[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 174 (Monday, December 5, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1590-E1591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONFERENCE REPORT ON S. 2943, NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR 
                            FISCAL YEAR 2017

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, December 2, 2016

  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on the Fiscal Year 2017 
National Defense Authorization Act, which was passed by a 375-34 vote 
on Friday. I commend Chairman Thornberry, Ranking Member Smith and the 
committee staff who worked many long nights on the FY17 NDAA. I worked 
with Mr. Smith and members of the committee, particularly Readiness 
Chairman Rob Wittman, to include a number of provisions and funding 
levels that will address certain readiness shortfalls and continue to 
support the Asia-Pacific Rebalance.
  This conference agreement, along with the House report passed in May, 
includes a number of provisions that are particularly important for the 
people of Guam. Over the past few months of negotiations, we were able 
to secure the provision that authorizes the payment of claims to the 
survivors of the occupation of Guam during World War II and the heirs 
of those who were killed during the occupation. During World War II, 
Guam was the only U.S. civilian population occupied by Japan, and 
during this time our people were subjected to rape, torture, assault, 
murder, and other inhumane atrocities. The provision does not add to 
federal spending and utilizes mandatory federal spending provided only 
to the Government of Guam for taxes paid by federal personnel stationed 
on Guam. This is an important step towards recognizing the men, women, 
and children who endured injustice yet remained and remain loyal and 
patriotic Americans, and its inclusion this year is a hard fought 
victory for the people of Guam. I look forward to working with the 
Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, the Trump Administration and 
stakeholders on Guam to ensure that the war claims program is 
implemented in a fair, transparent and equitable manner. I will work to 
ensure the process is as clear to the people of Guam as possible so 
that we can truly bring closure to this matter.
  We also successfully repealed the remaining restrictions on civilian 
infrastructure projects related to water and wastewater, as well as the 
construction of a cultural artifact repository, and authorized $67.5 
million for these investments. This bill also authorizes military 
infrastructure projects, including full funding for six military 
construction projects for housing, munitions, and power infrastructure 
development. These projects total nearly $250 million and demonstrate 
further the continued commitment of the U.S. government to the Guam 
build-up and the realignment of Marines.
  At the same time, this build-up must continue to reflect the 2011 
Four Pillars agreement that commits the Navy to being a responsible 
community partner. Because of local concerns raised about land returns 
and how that will be calculated and tracked, we hold the Navy 
accountable to its ``Net Negative'' commitment by including in this 
bill a reporting requirement on past, current, and future Navy land 
usage on Guam. It is important that we have a mutual understanding 
about what lands will be returned to ensure that the Navy's commitment 
to hold no more land than it already has is upheld.
  There are other challenges associated with the Guam build-up that are 
addressed this year. The Senate Judiciary Committee majority objected 
to the House-passed provision that would address workforce challenges 
affecting the health care and construction industries by providing 
flexibility to U.S. Customs and Immigration Services as it evaluates H-
2B visa renewal applications. These industries directly support the 
military mission on Guam and having an inadequate workforce on island 
could negatively impact our national security. However, in order to 
gather additional data and continue to build the argument in order to 
address the situation in the coming year, there is a reporting 
requirement that asks the Navy to document the mission specific impacts 
of a reduced workforce associated with increased denials of these 
applications. I am deeply disappointed that this tailored provision was 
not ultimately included in the Conference Report but I will work with 
the Department of Defense to address this matter in next year's defense 
bill or any other appropriate legislation next year. Immediately, I 
will work with USCIS to see if any additional emergency authorities 
exist to find a temporary solution to the matter so that we do not hold 
up military construction projects. We must find a more permanent 
solution to the repeated denials of H-2B labor on Guam so we can have a 
stable and consistent workforce to meet construction timelines and 
provide critical health care to the military and residents of Guam.
  Additionally, ballooning cost estimates and associated scheduling 
delays because of Navy requirements for clearance of munitions and 
explosives of concern have disrupted numerous projects and need to be 
addressed. While the Navy has demonstrated a commitment to finding a 
balance that assures public safety while eliminating unnecessary, 
burdensome, and duplicative requirements, there is more that needs to 
be done. Early next spring. I expect the Navy to brief us on steps they 
are taking to mitigate redundancies and find acceptable efficiencies 
and we will continue to track this issue closely.
  Additionally, this bill mandates a review of distinguished Asian 
American and Pacific Islander war heroes who may have been unjustly 
overlooked in consideration of the Medal of Honor. I especially want to 
thank Ranking Member Smith for his leadership on issues important to 
Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and working to get that 
provision included in the Conference report. This review was first 
conducted for AAPIs who served during World War II, but did not include 
those who served during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Similar reviews 
have been conducted for African, Jewish, and Hispanic Americans and I 
believe that it is prudent to also conduct a comprehensive review for 
AAPIs who may have faced similar discrimination. It's important we 
appropriately recognize those who have given so much in support of our 
freedoms.
  There are numerous provisions in this year's NDAA which help develop 
or restate our national security priorities in the Asia-Pacific region. 
We included several provisions which aim to help continue to build our 
relationship with Taiwan, including requiring a feasibility report on 
replenishment stops for Taiwanese

