PRESS!
Protect the ‘Aina • Protect the People • STOP THE STRYKERS!
Press Release
August 13, 2007
DMZ Hawaii/Aloha Aina
Contact: Ikaika Hussey 808-221-2843
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Congressional exemptions for Stryker?
Legislation to exempt the Stryker Brigade from environmental litigation may be circulating through Capitol Hill, according to a Bush administration memo obtained by DMZ Hawaii/Aloha Aina.
In a July 10, 2007 memo from the Office of Management and Budget (73KB PDF), the Bush administration refers to a "proposal that supports the conversion of the Second Brigade, 25th Infantry Division to a Stryker Brigade Combat Team ... to resolve legal challenges to the transformation of this important unit...".
DMZ Hawaii/Aloha Aina calls for journalistic investigation into this memo. Congressional exemptions for federal projects embroiled in litigation have a precedent in Hawaii. Senator Daniel Inouye's congressional exemption for the controversial H-3 freeway opened the way for the completion of the project despite serious impacts to cultural sites and endangered species.
Three Hawaiian groups - 'Ilio'ulaokalani Coalition, Na 'Imi Pono and Kipuka - filed a lawsuit in 2004 charging that the Stryker project would damage Native Hawaiian cultural sites and harm endangered species and their habitats.
A legislative exemption for the Stryker Brigade could undercut a fall 2006 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the Army violated federal environmental law by failing to adequately consider alternative locations for the Stryker brigade. The court halted some Stryker expansion projects and ordered the Army to conduct a supplemental environmental impact statement.
DMZ Hawaii/Aloha Aina tried to contact Senator Akaka's and Senator Levin's offices to get more information about the "proposal" referred to in the memo, but they could not provide any further information.
"This memo raises a big red flag for all who are familiar with H-3" said Kyle Kajihiro, of AFSC Hawai'i and DMZ-Hawai'i/Aloha 'Aina network. "The People said NO to the Strykers. Prior to public hearings Senator Inouye broadcast that it was pretty much a "done deal" in his mind. Now that the court said the Army broke the law by not considering alternatives and halted the project, we are very concerned that there may be political fix to impose the Strykers on Hawai'i."
"There should be no more secret earmarks, and no more back room deals. Politicians are not above the law."
The White House memo [attached] is released in the midst of national concerns about congressional earmarks, lobbyist ethics, and the investigation of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens for alleged improprieties. Senator Stevens and Hawaii Senator Dan Inouye have a long-term partnership for the Stryker Brigade.
Hundreds of community members spoke at hearings in 2004 against the Stryker Brigade. In a recent Star Bulletin poll, the Stryker Brigade expansion was opposed by a margin of 3:1.
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