Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., John McCain, R-Az., and Jim Webb, D-Va., found the current military realignment plans “unrealistic, unworkable and unaffordable.”
Asked to comment, Fitial said: “Let me talk to them first and I will tell you.”
Levin and Webb visited Guam Tinian and Okinawa last month.
Fitial said he remains optimistic about what he and the U.S. military have already discussed, which he did not disclose because it is “highly classified.”
He said it has nothing to do with Tinian.
Asked what he thinks about the possible changes in the buildup plans, Fitial said: “You have to understand what makes a military unit. Maybe they know something we don’t.”
The governor said once he gets the chance, he will discuss these new developments with the three U.S. senators.
Levin, who chairs the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, told Variety during his and Webb’s visit on Tinian that he was very confident about the transfer of Marines from Okinawa to Guam.
He also said that the military buildup on Guam would benefit the CNMI.
But he said there were lots of options that had to be considered.
“There’s just too many possibilities and to predict would be misleading and it would not be doing anybody a favor,” he said.
