DOD has not signed contract for independent study
It's not just local leaders frustrated with slow-to-no information on the status of the Marines' relocation from Okinawa to Guam, but also members of the U.S. Senate.
By KUAM NewsGuam - It's not just local leaders frustrated with slow-to-no information on the status of the Marines' relocation from Okinawa to Guam, but also members of the U.S. Senate. "I'm not going to let you continue to slow walk us on this issue," stated Senator John McCain.
During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Friday Senators McCain, Carl Levin, and Jim Webb weren't pleased with what they heard from officials from the Department of Defense. "Secretary, I assume you're familiar with that statutory requirement," Levin charged.
As part of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, funding was frozen for the Marines' relocation from Okinawa to Guam until several conditions are met such as an independent assessment of the U.S. force posture in East Asia and the Pacific Region.
Levin continued, "Secretary, do you know if an independent entity has been selected yet to conduct that statutorily required assessment?" Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy, said, "Senator my understanding is that the Department of Defense has selected someone I don't know if the contract has been signed to do that."
Levin, McCain and Webb included the provision in the 2012 NDAA as a means to get a grip and understanding of escalating costs for the Marines' realignment. By law the independent study is supposed to be turned in to the Defense Department by then end of this month. Mabus said the contract for the study wasn't under his purview.
McCain said, "I see it's somebody else's responsibility. I wanna tell you for sure that until we get that independent assessment there should be no concrete plans made by the secretary of defense or the Defense Department. Until we get a chance to examine an independent assessment and then go through the authorization process for any expenditure of funds that need to be made in order to get this redeployment issue into some kind of sanity. And believe me, we acted is our responsibility because of our intense frustration over the lack of progress on this issue."
Just as displeased, Senator Webb, who clarifies that he continues to support an expanded Marine Corps' presence in the territory, including rotational units, but contends the Department of Defense must first confirm the preferred laydown for Marines in the Pacific Region and provide a master plan for military construction on Guam necessary to support it.
"This is not a small thing, as you know," said Webb. "We are not in any way up here attempting to kill the program; we are trying to un-stick it." Webb added that talks regarding the realignment of forces has spanned different administrations over 15 years and that its time to get it going. "We know this needs to be redone, but I cannot emphasize strongly enough how important it is that first of all, the law be obeyed and second of all that we reach an endpoint on this for the good of our strategic posture in that part of the world, and also for our relations with the Japanese and the people of Guam," he said.
For the time being, discussions on the Marines relocation from Okinawa to Guam continue between the United States and Japan governments. Senator Webb meanwhile said he will be traveling to Japan next month, with no word on whether he'll be revisiting Guam.