(Re)Collection
A WGS Quarterly Publication

A wordle of the letter below.

Letter to Barbara Boxer Sent on March 29, 2010

Senator Barbara Boxer

1700 Montgomery Ave., Suite 1700

San Francisco, California 94111

Dear Honorable Senator Barbara Boxer,

We are writing you from Women for Genuine Security, a US based organization that is networked to women’s organizations in Guam, Korea, Japan, Hawai’i, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Okinawa, through the International Women’s Network Against Militarism. This past September 2009 we met in Guam for our 7th International Network Meeting.

We are most concerned about the imminent DOD military expansion and build-up on Guam and the damaging impacts that this will have on the environment, quality of life, indigenous culture and sovereignty of Guam. The DOD’s plans include the following key proposals:

Dredging of Apra Harbor (71 acres) to berth a nuclear aircraft carrier for just 64 days a year. This would destroy the unique coral which is endangered worldwide.
Bring in 80,000 more people to the island of Guam , an increase of 47% to the population.
Take additional land- 2200 more acres of privately owned land for additional live fire training sites. (The US military already owns 1/3 of the land mass of Guam.)
Erect a Missile Defense system
Expanding Andersen AFB

The EPA comments to the DEIS have given it the worst possible rating citing:

the potential violations to the Clean Water Act,
destruction of 71 acres of Coral Reef,
Guam not having sufficient water supply and waste management infrastructure to support an increase of 80,000 people to the island.
Fish and Wildlife Department Department cites that the plan will endanger 3 species of turtles and spinner dolphins in potential violation of the Endangered Species Act

The plan as proposed would contribute to the already acute living conditions in Guam and exacerbate the reality of two Guams on the island, one inside and one outside the military bases. Rep. Jim Webb, D-VA has gone to Guam in recent weeks, and has expressed his opposition to the taking of additional land from landowners, and the additional live fire training ranges on the highly populated Guam.

Senator Boxer, Guam remains a US colony that has not been given their right to exercise self-determination as outlined for UN Non-Self Governing Territories. They have no voice and no vote in this matter. The fact that this is happening on Guam with their lack of political status is particularly troubling.

We ask you, as a US Senator, to please use your leadership and power to act on their behalf. There are many Chamorro and Guamanians living in California as they have come to our state through military service. The military build-up in Guam has become a political issue at the highest levels of political leadership in our country. President Obama will be traveling to Guam in June.

If you could please do the following:

Use your leadership and authority to communicate with President Obama, Michael Block of the White House Interagency Committee, and Nancy Sutley of the CEQ, Department of Insular Affairs, and the DOD. The plan as it is written should be stopped. It is poorly written, in an unreasonable time frame and needs to be rewritten to include social-cultural impacts. The existing contamination of bases in Guam should be cleaned up before building new ones.

You have been a champion of the Clean Water Act, please investigate how this plan and any future DOD plans potentially violate the Clean Water Act and ensure that the act will not be violated.

Because of your commitment to the environment and to the rights of women, please consider calling for a Hearing in the US Congress on the Military’s impact on the Environment. We cannot continue to leave the military operations outside the discussion about environmental sustainability as they are the largest consumer of oil and largest polluter in the world. The current system rests on the military’s self-monitoring of its compliance with US environmental laws. When we met with the EPA, they reported their own frustration at the lack of a military self-compliance and tracking system.

We hope that you will work with us on this issue.

Sincerely,

Women for Genuine Security

Rev. Deborah Lee, United Church of Christ

Dr. Gwyn Kirk, scholar and writer on peace and security

Annie Fukushima, UC Berkeley, PhD candidate

Lina Hoshino, Many Threads, film maker

Ellen Rae Cachola, UCLA PhD student

Taeva Shefler, Prison Activist Resource Center

Yvette Hochberg, KPFA

Sina Uipi, San Francisco State student

Jun Stinson, UC Berkeley School of Journalism