U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations

Introduction

Senator Hutchison, Senator Feinstein, and distinguished committee members, I am honored to appear before you as Commander United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, and United States Forces Korea. I want to express our deep gratitude to Congress for your support to our forces serving in Korea. Our ability to accomplish the mission in Korea has been possible because of the help you provided. Over the last year, we have had many legislators and their staffs visit Korea. They spent time with our service members hearing about their concerns, and seeing the living and working conditions firsthand. With your support we have made significant quality of life improvements such as workplace renovation, housing upgrades, and providing internet access in our libraries, day rooms and community centers. However, there is much more to be done. Your efforts and personal involvement made a tremendous impact on our people. On behalf of all the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Department of Defense civilians serving in Korea, I thank you for your continued support. This has been an extraordinary year in Korea. 2002 marked the fourth democratic transfer of power in the Republic of Korea, renewed South Korean efforts toward inter-Korean reconciliation, and the first World Cup hosted in Asia. In contrast, there were some discouraging incidents such as North Korea’s calculated armistice violation in the West Sea, exposure of the North Korean nuclear weapons programs, a tragic training accident in June, and cyclic rise of anti-United States Forces Korea sentiment. North Korea attempted to split the Republic of Korea-United States Alliance by exploiting these events. Our Alliance weathered these challenges and continues to serve as the foundation for peace and security throughout Northeast Asia. These incidents have firmly reinforced three points: the consequences of events in Korea affect the entire world, continued United States presence in Northeast Asia is critical to regional stability, and the Republic of Korea-United States Alliance is essential to regional security. Consolidating to Enduring Installations This year is a unique opportunity to significantly improve readiness and overall quality of life in Korea. We are committed to consolidating our dispersed and inefficient legacy installations into hubs of enduring installations that position units where they can best accomplish their assigned missions (Figure 1). Moreover, this effort is a crucial step toward solving systemic issues related to encroachment; decaying infrastructure; overcrowded and inadequate housing; and deficient force protection design. Momentum in three major programs facilitate this consolidation effort: Yongsan relocation; Land Partnership Plan; and the Future of the Republic of Korea—United States Alliance Policy Initiative. Yongsan relocation has received renewed attention this year. Under the original 1990 Yongsan relocation agreement, the Republic of Korea committed to fully fund the movement of United States Forces Korea units out of central Seoul. For a variety of reasons, relocation of Yongsan languished until the current Korean government placed heavy emphasis on moving national government functions out of Seoul. Party as a result of the Roh administration’s emphasis, we now have agreement-in-principle to accelerate Yongsan relocation. Next month we expect to complete the Yongsan relocation facilities master plan. The Republic of Korea will pay all costs associated with Yongsan relocation. We are aggressively working with the Republic of Korea government to decide the details of timing and final facilities for Yongsan relocation under the terms of the original agreements. Land Partnership Plan, in its first year of execution, is the principle instrument for consolidating our 41 major installations. Approved by the Ministry of National Defense in March 2002 and ratified by the National Assembly in November 2002, Land Partnership Plan has the full support of the Korean government and will ensure stable stationing for United States Forces Korea. Land Partnership Plan depends heavily on predictable military construction funding because the needed facilities are funded by a combination of United States military construction and host nation funded construction. Land Partnership Plan is a comprehensive, durable framework for United States Forces Korea stationing. It returns half of the land (32,000 acres) granted to United States Forces Korea under the Status of Forces agreement. In exchange, the Republic of Korea government must procure the land needed to expand our enduring installations. These land parcels accommodate new facilities construction and provide easements that reduce encroachment and improve force protection. Moreover, Land Partnership Plan has the flexibility needed to accommodate refinements in force structure or stationing to achieve efficiencies identified through the Future of the Republic of Korea—United States Alliance Policy Initiative. The Future of the Alliance Policy Initiative is a series of high-level consultations designed to strengthen the Alliance, enhance deterrence, shape future roles, missions, and functions for the combined military forces, and establish a stable stationing plan for United States Forces Korea. During these talks, the Republic of Korea confirmed the agreement to consolidate United States Forces Korea into hubs of enduring installations and to refine the Land Partnership Plan to implement a stable stationing plan. The details of the consolidation will be developed in subsequent meetings between the Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in