my amendment offers the text of h.r. 44, which is the guam world war ii recognition act as a title toll. ausley regret that i will have to withdraw my amendment because the chairman of the house natural resources committee has refused to grant a waiver of sequential referral. mauney bill refers to the house natural resources committee of the white wish the parliamentarians would see this differently. mr. chairman it's important to note that this bill has passed the house of representatives five times, five times, and i thank my colleagues for their support in the past. we have also added the guam war claims measure the to the defense authorization bill for the last two years with overwhelming bipartisan support. and again, i thank my colleagues for their support. h.r. 44 would implement the recommendations of the guam war claims review commission was authorized by the 107th congress. it would correct a long standing injustice that was created by the occupation of guam by the japanese. resolution of this matter is related to the national security because it is important to maintaining

other federal agencies or the government of guam to address critical infrastructure needs on guam.we also require the department of defense to certify that there is a national security requirement to enhance marine corps readiness by having a firing range on the island. finally, the subcommittee establishes a framework for the secretary of the navy to establish a health care integrator to ensure consistent quality of care for the workforce supporting the guam buildup. once again mr. chairman, i would like to thank chairman forbes and this committee for their hard work in addressing all of the concerns of this bill and the interests also of our colleague gabrielle giffords who we wish could be here with us today. and to all of our hardworking staff who spent many hours in working with us. i ask my colleagues to support this important mark. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. before entertaining amendments, are there any discussion on the subcommittee's report? >> mr. chairman? >> gentleman from new jersey's recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you fo

the resolution of guam war claims is so critical to maintaining support for the military buildup on guam. the people of guam are going to bear the brunt of the significant impacts because of this real re-alignment of military forces and it is only right to bring war claims to a conclusion. this is what i hear from my constituents every day. we reached a compromise with the senate on this matter last year, having both chairman levin and ranking member john mccain supporting the provision. however, because of the time we had last congress, it was struck from the bill. due to objection -- mr. mcgovern: i yield the gentlelady an additional minute. ms. bordallo: we were forced to afree to the defense bill by unanimous consent here in the house, let history note i did not objection to the -- object to the unanimous consent request last year. in fact, chairman mckeon committed to including war claims in this year's defense bill and i do appreciate his support. but the republican leadership would not allow him to honor his commitment to me. this is wrong, mr. speaker, and a drew disservice to th

. >>> barbara sentry treated wounded in guam.he can to walk away from that time in her life seven years ago. >> i like many others came home and tried to forget that i had ever been there. and i changed professions and i have not been a nurse since 1973. so it was easier for me to forget because i wasn't doing things that were related. and i think that it's for me like the young person i was was, sort of frozen in time with the people who didn't make it and i'm not sort of connected to that and it feels to me like it will be a sort of a healing experience. >>> why is it that after 20 or more years, the vietnam experience still so profoundly affects so many people? for judy elbrain it is a lasting, simple but agonizing pain. >> what occurs to me to say is that nobody ever said thank you. isn't that strange. nobody ever said thank you, thank you i'm glad you went. thank you i'm glad you volunteered. thank you i'm glad you were there to take care of my boy. >>> when we came back to a second look. a bay area veteran remembers the bat

they want some units to be transferred to a base in guam. the japanese government maintains there is no reason to re-examine the katena integration plan, which has drawn local opposition, as well as repeated objections from the u.s. military. it will closely watch how the u.s. administration responds to the latest request. >>> u.s. nuclear regulators say the situation at japan's troubled fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant is unstable but not cause for undue concern. on thursday the nuclear regulatory commission held its first hearing on the nuclear accident in japan. the executive director for operations bill borchard said while conditions are not entirely stable they're not changing at a pace to cause concern. he said the fukushima plant still faces problems. >> there's the natural challenge that -- they're now entering into the rainy season, which will just complicate more the activities around the plant. >> he expressed concerns that high levels of radiation is still being detected near the reactors and that the structure with a spent

territory of guam. the chairman of the state senate armed services committee said in a statement that report underscores his concern and those of two other senators. they believe the realignment plan is unrealistic and unworkable. the senators are calling on the u.s. government to integrate futenma's function with those of the air base also in okinawa. the chairman is asking the defense department to re-examine and adjust the plan to reflect fiscal and political realities. he said doing so would be in the best interests of the united states and its asian allies. >>> north korean leader kim jong-il has returned home from a week-long tour of china. his heir apparent reportedly greeted him at the border of the two countries. the state-run korean central news agency said kim's special train arrived in the northwestern city of sinuiju on friday morning. his third son kim jong un welcomed him there. the agency alsoeported kim wrote a a letter to the chinese president saying friendly ties will develop through

