HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — More than $3.2 billion in defense authorizations will be heading to Guam through the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, should it be signed into law, according to Guam Del. James Moylan.
A congressional conference committee advanced a reconciled version of the NDAA late last week, which will go to rules committees in the Senate and House of Representatives for further action.
Guam-related authorizations in the reconciled NDAA include:
- More than $2.2 billion in new and continuous military construction projects, inclusive of:
- More than $1.6 billion of projects inside Andersen Air Force Base, Joint Region Marianas and Naval Base Guam.
- $166 million for the communications upgrade of Joint Region Marianas.
- $411 million for JRM projects for the Air Force.
- $27 million to construct the Air Force Reserve Aerial Port Facility.
- $6.9 million to complete the Army National Guard Readiness Center.
- Nearly $545 million to fully fund the Guam Missile Defense System.
- More than $169 million for the Defense of Guam Procurement.
- More than $290 million to construct new military housing.
“The amount of construction activity heading to Guam will certainly create an economic resurgence for our island. This will create many new jobs, establish new service agreements along with subcontracts, increase spending in local establishments throughout the island, enhance training opportunities for our community, and, of course, will result in a surge with our tax base, inclusive of local withholding taxes, and through Section 30 reimbursements. There is also the boost in economic activity which the island will experience through an extension of the H-2B program, which is part of the NDAA,” Moylan said this week in a press release.
Housing
The delegate added that the authorization for military housing will reduce the military’s utilization of Guam’s limited housing inventory, which Moylan said impacts rental costs for residents.
The military’s impact on the local housing market has been a long-standing concern on Guam. Not only will the ongoing military buildup lead to more personnel and their dependents on island, who have higher housing budgets that can influence the local rental market, but buildup-related projects also consume local construction resources.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, who has just returned from meetings with federal officials in Washington, D.C., stated during the Guam Green Growth biannual meeting on Monday that the Department of Defense realizes its impact on the housing industry in terms of costs, and is willing to engage in partnerships.
“One of the things that they’re suggesting, which I’m going to work at, is having everybody together and with the military. Because their suggestion was, you could use federal lands and invite developers to develop housing. And that this opportunity would be both for military and civilian,” Leon Guerrero said.
The governor added that she is looking at possibly creating a housing commission inclusive of public, private and military representation.
RECA
One amendment that didn’t make it to the reconciled version of the fiscal 2024 NDAA was the Senate provision expanding the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to Guam. The main issue was cost, as the provision did not identify a funding source, Moylan’s office stated in a prior release. However, the delegate added at that time that the matter was far from over.
But in its latest release, Moylan’s office stated that leadership in the House intends to have the NDAA voted on “by the end of the week, with no additional changes.”
When asked if this meant there was no longer any chance of adding the RECA amendment back into the NDAA, Hannah D’Avanzo, Moylan’s spokesperson, told The Guam Daily Post that despite the House leadership’s intention, “anything can happen between now and Thursday.”
“Discussions on RECA continued today, so to address the question, there is still a chance. A slight chance, but still a chance. If we don’t get it on Thursday, other vehicles will be sought out,” D’Avanzo said.
She also clarified that unwanted provisions for Guam, such as authorization to lease Eagles Field in Mangilao, identified as the Barrigada Transmitter Site in the Senate version, and language regarding a briefing on microreactors, were removed in the reconciled NDAA.
A C-130 Hercules is seen during Operation Christmas Drop 2023 on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, at Andersen Air Force Base.
