Hank Johnson Worries Guam Could "Capsize" After Marine Buildup
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) is raising some eyebrows with a comment he made about the U.S. territory of Guam during a House Armed Services Committee hearing last Thursday.
In a discussion regarding a planned military buildup on the Pacific island, Johnson expressed some concerns about the plans to Adm. Robert Willard, head of the U.S. Pacific fleet.
"My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize," Johnson said. Willard paused and replied, "We don't anticipate that."
Online pundits have wasted no time lampooning the congressman for his remarks.
"Presumably, when you're the head guy of a major fleet for a big-time navy, you've got plenty of other ways of filling your time other than reassuring congressmen on whether miscellaneous land masses are likely to tip over and sink," Mark Steyn wrote at the National Review Online. "But it's business as usual in Congress."
The blog Left Coast Rebel said, "Call it a new low, a new 'tipping point' - even in the halls of Congress, if you will."
According to the Hill, a spokesman for Johnson responded to the incident by saying the congressman is concerned the influx of military personnel will overwhelm the island's infrastructure and ecosystem.
If Johnson's remarks were meant figuratively, he had a legitimate point.
The United States plans to move thousands of Marines and their families, about 8,000 people in all, to the small island of Guam, which has a current population of about 180,000. To prepare for the military buildup, the government is constructing new facilities on the island like an additional Marine base and a new airfield.
At the peak of construction, Guam's population would increase by 79,000 people, or about 45 percent, the Washington Post reported. The Environmental Protection Agency has reportedly said the military buildup could trigger island-wide water shortages and overload sewage systems and other public utilities.
Update 6:30 p.m. ET: Johnson released a statement on Thursday saying he was joking, according to CNN.
"The subtle humor of this obviously metaphorical reference to a ship capsizing illustrated my concern about the impact of the planned military buildup on this small tropical island," the statement said.
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the goodridehd said that
He may be our next president,you know what they say,If you first don't succeed try and try again until we get a good one or die trying .
I am a Guamanian (native of Guam), The island is about 144 square miles. Furthermore, it is mountainous. Johnson must be imagining Guam to be flat like Manhattan Island (NYC,NY) where I have lived for the past 53 years. --Now. with all that "concrete jungle" in Manhattan,it has not tipped over,Mr. Jonhson. I would not worry about military buildup sinking the Island--
(I wonder if Mr. Johnson had ever seen military buildings.) Definitely, the military will not erect skyscrapers on Guam.
So after seeing this I forwarded it around, later I found out that my Grandfather was stationed on Guam in the Navy long ago. He was in the SeaBees, which are Construction hands like the Army Corps of Engineers. He said that Guam was like a three legged stool made of coral. Drillers would hole through in the middle of the island and not be able to touch rock again. Submarines could actually go under the island. When they leveled out a place they dumped the rock (coral) into the ocean and it never built up to the surface. From what I've read Guam consists of coral and limestone (Karst). My grandfather made it sound precarious. Johnson does sound like an idiot here, don't get me wrong - and I'm still laughing - but now I understand where at least he was coming from.
No it won't capsize as it's been a major base during World Wars and it didn't tip over then...it's still rediculous statement - but now a little background worth researching ya'll!
(((((((((((( I wanted to share!))))))))))))))
()()()()() it's not as funny