Text Fwd: Sen. Jim Webb to Visit Korea, Vietnam, Japan and Guam

* Text fwd from Martha Duenas and Jean Downey on April 27, 2011

The State Column
http://www.thestatecolumn.com/state_politics/virginia/sen-jim-webb-to-visit-korea-vietnam-japan-and-guam/

Sen. Jim Webb to Visit Korea, Vietnam, Japan and GuamThe State Column | Staff | Sunday, April 17, 2011

U.S. Senator Jim Webb, chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee and member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, will visit the Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Guam April 16-29. Senator Webb is scheduled to hold meetings with government officials, U.S. diplomats and military commanders, and business leaders.

In Korea, Senator Webb will review the security situation on the Korean peninsula and reaffirm his support for passage of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement.

(ONLY GOOD NEWS) In Vietnam, Senator Webb will address water security issues in Southeast Asia and continue advocating a multilateral approach to avert the devastating consequences of proposed mainstream dams along the Mekong River. If completed, these dams could fundamentally change the world’s 12th longest river and place at risk the Mekong Delta, Vietnam’s “rice bowl” and the world’s richest inland fishery.

Senator Webb is returning to Japan for the second time this year after keynoting the New Shimoda Conference in February. On this trip, he is traveling to Tokyo with Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, to reaffirm the critical importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance and express condolences to the Japanese people and government following last month’s earthquake and tsunami.

Senator Webb will also visit Okinawa, Guam and Tinian, as a follow-on to visits he made last year, in order to meet with local officials and American military leaders responsible for the proposed realignment of U.S. military bases in the Pacific region.

Senator Webb has enjoyed a continuous personal involvement in Asian and Pacific affairs that long predates his time in the Senate. In addition to his more recent visits as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has worked and traveled throughout this vast region for more than four decades—as a Marine Corps officer, a defense planner, a journalist, a novelist, a senior official in the Department of Defense, and as a business consultant.

The Chamorro activists and Koohan Paik (who worked at Pacific News Center as a reporter) said not to believe its reports, which slanted to pro-build-up.

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See also

Marianas Variety
http://www.mvguam.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17773:us-senators-buildup-not-set-in-stone&catid=59:frontpagenews
US Senators: 'Buildup Not Set in Stone'
Therese Hart
Tuesday, April 25, 2011

KUAM News
http://www.kuam.com/story/14512570/2011/04/26/us-senators-discuss-buildup
US Senators Discuss BuildupNick Delgado
Apr 26, 2011 1:41 AM PDT