conjunction with the United States Office of the Secretary of Defense and State Department. With these three innovative programs, I am confident that we can implement our military construction plan to enhance readiness; achieve efficiencies; guarantee force protection; and improve overall quality of life. Your support to stable military construction budgets for projects in the Future Year’s Defense Plan is essential to bringing this plan to fruition. Today I will address current and future requirements in the context of: the Northeast Asia security environment; the Republic of Korea today; the North Korean challenge to regional and global security; the Republic of Korea-United States Alliance; and the Fix Korea Strategy. The Northeast Asia Security Environment Northeast Asia is a nexus of economic might, competing interests, converging threats, cultures, and historical animosities. Over 17 percent of the world’s trade value is with countries in Northeast Asia, and United States trade with the region (over $414 Billion) is second only to our trade with the North American Free Trade Association. Many of the nations in the region—China, Japan, Russia, and the Republic of Korea—are contending for economic and political influence. Enduring cultural and historical animosities remain a dynamic political force. This region marks the convergence of five of the world’s six largest militaries, and three of the five declared nuclear powers. Today, the current military demarcation line between North and South Korea is the most heavily armed in the world and remains an arena for confrontation. North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and proliferation of missile technology threatens global and regional stability. United States presence in Korea demonstrates our firm commitment to defend democratic values and prevent our enemies from threatening us–and our partners–with weapons of mass destruction. Our forces in Korea send the clear message that we will stand with our allies and friends to provide the stability that promotes prosperity and democratic values. The Republic of Korea Today The Republic of Korea today is fast becoming a global economic competitor. In 2002 the Republic of Korea’s economy grew six percent while boasting the world’s 11th largest Gross Domestic Product and third largest cash reserves. The Republic of Korea’s vision of the future is to diversify its economy by becoming the “transportation, financial, and information technology hub of Northeast Asia”. This vision seeks to route Northeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas trade through South Korea using an inter-Korean transportation system. Inter-Korean initiatives begun by former President Kim, Dae Jung and continued by President Roh, Moo Hyun pursue reconciliation for cultural, economic, and humanitarian reasons. The Republic of Korea’s engagement policies toward North Korea profoundly affect how South Koreans view their relations with the United States and North Korea. Many South Koreans under age 45, a generation that has lived in an era of peace, prosperity, and democratic freedoms, have a diminished perception of the North Korean threat. These South Koreans see North Korea not as a threat but rather as a Korean neighbor, potential trading partner and a country that provides access to expanded Eurasian markets. This view of North Korea contrasts with America’s view that North Korea is a threat to regional and global stability. This divergent perception of North Korea, coupled with strong national pride, has been a cause of periodic tension in the Republic of Korea-United States Alliance. There have always been groups in the Republic of Korea that are critical of United States policy and claim that the United States hinders inter-Korean reconciliation. Demonstrations against American policy and military presence increased sharply during this year’s Republic of Korea presidential election. Political interest groups made claims of inequity in the Republic of Korea-United States alliance a central issue during the presidential campaign. Opposition groups exploited a United States military court’s acquittal of two American soldiers charged with negligent homicide in the tragic training accident that claimed the lives of two South Korean schoolgirls last June. Non-governmental organizations asserted that the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) was unjust and that the acquitted soldiers should have been tried in a Republic of Korea court rather than by a United States military court. During the presidential election campaign, these groups used biased and inaccurate media reporting to inflame anti-United States Forces Korea sentiments and mobilize demonstrations, a traditional tool of political protest in the Republic of Korea. Regrettably, several of these protests turned violent. Since the December 2002 Republic of Korea presidential election, anti-United States Forces Korea demonstrations have virtually disappeared, due in large part to positive steps taken by United States Forces-Korea, the United States Embassy, and the Republic of Korea government. Shortly after his election, President Roh, Moo Hyun voiced support for a strong Republic of Korea-United States alliance and continued United States military presence in Korea even after reconciliation. Since the presidential election, pro-American groups in the Republic of Korea have conducted demonstrations, some as large as 100,000 people, supporting the continued stationing of United States forces in the Republic of Korea. The future of the Alliance involves the Republic of Korea assuming the predominant role in its defense and increasing both Republic of Korea