President Obama will meet with local Guam officials on a stopover March 22nd to allay rising concerns about the proposed military expansion in the Marianas islands But he is not meeting with grassroots leaders who have demanded to be heard about their concerns regarding the military buildup.
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BREAKING NEWS: 8:15 a.m. – Obama will be on island March 22, will make clear his commitment to the people of Guam
Pacific Daily News • news@guampdn.com • March 16, 2010
8:15 a.m. – President Obama will be on island on March 22 to demonstrate a commitment to people of Guam, according to White House officials who spoke during a press briefing on the president’s trip to Asia.
Obama on the evening of March 22 will be hosting a public event to speak with local Guam authorities and military personnel, said Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications. Obama will leave for Indonesia the following day.
Denis McDonough, chief of staff for the National Security Council, added the president is “going to make sure that we have a very realistic and sustainable well-thought out approach to Guam.”
McDonough was responding to a reporter’s question. The reporter asked: “In addition to speaking to the Guam community and service members, what message is trying to be sent to the Pacific region overall and to Japan and China specifically with that?”
“While there he’ll not only visit with commanders but also with local Guam authorities. And he’s going to make sure that we have a very realistic and sustainable and well thought out approach to Guam,” McDonough said.
“He has a vision which we refer to here as ‘one Guam, green Guam,’ which is apropos of many of the questions heretofore, designed to make sure that we’re investing in capabilities on Guam that are sustainable over the course of time, that are clean energy focused, that do take very concrete steps to reduce the high price of energy on the island, and obviously will lead to an end state that’s politically, operationally, and environmentally sustainable.”
The president will also take a hard look at the infrastructure needs on Guam.
“We’ll obviously be looking at base-related construction that must take into accounts the needs of not only of an increased troop presence or Marine presence, but also the needs of the people of Guam, the impact on the environment, and the important role that the United States plays within the region,” McDonough said.
McDonough concluded: “”I wouldn’t read a particular set of — just to respond to the last part of your question — I wouldn’t read a specific or even general message to Japan or to China into the stop; I’d rather just make clear that we have a commitment to the people of Guam, and that as part of our ongoing plan for our presence in the region, are going to make very common-sense and important investments in the infrastructure there.”
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