Arriola parallels Obama's speech to Calvo

by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - Governor's chief of staff Frank Arriola was Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo's guest at President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address today in Washington, DC, watching from the House gallery. Arriola said he noticed many similarities between some of the issues the president pushed for in his address and initiatives of Governor Eddie Calvo

"I think a lot of what President Obama was addressing immediately he talked about economic rearmament and that's something Governor Calvo has been talking about with our Fiscal Stabilization Program; we have to take care of our finances first and secondly immediately go into an economic development program, which I thought was an interesting parallel, too. Secondly, I also believe that President Obama's vision of using education to ensure that America reestablishes itself as a premiere economic power.

"Governor Calvo in his Classrooms to Career program, which he's been touting for the past two years, that's also something that he believes is so vital to a solid foundation in economic development I definitely picked up on those two parallels."

Arriola in the meantime is traveling with newly appointed director of the Guam Buildup Office, Mark Calvo. The two have been meeting with various stakeholders in DC about the Marines relocation. Arriola heads to San Francisco tomorrow to meet with FEMA officials and representatives from the Office of Economic Adjustment he will then head to Los Angeles to check in with the Medical Referral Office there.