marines from okinawa to guam would involve spending $1 billion building an unnecessary road in the u.s. territory. another cable says in 2009 japan promised the u.s. that it would honor a 2006 accord to relocate the futenma air station to nago city in okinawa if no alternative site was found. defense minister toshimi kitazawa told reporters on friday it's regrettable that supposedly classified diplomatic documents have been unethically disclosed. >> translator: i believe okinawa prefecture will not regard the cables a threat to any agreement reached between japan and united states. >>> the u.s. president barack obama went to ground zero in new york on thursday to pay tribute to the thousands who died in the 9/11 attacks. his visit was somber and low key. it followed his very high-profile announcement earlier this week about the raid that killed osama bin laden, the mastermind behind september 11th. nhk world's miki ebara reports. >> reporter: ground zero where lives, as many as 2,700 people, perished on the horrific day of 9/11/2001. president obama laid a wreath of red, white, and blu

combining futenma with the kadena air base also in okinawa and moving some of kadena's air force bases to guam. >> translator: the idea could serve as an entry point if it will result in less noise and base operations at kadena and a reduction in the burden on local communities. but there will be no debate unless okinawa is assured that the plan will reduce aircraft noise. >> despite this new proposal, u.s. government officials are assuring japan they are committed to the existing plan to relocate futenma air station to nago city. the pledge came on thursday between working-level talks in washington. the discussions were in preparation for an upcoming meeting of the two countries' foreign and defense ministers. japanese officials asked for a clarification of the proposal, but the u.s. officials play it down, saying that it had been studied before and was just unfeasible. they say there has been no change in the u.s. government's position to follow the existing plan. but observers say the u.s. defense department may have no choice to look at the senators' proposals because congress will begin a

i yield three minutes to the gentlelady from guam, ms. bordallo, the ranking member on the readiness subcommittee. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized for three minutes. ms. bordallo: thank you, mr. chairman. i rise in support of h.r. 1540, the national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2012. this bill works to ensure our men and women in uniform are well trained and equipped and i am proud that the house armed services committee through this bill continues to close the readiness gaps created in our armed forces by a decade of o-- of continuous deployment this bill thofferses $23 billion for training of all active duty ooped reserve forces to increase readiness as troops experience longer periods at home following the iraq drawdown. including $1 billion to support the army's planned rurp to full spectrum training. also, funding for the navy ship and aircraft depot level maintenance and upkeep of the department of defense facilities. we fully fund the president's budget request for the reset of army and marine corps equipment a

plans to transfer and number of troops from okinawa to guam.apanese government is going to spend billions of dollars to take care of that. host: caller: i am a registered democrat, but i am really leaning towards more of a citizen view. it is apparent to many that a lot of our international affairs really come down to dollars. it appears the me go into these countries where we've said we are going to have a democratic rule, but it appears that they're just looking to increase market share and open up new markets for business. generally speaking, these politicians who run our country are businessmen. they do this to spread business. but the same time, the american people are losing are losing -- american people are losing their homes and jobs. how do you see this thing in to enter national security scheme of things? guest: it goes back to the guns and butter argument. do you spend your money at home or do you want security abroad? that has been a debate that has been under way for decades. some people argue that peace can be assured by promoting

there is a legal prohibition to do that so that was ingrained in guam and policies and institutions. there was a shrinking intelligence community. human intelligence is not valuable. it is just too risky. we need to pull back. we are going to eliminate large numbers of our intelligence community and it lead to 9/11. once 9/11 happened the question of who is responsible or who do we blame, but at the same time something remarkable happened. all of our intelligence agencies realized they weren't prepared for this. in the integration started. we saw our technology that didn't exist ten years ago that is today absolutely critical to the success of those missions and integrated in a way i have never seen before before all of our services. the case that we saw last week to me is a great example of how it can work. but i caution this. it was one successful operation in what is a long and hard fight against al qaeda, its affiliates and those who want to do harm to the united states. we heard calls that this is the opportunity to do it just like that every time and dismantle other large parts

the 12th district of the federal reserve covers nine western states including hawaii and alaska and guamarianas. we got hit very hard by the recession. the housing bubble and crash obviously was more pronounced in the 12th district or in the western states than in the country as a whole. the tech sector was hit very hard during the recession when after the collapse of lehman brothers and those events we saw a complete contracting of business investment due to everybody basically hunkering down. third, global trade collapsed during the pre -- recession and that -- now it's coming back pretty well, but that was another, a third hit. so if you look at the western states we got hit harder. unemployment went up more on average than in the country. the difference across the country, california was hit harder, utah was hit less hard. it has still lower unemployment than california. we're kind of like the atlanta fed district which includes florida and atlanta, those areas that got hit hard by these factors. we still have higher unemployment than the rest of the country on average. except for ho

