by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - Senator John McCain has made no secret of his criticism of the funding for the military buildup in Guam, and today during debate on a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through the end of September. He complained about a provision included in the resolution that provides funding for projects outside the fence.

Senator McCain went off on funding for Guam as well as other projects which he believes were snuck into the bill. He called them "egregious" in light of sequestration. Senator McCain said he only received the bill last night, saying, "What we have what we have crammed into this 587-page bill? $120 million for a public regional health laboratory and civilian wastewater improvements on Guam, why? Why? I ask my friend from Alabama why would you directly contradict the authorization bill that was just passed that said no money would be given to Guam for these purposes until such time as we had developed the strategy for the base realignment in Guam?"

Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid took offense to Senator McCain's comments, saying he has had the 587 page bill for days now to review and said that Senator McCain should look in the mirror when criticizing senate leadership.

Following McCain's statement today Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo fired off a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee expressing her concerns about his opposition to civilian infrastructure funding for Guam in the continuing resolution. Bordallo said a portion of the funding was passed by the house and has the support of the Obama Administration.

She added that if we are to support the strategic imperative to rebalance our military posture in the Asia Pacific Region, then it is critical to ensure we can support our current and future presence. She added that if we are serious about this rebalance then we have clear precedence to support civilian infrastructure on Guam. She added this appropriation measure matches rhetoric with action. It supports the rebalance and provides the necessary support to sustain the rebalance with actual funding, "Senator McCain seems content to say he supports the rebalance without actually putting money into critical needs for the Guam realignment."