At a new conference on Monday, Secretary of the U.S. Navy Ray Mabus discussed several areas including concerns over attempts by Hawaii Congressman Neil Abercrombie to see local realignment project wage rates brought into line with prevailing rates in Hawaii.
“The Department of the Navy and the Department of Defense,” Mabus said, “don’t want anything to delay or cause any issues with this move,” referring to the military buildup on Guam.
“We are completely committed to this move and we’re concerned about the cost of Congressman Abercrombie’s amendment. I’ve had conversations with Congressman Abercrombie that the amendment’s going into conference and we’ll see where it goes, but our concern was that this move not be delayed in anyway or jeopardized in any way.”
The Navy secretary met with Gov. Felix Camacho and Lt. Gov. Mike Cruz earlier in the day to discuss Abercrombie’s effort as well as other important matters.
In his meeting with the island leaders Mabus assured Camacho of his opposition to Abercrombie’s amendment and would stand with the “people of Guam to ensure the buildup will benefit the island’s entire community.”
As to whether Mabus thought Abercrombie might reconsider his amendment, all the Navy chief could say was, “We’ll see where it goes. I’ve offered to him to make some of the people on my staff, who deal with the Guam move available so there can be more in-depth discussions on what exactly his amendments would entail.”
Mabus offered a vague response on the increasing controversy over the high cost of Guam military housing that the Japanese will underwrite.
As that nation heads into an election where the ruling party is predicted to fall to the opposition, many Japanese have voiced concern over what they feel is an exorbitantly high cost to build homes for the Marines and their families. Such costs have been pegged at $700,000 per unit.
Opposition leaders consider the plan for the Marine housing too expensive, and with elections only days away, are pushing by the opposition to review the costs of the buildup.
“We’ve got an ongoing dialogue with the government of Japan to make sure that whatever issues come up on this move are dealt with in an expeditious and effective manner for this ongoing process,” Mabus said.
He added, “We have an agreement, we’re moving forward with that agreement and we’re committed to making sure that this agreement works, and it works for Guam, it works in terms of the Marines and it works in terms of the quality of life.”
The Navy secretary reiterated the government’s commitment to the 2014 deadline to complete the realignment on Guam.
“That is the timeline we are working against. That is our goal today,” he said.
Following the news conference, Mabus was given an aerial tour of the island, before heading north to the CNMI and a meeting with Gov. Benigno Fitial.
Mabus then traveled to Iwo Jima and on to Japan for talks with Japanese officials. The Navy boss will head back to the nation’s capital next week.
