complete the environmental certification forms. 
     The next step is to request Washington, D.C. approvals for 
     disposal actions. Then, legal property descriptions and 
     easement boundaries must be established. The above tasks may 
     require one and two years to complete, respectively. The 
     initial environmental baseline surveys will cost 
     approximately $520,000, and could be higher if follow-up 
     studies are required. The cost of preparing property 
     descriptions will be approximately $300,000.
       Following the environmental baseline surveys, environmental 
     mitigation studies (including clean-up analyses, cultural 
     resource surveys, etc.) would be conducted in order to 
     determine necessary environmental mitigation actions and 
     timeframe for completion. It should be noted that property 
     disposal actions for contaminated areas must be deferred 
     until environmental mitigation studies and clean up actions 
     are completed. For example, any military land listed on the 
     National Priority List (NPL), which includes all land owned 
     by the Air Force on Guam, must be first certified clean by 
     the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
     (EPA).

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