and United States involvement in regional security cooperation. I firmly believe that we have an opportunity to revitalize the Alliance, by closely examining the roles, missions, capabilities, force structure, and stationing of our respective forces. The Republic of Korea’s support to global military operations The Republic of Korea has continued their support for US-led operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Republic of Korea’s National Assembly has extended its mandate and increased its commitment of support forces to Operation ENDURING FREEDOM through December 2003. Today Republic of Korea liaison officers are planning and coordinating with their United States counterparts at both Central Command and Pacific Command headquarters. The Republic of Korea has provided several contingents of support troops to Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, including a navy transport ship moving essential airfield material to Diego Garcia, four C-130 cargo aircraft to support the United States Pacific Command’s operations, a hospital unit in Afghanistan, and an engineering unit at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. In addition, the government of the Republic of Korea has provided $12 million of their $45 million pledge to fund humanitarian and rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan. In April, with President Roh’s strong endorsement, the Republic of Korea National Assembly approved deployment of troops to the Iraqi theater of operations. The contribution of a 600-man engineering battalion, a 75-man security unit, and a 100-man medical unit to the Iraqi theater of operations bring needed stability operations capabilities to Iraq. Participation in Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM represent another in a long series of Republic of Korea deployments along side United States troops during the past 50 years of our Alliance. North Korean Challenges to Regional and Global Security North Korea is a dangerous dictatorship that continues to pose a direct threat to peace, security, and stability in NEA Northeast Asia. The Kim Regime uses illicit activities to fund the extravagant lifestyles of the inner circle and is using its military capabilities to extort resources from the international community. North Korea poses several threats to global stability: an economy on the brink of failure; an active nuclear weapons program; withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty; growing threat to the world through proliferation of missiles, chemical, and biological weapons technologies and possibly nuclear materials and technology; and large conventional force and special operations force that directly threaten our Allies. North Korean brinksmanship ensures that the Korean Peninsula remains a place of palpable danger, illustrated by the North Korea’s unprovoked attack in the West Sea on 29 June 2002, the restart of the Yongbyon nuclear reactor, and their efforts to develop highly enriched uranium nuclear weapons. North Korea continues to flagrantly violate their international agreements resulting in increased regional tensions. The Republic of Korea and United States forces continue to face the possibility of a high intensity war involving large conventional forces and significant weapons of mass destruction delivered by long-range missiles. North Korea poses a dangerous and complex threat to peace and security on the peninsula and throughout the region. Their growing weapons of mass destruction, missile, and re-vitalized nuclear weapons programs constitute a substantial threat to the world. What’s most dangerous is that they have shown willingness to sell anything to anybody for hard currency. They will continue to support the military at the expense of the general population and extort aid to prop up their failing economy. We see no indications that the Kim Regime will change the policies of brinkmanship and proliferation of missiles and weapons of mass destruction technologies throughout the world. The Republic of Korea—United States Alliance: United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, and United States Forces Korea Since I took command in May 2002, I have had several opportunities to assess the readiness and training of United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, and United States Forces Korea. Key events included response to the West Sea Armistice Violation by North Korea, security for development of the inter-Korean transportation corridors through the Demilitarized Zone, and security support for the 2002 World Cup and Asian Games. United Nations Command Under the mandate of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 82, 83, and 84, the United Nations Command in Seoul provides a standing coalition with 15 member nations to address trans-national interests in regional stability. United Nations Command led the international response to the 29 June 2002 West Sea Armistice violation by the North Koreans. This egregious, unprovoked North Korean attack in the West Sea that sank a Republic of Korea patrol boat, killed 6 and wounded 19 Republic of Korea sailors. The member nations of the United Nations Command promptly issued strong statements denouncing the North Korean aggression. Facing this international censure, North Korea reluctantly expressed regret over the incident and agreed to the first United Nations Command–Korean Peoples Army General Officer talks in almost two years. At the General Officer talks, North Korea guaranteed not to interfere with a United Nations Command-led salvage operation. Under the United Nations flag, the Republic of Korea’s navy successfully salvaged the sunken boat. United Nations Command observers