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Letter from Acting Governor to U.S. Senator (R-Texas) Kay Hutchinson |
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Acting Governor Michael W. Cruz, M.D. has sent a letter to U.S. Senator (R-Texas) Kay Hutchinson in response to her statement made in which she references Guam as "foreign soil": Kay Bailey Hutchinson
United States Senator, Texas
284 Russel Senate Office Building
Constitution Avenue and I Street, NE
Washington DC, 20002
Dear Senator Hutchinson:
As a US Army Colonel, a veteran with recent combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Acting Govemor of Guam, I am gravely concerned about recent comments made by you in a "Politico.com" column on July 13th , 2010. "Build Bases in America" as you have termed it argues that the impending transfer of US Marines from Okinawa to Guam is not in the best interest of our country.
Though I thank you for acknowledging our need for improved infrastructure and billions of dollars in critical growth investments; Guam is American soil and any comment to the contrary is wrong, misinformed, and unwarranted.
Nearly a third of our island's landmass is owned by the US Military. Per capita Guam and the other American-Pacific jurisdictions have lost more lives in the service of freedom than any other place in this country. Our per capita recruitment, retention, and service rates continue to surpass all other American jurisdictions. And, Guam remains the only US soil to be occupied by a foreign power in a time of war.
These facts must never be forgotten: Guam's American soil is home to 170,000 American citizens, American veterans, and American patriots. I understand that our physical distance to the continental United States and our status as an unincorporated territory of this nation may sometimes be a barrier to proper understanding, but no one should undervalue our place in this nation or our role in the security of the Asian-Pacific rim. Click here to view and/or download the letter in it's entirety. |
