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<May 4, 2006>
Fiscal Year 2007 National Defense Authorization Passes in House Armed Services Committee Military Construction for Guam Significantly Increased; Important Legislative Language Included for Guam Shipyard FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—May 4, 2006—Washington, D.C.— The House Armed Services Committee passed the Fiscal Year 2007 National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday May 3, 2006. The legislation, which authorizes defense spending and policy, included multiple provisions important to Guam. $510 billion in defense expenditures for fiscal year 2007 was authorized in the bill, which is scheduled to be considered on the House floor next week. “This year’s Defense Authorization includes many provisions important to the men and women serving our nation in uniform, so many of whom are serving overseas in combat zones. While balancing the need for new procurement and research and development, this bill first and foremost continued Congress’s commitment to America’s heroes in uniform and their families.” Authorization to spend over $50 billion dollars next year to support the ongoing combat efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan was included within the bill. Also included in the legislation was language strengthening provisions in U.S. law commonly referred to as “repair American” laws. Following the visit to Guam of Projection Forces Chairman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and Ranking Member Gene Taylor (D-MS), Title 10 of U.S. law was expanded to ensure U.S. Navy ships that may currently be repaired in foreign shipyards will be repaired in safe and secure U.S. ports by skilled U.S. workers and to the benefit of U.S. local economies. This change in law is expected to increase ship repair work at the Guam Shipyard. “With more attention being paid to the Pacific and new security threats in our region, it was important to make a commitment to our country’s industrial base including Guam’s ship repair capacity,” Bordallo said. “When the men and women at the Guam Shipyard repaired the USS SAN FRANCISCO they showed how great a capability they present to our Navy. It was time for our nation and our Navy to protect and grow this capacity and this provision will help do just that.” Congresswoman Bordallo also worked with the committee to secure the inclusion of two provisions important to the Army National Guard and Reserve. First, the bill requires the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command to study establishing a Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) on Guam to process new recruits into U.S. reserve and active duty forces of the military. Currently, potential recruits must be sent to Hawaii for processing thereby adding expense, inconvenience and time to the recruitment process. Second, Congresswoman Bordallo gained passage of an amendment requiring a study of the sufficiency and timeline for funding the transformation of Army National Guard and Reserve units. Congresswoman Bordallo’s amendment requires the military to review its plans to fully equip Guard and Reserve forces to ensure their proper funding and that resources are made available to fully and completely conduct this important transformation. In full, the bill included over $300 million for National Guard equipment. “Guam has a first class National Guard and Reserve force. I am deeply committed to supporting them in every and any way possible,” Congresswoman Bordallo said. At the request of Congresswoman Bordallo, an increase was also made in the authorization for funding of maintenance and construction work on High Frequency Ground Control Stations (HFGCS). Originally funded at $1.25 million in the President’s Budget, Congresswoman Bordallo worked to increase the authorization for procurement needed for the HFGCS stations to $5 million. HFGCS antennas are vital to communications support of the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command (AMC) worldwide. Repairs and modernization of the system would include repairs made to an existing HFGCS on Guam, one of 13 worldwide. “The U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command provides air mobility support to our armed forces worldwide,” Congresswoman Bordallo said. “It is important to ensure they have the equipment and communication capacity to carry out their mission to the greatest extent possible. This increased authorization responds to an important and underfunded need of the AMC.” The legislation also contains numerous provisions important to our nation’s veterans. Legal measures were included in the bill to prevent the Department of Defense (DoD) from implementing a proposed wide ranging plan that sought to increase healthcare fees to veterans utilizing TRICARE healthcare coverage. The committee instead adopted provisions to establish a DoD Task Force on the “Future of Military Health Care.” This Task Force will be required to comprehensively study the financial challenges TRICARE is facing and make recommendations for changes that may be necessary to safeguard the long term solvency of TRICARE. “This bill keeps the Department of Defense from taking a ‘knee jerk’ approach to fixing TRICARE that would unfairly raise costs of healthcare for our veterans. It is wrong to place military healthcare cost increases on the backs of our veterans whom have already carried so much weight for our nation.” H.R. 5122 also includes authorization for new Military Construction (MILCON) spending on Guam. 2007 will see yet another new high in MILCON on Guam, a reflection of the ever increasing commitment on the part of DoD to Guam and its strategically located bases. $208 million is in the bill for MILCON on Guam, representing a proposed greater than 100% increase in MILCON over 2006 which was funded at $90 million. MILCON projects specifically authorized on Guam include: H.R. 5122 must now be considered by the full House of Representatives and later reconciled with the U.S. Senate defense authorization. Following reconciliation, the National Defense Authorization Act requires final passage by both the House and Senate and subsequent signature into law by the President. ### Contact: Alicia Chon in |