ensured neutrality and transparency of the salvage operation. The strength of the Republic of Korea-United States Alliance, backed by the United Nations Command member nations led to a successful West Sea recovery operation and reinforced the legitimate authority of United Nations Command to enforce the Armistice. United Nations Command again provided a stabilizing force and prevented a dangerous situation from escalating into open hostilities. Following the West Sea salvage operation, the Republic of Korea and North Korea held the Seventh Inter-Korean Ministerial talks, during which they re-invigorated efforts to establish inter-Korean transportation corridors. These corridors allow reconnection of rail lines and roadways through two designated points in the Demilitarized Zone to facilitate inter-Korean humanitarian visits and commerce. To support this Republic of Korean reconciliation initiative, United Nations Command worked closely with the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of National Defense to establish special coordination measures between the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of National Defense and the North Korean People’s Army to speed construction and operation of the transportation corridors while ensuring compliance with the Armistice Agreement and security of the Demilitarized Zone. The first group of passengers crossed the Military Demarcation Line through the eastern corridor on 14 February 2003. This was the first time in 50 years that citizens of the Republic of Korea crossed directly into North Korea and is a clear demonstration of successful cooperation between the Republic of Korea and United Nations Command. Figure 2 illustrates the location of the east and west inter-Korean transportation corridors through the Demilitarized Zone. Combined Forces Command Combined Forces Command ensures the security of the people of the Republic of Korea. Combined Forces Command provides the military force that deters external aggression and stands ready to defeat any external provocation against the Republic of Korea. Combined Forces Command, composed of air, ground, naval, marine, and special operations component, conducts combined training exercises and readiness inspections to maintain the warfighting readiness that is essential to deterrence. The Combined Forces Command headquarters is a fully integrated staff, manned by Republic of Korea and United States military officers. This thoroughly integrated headquarters coordinates the operations that deter external aggression. In 2002, Combined Forces Command assisted with the successful United Nations Command salvage operation in the West Sea and military security support to the World Cup and Asian Games. Leveraging Combined Forces Command wartime operational procedures, United States Forces-Korea and Republic of Korea forces shared information and conducted combined exercises to deter terrorist infiltrators seeking to disrupt the World Cup and Asian Games. Combined Forces Command operated a Crisis Action Response Team to quickly respond to any type of incident. United States Forces-Korea provided unique biological defense assets to augment the Republic of Korea’s military capabilities. Our close cooperation demonstrated the agility of Combined Forces Command to conduct a wide range of operations and ensured a secure 2002 World Cup and Asian Games. United States Forces Korea United States forces in Korea are the tangible demonstration of United States commitment to peace and stability in Korea and throughout Northeast Asia. United States Forces-Korea brings the robust technological superiority, information dominance, and warfighting prowess that buttress the Republic of Korea’s military capabilities. Our forward presence deters North Korean aggression and prevents a devastating war that can only have tragic consequences throughout the region. My command priorities – Ensure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, Readiness and Training, Strengthen the Republic of Korea-United States Alliance, Transform the Command, and Make Korea an Assignment of Choice – focus our resources to maintain the military dominance that ensures deterrence. I want to present my vision of improved readiness and quality of life and the key military construction projects that will need your support. Your continued support is essential to maintaining the balanced readiness that sustains our state-of-the-art warfighting capabilities. Enduring Installations – the cornerstone of balanced readiness Balanced readiness requires functional installations that meet both warfighting requirements and quality of life needs. Our current installations, a legacy of the Cold War, meet neither of these criteria. The existing 41 major bases are dispersed throughout Korea, causing substantial inefficiency in operations, logistics, and life support. For example, our logistics facilities are significantly separated from their operational unit customers, lengthening supply channels and delaying replenishment. Dispersion also impacts quality of life, requiring service members at remote installations to travel between one and four hours to a medical or dental appointment or use a commissary. Our facilities and infrastructure are old—one third of all buildings in the command are between 25 and 50 years old and another one third are classified as temporary buildings. They have deteriorated because of high operational tempo, deferred maintenance, and the 1990-1994 military construction freeze. These deficits underscore the need for stable military construction to achieve consolidation and rectify our facilities shortfalls. Figure 3 illustrates the historical military construction spending in Korea.

