Coburn presented his plan to save $69.5 billion by reducing military spending overseas, including Guam — a plan, said Cruz, which may severely reduce and hamper the island’s ability to repay the bond.
Coburn’s “Back in Black” proposal states: “One of the military deployments to cancel that makes the most strategic sense is the military deployment to Guam. The original plan for Guam was a result of a bilateral agreement with the Japanese government to transfer 8,600 Marines and 9,000 dependents from Japan to Guam. Japan agreed to pay for approximately $6 billion of the total costs, which are now expected to run to as high as $23.9 billion. These conventional troops could be maintained in the continental United States at a far lower cost.”
While Coburn is the primary author of the proposal, other high-ranking federal officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have warned dramatic cuts were possible. Clinton said budget cuts could force an abrupt pullout of U.S. security presence in the Pacific, at a time when China’s power is rising, according to Australia Network News.
Cruz earlier this month wrote to Gov. Eddie Baza Calvo, recommending the delay of any further action to pursue additional borrowing until it is clear how cuts in federal spending will impact Guam.
The concern stems partly over a deal early this month between Congress and President Obama to raise the federal government’s debt ceiling. It called for Congress to appoint a joint 12-member congressional committee tasked with identifying $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions.
Both chambers of Congress must vote to approve the recommendations by Dec. 23. If Congress does not pass the recommendations by then, across-the-board cuts in federal spending, including cuts in military spending, will begin.
“The administration is banking on annual increases of $52 to $150 million in revenue resulting from the buildup alone,” Cruz said. “At this point, questioning the government’s ability to pay for the new borrowing is not only prudent, it is the responsible thing to do.”