[[Page E1591]]

midshipmen during their annual exercise in the Pacific as well as 
encouraging the U.S. and Taiwan to work together to engage in senior 
military leader exchanges. These will help build our bilateral 
relationship and provide opportunities for mutual exchange of 
information and training. This relationship will continue to be a 
critical asset for U.S. engagement in the region. We also seek to 
clarify and document aerial and maritime freedom of navigation 
operations in the South China Sea. This requirement tasks the Navy and 
Air Force with reporting quarterly on important details pertaining to 
individual operations which are meant to challenge claims to disputed 
islands in the region and ensure freedom of navigation for all vessels 
and aircraft. Additionally, this report expresses a Sense of Congress 
in support of trilateral cooperation between the United States, Japan, 
and South Korea. Japan and South Korea are important American allies in 
the region and have taken steps to rebuild their bilateral 
relationship, which the U.S. must continue to encourage and foster. As 
we continue a unified approach to countering nuclear proliferation in 
North Korea, as well as deterring and destroying threats emanating from 
the unstable regime, there are opportunities to leverage the Guam 
National Guard in defense of the homeland. Building on discussions I 
have had with senior Army leaders, the bill report encourages the 
Department of the Army and the National Guard Bureau to ensure that 
there are resources made available in the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget to 
integrate the Guam Army National Guard into the security force mission 
for the THAAD deployed to Guam. Not only does this mission fit 
perfectly into the Total Force integration for which the Army has been 
an advocate, it contributes to Active and Reserve Component readiness, 
and enables the National Guard to utilize their capabilities for the 
homeland defense mission.
  The bill also continues to promote invasive specific prevention and 
management and regional biosecurity issues and complements 
appropriations legislation for the Department of Agriculture and the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which require briefing 
on the Regional Biosecurity Plan on recommendations that will minimize 
the harmful ecological, social, cultural, and economic impacts of 
invasive species. This will encourage the Department of Defense and 
other federal agencies to make progress on implementation of high 
priority proposals contained within the Plan.
  Finally, this bill provides critical funding for a number of 
Department of Defense programs that are important to Guam, the Asia-
Pacific rebalance, and our broader national security interests. We 
provide critical funding to the Long Range Strike Bomber program and 
additional funding to keep the fielding of the MQ-4 program on track. 
There is also $15 million in additional funding for the Readiness and 
Environmental Protection Integration Program. Though there needs to be 
greater allocation of resources for critical programs such as the 
National Guard State Partnership Program and the Naval Sea Cadet Corps, 
we were able to protect the President's Budget Request. However, these 
programs and their significant return on investment merit greater 
funding contributions.

                          ____________________