bordallo of guam to provide increases for funding in the navy oand m. accounts promote interest and skill and seamanship and aviation while instilling qualities that mold strong character among youth, ages 11 to 17. an amendment by ms. tsongas to establish an army wounded warrior program consisting of public private partnerships for novel treatment strategies with an emphasis on musculoskeletal injuries are going amendment by ms. tsongas to fund full-time sexual assault coordinators and victim advocates at the brigade level or equivalent in training programs. an amendment by mr. owens for cooperative health care agreements between local original health care systems and military installations with no inpatient medical facilities. an amendment by mr. smith for the defense centers of excellence for psychological health and traumatic rain injury to enhance efforts to disseminate post-deployment mental health information. an amendment by mr. smith for collaborative military civilian trauma training programs. an amendment by ms. pingree to authorize the commi

the 12th district of the federal reserve covers nine western states including hawaii and alaska and guam and the marianas. we got hit very hard by the recession. the housing bubble and crash obviously was more pronounced in the 12th district or in the western states than in the country as a whole. the tech sector was hit very hard during the recession when after the collapse of lehman brothers and those events we saw a complete contracting of business investment due to everybody basically hunkering down. third, global trade collapsed during the pre -- recession and that -- now it's coming back pretty well, but that was another, a third hit. so if you look at the western states we got hit harder. unemployment went up more on average than in the country. the difference across the country, california was hit harder, utah was hit less hard. it has still lower unemployment than california. we're kind of like the atlanta fed district which includes florida and atlanta, those areas that got hit hard by these factors. we still have higher unemployment than the rest of the country on average. exc

one, the gentlelady from guam will speak to momentarily, i think it's really a travesty that she's not able to present an idea this house has considered many times as part of this bill and i hope that would be reconsidered. secondly, we have all said forever that we agree that there's a problem has to be fixed for people who served our country in uniform. here's what happens. you have a person who is very seriously injured in the line of duty in the military. age they retire and they get dis-- and they retire, and they would get disability day for their injury. let's say they would get deafened by a bomb going off near them and they are ill or disabled and they qualify for disability pay. they also qualify for a regular military pension. i think most of us on this floor would say, most people in the country would say, they should get both. if you're injured in the line of duty and you're severely disabled as a result, you should get both your disability pay and your regular pension. and for years people on both sides have said they want to do this. the problem has been it does in fact

strategic ports and i'll be happy to work with the gentleman from alaska and the gentlewoman from guam to consider the appropriate measures to address the critical infrastructure needs of our strategic seaports. mr. young: thank you, sir. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from washington. mr. smith: reserve the balance of my -- thank you, mr. chairman. i rise to claim -- you already gave me the time. at this point i yield one minute to the gentlelady from texas, ms. jackson lee. the chair: the gentlelady from texas. ms. jackson lee: i thank the ranking member. i rise to support the en bloc amendments and to add my understanding and support for the mcgovern-jones and a number of other members' amendment. let me first make it clear this is a bipartisan amendment. and that there was a great deal of collaboration and sensitivity to formulating a structure that would be respectful of the men and women who serve us today. but i rise to support this amendment because i can clearly see the human and financial costs which have been so high. $10 billion a month which in this clima

plans to transfer and number of troops from okinawa to guam. the japanese government is going to spend billions of dollars to take care of that. host: caller: i am a registered democrat, but i am really leaning towards more of a citizen view. it is apparent to many that a lot of our international affairs really come down to dollars. it appears the me go into these countries where we've said we are going to have a democratic rule, but it appears a a we are leaving this "washington journal" segment at this point. you can see it any time on line at c-span.org. u.s. house is returning for what we expect will be just a short time. only to recess again until legislative business at about 4:45 this afternoon. members are expected to debate raising the nation's debt ceiling today by $2.4 trillion. 2/3 majority is needed for passage. we expect votes on that legislation to come up at 6:30 eastern. you'll be able to see the debate and vote here live on c-span. the speaker: the house will be come to order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father

the 12th district of the federal reserve covers nine western states including hawaii and alaska and guam and the marianas. we got hit very hard by the recession. the housing bubble and crash obviously was more pronounced in the 12th district or in the western states than in the country as a whole. the tech sector was hit very hard during the recession when after the collapse of lehman brothers and those events we saw a complete contracting of business investment due to everybody basically hunkering down. third, global trade collapsed during the pre -- recession and that -- now it's coming back pretty well, but that was another, a third hit. so if you look at the western states we got hit harder. unemployment went up more on average than in the country. the difference across the country, california was hit harder, utah was hit less hard. it has still lower unemployment than california. we're kind of like the atlanta fed district which includes florida and atlanta, those areas that got hit hard by these factors. we still have higher unemployment than the rest of the country on average. exc