By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

LIEUTENANT Gov. Michael W. Cruz has met with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne and talked to him about the military buildup on Guam, wrapping up a five-day trip to Washington, D.C.
Cruz said he and Kempthorne have known each other since they met in Iraq in 2003.
Cruz then was deployed to Iraq and Kempthorne was the governor of Idaho, visiting troops in Iraq. They later met in 2004 when then-Governor Kempthorne, in his capacity as chairman of the National Governors Association, presented Cruz with the NGA Award for Distinguished Service in Seattle.
They have since maintained a personal connection that led to their meeting in Washington, D.C.
According to a press release from the governor’s office, the two discussed the latest efforts to bring 8,000 Marines to Guam from Okinawa and the associated multi-billion dollar buildup of the military in the Western Pacific. The secretary of the Interior has administrative responsibility for coordinating federal policy on Guam.
“I told Secretary Kempthorne that Guam must be at the table during all talks for the military buildup. Our community must have a say in this expansion effort. It must be mutually beneficial to both operational readiness and quality of life for both our military and civilian communities,” Cruz said in a statement.
The lieutenant governor went into detail about his thoughts on the current military expansion efforts. Kempthorne, who also is chairman of the Interagency Group on Insular Areas, agreed to bolster the federal government’s efforts to monitor the buildup on Guam and has called on Department of Defense officials to call a meeting of the IGIA Working Group on the Military Buildup on Guam as soon as possible.
“Secretary Kempthorne agreed to lobby for more assistance at the Cabinet level and to ensure that Guam is not just on the outside looking in, but at the front of all discussions in the buildup here,” Cruz said.
Cruz asked Kempthorne to help the Guam Memorial Hospital attain designation as a rural critical access hospital.
Last week, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johannes sought support from Cruz and the National Lieutenant Governors Association for the re-authorization of the $618 billion 2007 Farm Bill of which the USDA is proposing to use $85 million to support $1.6 billion in loan guarantees for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of certified rural critical access hospitals. There are currently 1,263 such hospitals across the nation. GMH currently is not one of them.
Critical access hospitals allow rural communities access to primary and emergency health care services in areas where maintaining full service, acute care hospitals isn’t feasible.
Cruz was in Washington, D.C. last week to attend the 2007 National Lieutenant Governors Association Winter Meeting.