Fix Korea Strategy Consolidating into enduring installations is the key to improving readiness and improved quality of life for United States Forces Korea. Our service members in Korea face challenges from decaying support infrastructure, inadequate force protection facilities, overcrowded and inadequate housing, family separation, and financial hardship. Our strategy to maintain readiness and improve the working and living conditions in Korea has six pillars: Sustain and Improve Our Aging Infrastructure, Renovate Where We can, Maximize Build-to-Lease, Minimize Build-to-Own, Achieve Environmental Standards, and Address Inadequate Pay. With your help, we’ve made significant progress implementing this strategy. We have upgraded much of our existing housing and begun construction on several of the needed additional facilities. Stable funding contributes to the strength of each of the strategy pillars. Sustain and Improve our aging facilities and infrastructure The first priority of our strategy is sustaining our existing infrastructure. Providing quality facilities allows our skilled uniformed and civilian personnel to work safely and efficiently. We prioritize Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization funding based on safety of use, mission impact, efficiency, and quality of life to ensure that best return on investment. However, Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization funding levels have resulted in a growing backlog of restoration requirements. Over time, lack of maintenance leads to failure of life support systems and degraded readiness and increases the frequency of emergency repairs. It also leads to increased costs associated with substantial restoration projects. Figure 4 illustrates how lack of proper maintenance required significant repair to one of our many sewer systems. Similar projects have been required to maintain our electrical power distribution, roads, and buildings. Renovate Where We can In addition to sustaining our infrastructure, we are renovating existing structures to provide the capabilities we need. The Fiscal Year 2004 renovation of hardened aircraft shelters at Kunsan air base illustrates this process. This $7 million force protection project is part of a phased plan that repairs the concrete protective structures and utility systems that support our mission critical aircraft. Force protection is a key part of our renovation program. Protecting the force remains essential to operational readiness – I will not compromise the safety of our service members and their families. Although we continue to assess the terrorist threat as low, we remain vigilant and have taken critical steps to improve our security posture. Notable improvements this year have been increasing perimeter security forces, installation of closed circuit television monitors at key access points, fielding Portal Shield chemical and biological detection systems, and conducting intensive anti-terrorism and force protection training exercises. Over the past year we completed a detailed vulnerability assessment of our installations. This assessment identified over 130 major tasks required to comply with anti-terrorism and force protection requirements. Key requirements to improve force protection focus on establishing adequate standoff protection around our key facilities and installations and upgrading structural integrity on mission essential and vulnerable buildings. The total value of these force protection projects is $15 million. We appreciate your support to these programs that protect our service members and improve our warfighting facilities. In addition to workspace improvements, we are also upgrading our family housing, dormitories and barracks. I firmly believe that safe, quality accommodations improves our members’ quality of life, increases their satisfaction with military service, and ultimately leads to increased readiness and retention. With your support, we have continued our housing renovation program and service members across the peninsula are enthusiastic about the results. To continue this initiative in 2004, we will invest another $8 million in family housing. Korea currently has the worst unaccompanied housing in the Department of Defense. Overcrowding and inadequate facilities requires us to house 40 percent of our unaccompanied personnel outside of installations, causing significant force protection concerns. The Air Force Dormitory Master Plan and Army Barracks Upgrade and Buyout Plan allow us to use funds where they are most needed for renovation and construction. Last year we invested $130 million to renovate fourteen barracks buildings across the peninsula. Our plan calls for us to replace the last Quonset hut with permanent facilities by the Department of Defense target of 2008. We need your continued commitment