SCR57.DOC

WHEREAS, this body understands the need for a strong United States military presence in the Asia-Pacific region due to the uncertainty of the North Korean regime and the interests and influence of China; and

WHEREAS, this body has been supportive of the Okinawan community, both locally and abroad; and

WHEREAS, Okinawans began immigrating to Hawaii as industrial agricultural labor in 1900, resulting in one of the largest communities of Okinawans outside of Okinawa, and forming a community that has become an integral part of the social fabric of Hawaii, with many contributions to the larger community of the State of Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, war between Japan and the United States resulted in the Battle of Okinawa in which almost one-third of the Okinawan people were killed, as well as a multitude of Japanese and American soldiers; and

WHEREAS, Okinawans in Hawaii assisted Okinawans in United States military intelligence units and rallied to send aid such as livestock and clothing to war-torn Okinawa, in a spirit of international support which Okinawa seeks again today; and

WHEREAS, seventy-four percent of United States military forces in Japan continues to be concentrated in Okinawa, which is only 0.6 percent of Japan's landmass; and

WHEREAS, Okinawa Island, the largest island of the Ryukyu archipelago, is smaller than Kauai at only four hundred sixty square miles, yet has nearly double the population density of the island of Oahu; and

WHEREAS, the people and the government of Okinawa have consistently repeated appeals for land, air, and sea space to improve Okinawa's struggling economy and the well-being and safety of its people; and

WHEREAS, military lands returned for civilian development have shown significant economic improvement up to ten to two hundred times, such as the Naha Shintoshin and Chatan Hamby areas; and

WHEREAS, the United States Congress is implementing a policy of sequestration that has resulted in the necessity for the Pentagon to make difficult cuts; and

WHEREAS, communities across the United States with stateside military facilities have rallied to maintain troop strength domestically where painful cuts have been proposed; and

WHEREAS, the United States military has over eight hundred overseas bases; and

WHEREAS, the United States military is already in a process of realignment in the Asia-Pacific region to meet the sophistication of security in the twenty-first century, which requires more mobility, and with the United States Marine Corps already evolving from its previous garrison-type presence in Okinawa to a more expeditionary orientation, with the deploying of units on rotations, such as to Darwin, Australia; and

WHEREAS, recent revision of the United States-Japan defense cooperation guidelines will increase collaboration by Japanese forces operations rendering large concentrations of United States Marines as less essential; and

WHEREAS, polls consistently show the majority of Okinawans favor some degree of demilitarization, such as polls conducted by the Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper and Okinawa Television Broadcasting showing that 80.2 percent of Okinawans disapprove of any expansion in Henoko and support the unconditional closure and removal of Futenma Marine Corps Air Station; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, the House of Representatives concurring, that the President of the United States, the United States Department of Defense, and the United States Congress, in concert with the Prime Minister of Japan, the Japan Defense Agency, and the National Diet of Japan, are requested to recommit their efforts to negotiate and expedite an agreeable solution in lieu of relocation of military facilities within Okinawa prefecture and adjustment, realignment, and overall reduction of the current presence of the United States military forces in Okinawa and other Japanese land areas, with the intent to return land and facilities cleared of any toxic contaminations and other public health and safety hazards, not requisite for direct military purposes back to Okinawa Prefecture, as recommended by the final report of the Special Action Committee on Okinawa and the Treaty of Obligations; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States, Japan, and all of its allies are requested to work in unison and cooperate to promote the overall safety and security of the Asia-Pacific region to maintain peace and economic prosperity; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of Japan, the United States Secretary of Defense, the Minister of State for Defense of Japan, the Commander of the United States Pacific Command, the chairpersons and ranking members of the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives Committees on Appropriations Sub-committee on Defense, the chairpersons and ranking members of the congressional delegation from Hawaii, the President of the House of Councillors of the National Diet of Japan, the Consul-General of Japan in Honolulu, the Governor of the State of Hawaii, the Governor of Okinawa Prefecture, the Chairperson of the All-Okinawa Council, the Chairperson of the Save Life Society organization in Henoko, the Chairperson of the Veterans for Peace-Ryukyu Working Group, and the Hawaii United Okinawa Association, who in turn, is requested to transmit it to its member organizations.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Okinawa; Reduction of U.S. Military Presence

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	57
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII