[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 75 (Tuesday, June 13, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1127]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1127]]



                  REFINERY PERMIT PROCESS SCHEDULE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 7, 2006

  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address H.R. 5254. While I 
join my colleagues in recognizing the need for resolving our Nation's 
problematic energy situation, I fear this bill may seek a solution by 
way of shortcuts that will only exacerbate the problem or develop new 
ones.
  I believe most importantly that this bill problematically interferes 
with past base closure and realignment (BRAC) rounds. If nothing else, 
the bill will take away the legal right of communities to determine how 
local bases will be redeveloped. This is inconsistent with the 
principles this Congress has stood for when it comes to the base 
closure process and it is inconsistent with enabling local entities to 
seek what is best for their local communities instead of having those 
in Washington choose it for them.
  Some communities face the possibility of having the power to 
determine how best to utilize lands on closed bases stripped away from 
them and given to the Secretary of Defense. This would jeopardize plans 
these communities have already developed, including projects for which 
they have already invested time and money. Expectations of entire local 
governments and public constituencies could be jeopardized. This is not 
good government.
  The BRAC process has followed a simple and important principle 
associated with base closure: that the transformation of military 
installations to civilian use, once properly closed and environmentally 
cleaned up by the Federal Government, is best left in the hands of the 
community, not the Federal Government. H.R. 5254 would deprive some 
communities of this critical option and undercut this principle.
  A closed military base on Guam has been converted into the Antonio B. 
Won Pat International Airport (GIAA). It is a crucial trade and 
transportation hub in the Western Pacific Region today. Interfering 
with the process that enables successes like the conversion to a 
commercial airport on Guam, a process that is often a difficult one for 
communities faced with job losses and lost economic expenditures from 
base personnel, is bad policy.
  This bill nonetheless would give the Department of Defense the 
ability to flaunt BRAC law and the BRAC process by allowing the 
Secretary of Defense to designate three previously closed bases for the 
construction of oil refineries, themselves assets our Nation does need 
to grow, that could then be transferred to oil companies, potentially 
at no cost, irrespective of local redevelopment plans, irrespective of 
environmental cleanup needed at the base and irrespective of community 
desires and previous planning. I do not support the construction of 
refineries at the expense of local communities. I am confident that 
current law sufficiently incentivizes refinery construction and that 
the oil industry, with record profits, can appropriately seek land and 
locations to construct these resources without having to rely upon land 
on closed military installations.
  I might add that on Guam, H.R. 5254 is redundant. Shell Guam, with a 
large presence on Guam, has repeatedly offered the Department of 
Defense the ability to lease both significant storage facilities and 
refining capacity available on the island. The Department of Defense 
has never acted on this opportunity nor responded to the invitation.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I note that there is currently nothing that 
prevents the building of refineries on closed bases if a community 
chooses to do so. It is my understanding some communities with a closed 
base may even desire to host a refinery. But it should be their choice, 
not the sole decision of the federal government imposed on the local 
community. Those American communities already stricken by the economic 
pains of base closure should not and cannot now find that their 
reliance on BRAC law that enables community choices on how to redevelop 
land on closed bases will have been faulty. I do not believe that our 
country's energy situation can be solved at the expense of these 
communities and therefore am deeply concerned about H.R. 5254.
  I join my colleagues in their concern with our country's over-
reliance on oil, about our lack of refining capacity and about the need 
to develop policy to overcome these challenges. Unfortunately, H.R. 
5254 goes too far and in the wrong direction in an attempt to address 
these challenges.

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