An Open Message to Members of Congress
To Support the Agreed Implementation Plan
By Eddie Baza Calvo, Governor of Guam

Dear Members of Congress,

As you go about restructuring the finances of the United States government, I ask that you place due consideration to a well-researched, well-justified national security strategy that involves, at its center, a realignment of armed forces to Guam. As it has been planned for the past decade, it is central to United States and global security for the next century. The outcome of this strategy will sustain our security well beyond the effects of the current budget malaise in Washington.

I appreciate what you and the President are doing. You are trying to make very hard decisions that will keep the people's federal government solvent for generations to come.

The question we, as Americans, ask is this: "Is our security priceless?" There's a simple answer to this. "Of course not." Otherwise, cutting the security budget wouldn't be a debate in Congress. What then lingers is, ‘how much is Congress willing to invest to keep the American people safe? How much will Congress invest so that future generations won't be burdened with expensive mistakes made today?' The funding constraints should not be limited to what is happening now. It should anticipate how the decisions made today will affect spending in the future.

I know Guam is far out of sight and out of mind for many Americans, and perhaps for many Congressmen and Senators. But I think it's important you know why Guam has always been important to the country. Yes, we contribute. Yes, we are loyal and proud Americans, grateful for our citizenship and our inclusion into the Union, albeit through an unincorporated territorial status. But from the conquest of Guam in 1898 from Spain, it's been clear that Guam is critical to American interests because of its location.

Guam may be 12 flight hours from Los Angeles, but in our backyard is the fastest-growing region in the world. This includes some of the greatest threats to American security, some with missiles that clearly can reach our island and the host of American allies in Asia. No American community is closer to all of this than Guam.

Our location hasn't changed. What has changed is the world around our piece of American Pacific paradise. Guam is no longer important just for national security. The countries around us will no longer be considered third-world trouble spots as they've been known through the Cold War and after. No. Not in the coming century or the foreseeable future. You see, nations once ruled by autocratic leaders have since paved the way for democratic rule. For decades, Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore, India, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia have been investing heavily in their infrastructure and in education. After some time, they have successfully crafted emerging economies built by the ingenuity of their unique systems of government interacting with the private sector. They created human resources that are on the cutting edge of technology, diplomacy and, soon enough, military emergence.

The emerging economic powers of the world are right in our backyard. And because of the huge U.S. trade deficit, they are holding mountains of U.S. money. Our country imports Asian goods faster than we export to them. That trend can continue, or, we can start reversing it by breaking the link in that chain. We can begin to send more Asian capital to America through the center of its Pacific connection – Guam. From our shores, we can export tourism, fiber-optic connectivity, transshipment of Asian goods and much more. The spending of Asian capital through our island will mean one thing for the country: offset of the trade imbalance that means more job opportunities for the American people who will benefit from the industries involved. Guam may be far away, but it is linked as closely to the federal banking system as Dallas, Jackson, Seattle or any other U.S. city is. We are America in Asia.

Think of Guam as America's gateway to Asia, and Asia's gateway to our country. This is what we can do for our country if the military realignment is allowed to continue. The crafters of this strategy I'm sure did not develop it in the vacuum of Defense posture for the generation of yesterday and today. The need for stronger military presence in Asia, on American soil, runs the gamut of United States military, economic, political and diplomatic interests for generations to come.

This isn't just about the building of a base. This is about the future of U.S. strength in the fastest-growing part of the world. We are prepared to do our part for the country… for the future of the American people in what should be another American century of prosperity. All you have to do is make the investment.

I respectfully ask the Congress to give due consideration to the U.S. Departments of State and Defense as this realignment moves forward. Please make the investment into the Agreed Implementation Plan. Your decisions will span the prosperity of American generations who have yet to be born.

Thank you and God bless the United States of America.

WATCH GOVERNOR CALVO'S MESSAGE