[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 47 (Monday, March 19, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H1657-H1658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                RETURNING LAND TO THE GOVERNMENT OF GUAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Guam (Ms. Bordallo) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce the Guam Land Return Act 
of 2018. For decades, the people of Guam have worked to see their 
ancestral lands returned.
  In Congress, I have made returning land from the Federal Government 
to our territorial government of Guam and Guam families a top priority. 
Since 2003, I have secured return of more than 1,000 acres from the 
Federal Government to the people of Guam.
  My Guam Land Return Act of 2018 would reduce Federal landownership on 
Guam and return those lands to GovGuam and, ultimately, our people. 
This important legislation builds upon the work of my predecessors, 
former Congressman Robert A. Underwood, in particular.
  The Guam Land Return Act would authorize the General Services 
Administration to transfer Federal land, buildings, vehicles, and other 
heavy equipment designated as surplus to GovGuam at no cost to the 
taxpayers. This would provide another avenue for the Federal Government 
to compensate GovGuam for expenses that our territorial government is 
required to bear in serving migrants under the Compact of Free 
Association, known as Compact Impact. It would also ask Federal 
agencies to return more Federal land to GovGuam more quickly.
  The Federal Government must finally live up to its commitment to Guam 
and other affected U.S. jurisdictions with Compact migrant residents. I 
continue working to secure full Federal reimbursements for GovGuam's 
costs in providing local services to Compact migrants.
  Indeed, I have sponsored the Compact Impact Relief Act, H.R. 4761, 
this year.

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I have also championed legislation to reimburse GovGuam for Compact 
Impact at the mandatory $180 million annual level recommended by the 
Government Accountability Office.
  Transfers of valuable surplus Federal property under my Guam Land 
Return Act provide yet another way to increase Federal reimbursement to 
GovGuam for Compact Impact expenses, and these transfers of surplus 
property would occur at no cost to the Federal Government or the 
taxpayers.
  Our island of Guam hosts a substantial U.S. military presence and is 
a strategic forward-facing domestic military base in the important 
Asia-Pacific region. In January of 2011, the U.S. military made a 
commitment to the people of Guam to reduce Federal landownership and 
the military's footprint on Guam. Importantly, the commitment coincides 
with the buildup of American military personnel and base resources on 
Guam, part of the relocation of U.S. Marines from Okinawa, Japan.
  U.S. military and Defense Department leadership under the Trump 
administration have reaffirmed this net-negative commitment to our 
people and to me, personally. Since January of 2011, the Defense 
Department has returned approximately 686 acres to GovGuam.
  My Guam Land Return Act holds the Defense Department accountable for 
meeting the net-negative commitment in full. This legislation would 
require the Secretary of Defense to maintain a public inventory of all 
land parcels the Defense Department expects to ultimately transfer to 
GovGuam under the net-negative commitment.
  My legislation outlines 17 specific Federal land parcels, totalling 
476 acres that should be transferred to GovGuam. The Guam Land Reform 
Act would also provide a public mechanism for the Governor of Guam to 
petition the Defense Department to consider transferring additional 
land parcels to GovGuam under the net-negative commitment.
  Lastly, my legislation includes several provisions relating to 
current and former Federal land on Guam. Two provisions ensure that no-
cost transfers of surplus Federal land and other valuable property do 
not create additional liabilities or public safety concerns for the 
Federal Government relating to environmental cleanup or flight paths 
for air traffic control. One section removes an antiquated Federal 
restriction on 927 acres on Guam's Cabras Island, which GovGuam has 
owned since 1981.
  The people of Guam are patriotic Americans and support our military 
servicemembers and their families and the Nation's veterans, and at the 
same time, the people of Guam want to see their ancestral lands 
returned, and rightfully so.

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