to a stable Military Construction budget to continue our renovation and force protection improvement programs. Use Build-to-Lease As we close facilities during consolidation under Land Partnership Plan, we will need additional facilities on our enduring installations. Build-to-lease is the most cost effective way to improve housing and facilities in Korea. We believe this program, modeled on successful Department of Defense programs in the United States and Europe, provides the answer to many of our quality of life concerns and reduces costs associated with new military construction. We are now exploring build-to-lease units at Camp Humphreys (1500 families) and Camp Walker (500 families) to provide adequate housing for our military and certain key and essential civilian sponsored families. Build-to-Lease uses Korean private sector and Host Nation Funded construction where appropriate. These programs reduce both initial start-up costs and total cost of ownership. Build-to-Lease will enable use to rapidly replace our aging housing infrastructure and to increase our available family housing units. To fully implement the Build-to-Lease plan, I need your help to change the legislative rules on Build-to-Lease. First, we need to increase the maximum family housing lease period from 10 to 15 years and extend the maximum lease duration for support facilities from 5 to 15 years. Build-to-Lease is a “win” for the American service members stationed in Korea because it will significantly raise their quality of life and it is a “win” for the American taxpayer because it reduces the cost of housing improvement for our service members with families. With increasing numbers of married service members, we recognize that high operational tempo and unaccompanied tours are detrimental to overall readiness. We must act now to reduce the perennial problems of family separation and poor quality of life in Korea. We currently provide government owned and leased housing for less than 10 percent of our married service members (1,862 families) compared to more than 70 percent in Europe and Japan. Our goal is to provide quality command-sponsored housing for at least 25 percent of our accompanied service members and their families by 2010. If traditional military construction alone were used to meet this increased demand for housing, it would cost $900 million. Increasing our rate of command sponsorship is an important step to enhance readiness and improve quality of life. Replacing a portion of the current 12-month unaccompanied tours with longer accompanied tours reduces turbulence that affects readiness on and beyond the Korean peninsula. For example, a 24 to 36 month accompanied tour enhances readiness by allowing leaders to develop more enduring and stable working relationships with our Republic of Korea partners. Longer tours in Korea also reduce the turbulence throughout the Services, enhancing readiness in units beyond the peninsula. Accompanied tours, coupled with adequate housing, improve the service member’s quality of life by reducing family separation. I urge you to support all efforts to increase and improve the family housing in Korea. Build-to-Own While “Build-to-Lease” is a promising option, there are some facilities that must be government owned. For example, Build-to-Own provides unaccompanied housing, administrative, operations, logistics, maintenance, and medical facilities that support our core operations requirements. These improvements are sorely needed to improve the efficiency of our enduring installations and the quality of life in Korea. As a key steward of Military Construction in Korea, I assure you that your appropriations will be prudently invested in the enduring installations that will support our service members long into the future. We deeply appreciate your support to 2003 Military Construction ($237 million), which has vastly improved readiness and quality of life. We were able to harden the theater Command Post Tango and to begin construction on 1792 unaccompanied housing units, a new family housing development at Osan air base, and a multi-purpose center at Camp Castle. Even with the great assistance we received in Fiscal Year 2003 we continue to have substandard facilities throughout this command. Our Fiscal Year 2004 military construction projects are prioritized based on their impact on readiness, infrastructure, and quality of life. Table 1 summarizes the major military construction projects for the coming fiscal year. These projects have been re-validated in the Secretary of Defense FY’03-’04 Military Construction budget review as essential facilities. Service Category Project Cost ($Million) Air Force Readiness Upgrade Hardened Aircraft Shelters 7.0 Air Force Housing Dormitory (156 Room) 16.5 Air Force Housing Construct Family Housing Phase II 45.0 Army Housing Barracks Complex 40.0 Army Housing Barracks Complex 35.0 Army Housing Barracks Complex 30.0 In addition to the previously discussed projects to upgrade aircraft shelters at Kunsan, we have also asked for Fiscal Year 2004 Military Construction appropriations that include 111 new family housing units at Osan air base ($45 million) and four new Unaccompanied Enlisted Housing projects ($131.5 million), providing new housing for 888 service members. These projects will reduce the number of service members living in dense urban areas outside our installations, improve force protection and reduce the high out-of-pocket living expenses incurred by service members and their families. They will also allow us to move toward our goal of increasing the command sponsored housing for our accompanied service members and their families. Your continued support to Military Construction in the Future Years Defense Plan enables us to implement our comprehensive construction program that prudently uses resources to correct the significant infrastructure shortfalls on our enduring installations. Achieve Environmental Standards We have made significant strides in environmental custodianship. Caring for our environment is important to me personally and to the command. Our wastewater management has been a great success. Over the last six years, we invested approximately $30 million in ten wastewater systems and we have programmed an additional $12 million for three more systems. Your support to these improvements ensures safe water and a clean environment for all who serve in Korea. We have worked hard with the Republic of Korea-United States team to improve coordination on environmental protection measures and to share lessons learned to protect the environment. In addition, we have implemented innovative procedures that have decreased the operational use of hazardous materials, reducing our storage and disposal requirements. Computer-assisted material management programs allow us to better manage inventory, shift to more environmentally friendly alternative products, and reduce disposal requirements. Other initiatives include recycling used oil and anti-freeze, and an effective battery recovery program that reconditions and returns batteries for use with minimum environmental impact. The most immediate environmental concern is with aging and frequently leaking fuel storage tanks, a legacy of our obsolete infrastructure. We are committed to resolve this problem throughout United States Forces Korea. We have a $100 million program through Defense Energy Support Center to upgrade fuel storage facilities throughout Korea to ensure that we meet environmental standards. To sustain our environmental improvements we need your continued support for environmental projects in 2004. These resources will be wisely invested in our enduring installations under the Land Partnership Plan, resulting in improved stewardship of the environment. In conclusion, I’d like to leave you with these thoughts: Northeast Asia is a critical region for the United States and our partners. The Republic of Korea—United States Alliance and our continued presence in the region demonstrate our commitment to ensure peace and security in the region. Congressional support is vital to our future in Korea and Northeast Asia. We thank you for all that you’ve done. Korea is a better place because of your efforts, and we thank you for all that you’ve done. We have made some significant improvements in quality of life and readiness – investments that increase our efficiency and will support our service members far into the future. However, substantial work remains to be done. To improve family housing and service member quality of life that is essential to morale and readiness, we need to increase Build-to Lease authorities in Korea. We also need stable military construction budgets that support to our critical projects. With your continued support we can implement our plan to make Korea an assignment of choice for all the Services. Land Partnership Plan is an enduring commitment to achieve stable stationing for United States Forces Korea. The momentum provided by the Future of the Republic of Korea—United States Alliance Policy Initiative, ensures that we can establish a stable, enduring stationing plan that improves readiness and overall quality of life. Because the success of Land Partnership Plan depends on stable military construction projects, I assure you that your appropriations will be prudently invested in enduring installations. You can be justifiably proud of all the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and civilians that serve and sacrifice in Korea. Their daily dedication and performance reflect the trust and support that you’ve placed in them. They appreciate your efforts and continued support.