Message to Republican Party members from Chair Fritz Rohlfing, June 17, 2016

This past Tuesday, former Hawaiʻi Congresswoman Pat Saiki introduced to the public her candidate for Congress, Colonel Shirlene Dela Cruz Santiago Ostrov (USAF, Ret.).

Growing up in Waipahū and attending Mililani High School before moving to the mainland after her sophomore year, Colonel Ostrov had multiple assignments during her military tenure and served in several key leadership roles including Squadron and Group Commander and Liaison for the State Department and among her military awards is a Bronze Star and Legion of Merit.

Colonel Ostrov is an advocate of our nation’s “Pivot to the Pacific,” a strategic military plan to secure our nation by strengthening and balancing our armed forces in the Pacific. She states: “We must make Hawaiʻi a priority in Congress and advocate for the best military resources our nation can muster to bolster our position here in the Pacific."

In addition to national security, Colonel Ostrov's greatest concerns are the need to reduce wasteful federal spending and to implement reforms in the Veterans' Administration. As a retired Air Force Colonel and currently the President and CEO of a logistics-consulting firm, Colonel Ostrov's leadership skills will help to bring insight and perspective to these issues in Washington and their impact on Hawaiʻi .

In her statement released on Tuesday, Colonel Ostrov said: "The United States must substantially increase its political, economic and defense investments in the Asia-Pacific given the region’s fundamental importance to our own future prosperity and security. Hawaiʻi's military forces are the cornerstone of America’s security infrastructure for this rebalance. Recent discussions that call for the removal of upwards of 20,000 troops from our islands will not only gravely impact our national security posture, but will deeply affect the $14.7B in economic impact the military has on our islands. This of deep concern to me. With my experience, I can be vigilant on all these issues and can serve as your definitive voice to protect Hawaiʻi interests."

Colonel Ostrov resides in Mililani with her husband and two daughters. She is a new face to Hawaiʻi politics, but she is no stranger to the arena in Washington, D.C., where she served as a Congressional liaison for the U.S. Transportation Command. I am delighted to inform Republicans in Congressional District 1 that we have a superb Republican candidate and a formidable opponent to the eventual Democrat nominee. Colonel Ostrov will represent the values and principles of the Hawaiʻi Republican Party at the federal level and her qualifications far outweigh those of any of the Democrats running in her race.

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U.S. Air Force colonel Shirlene Ostrov is “a candidate who can win.”

CB: The only Republican woman who Hawaii voters have ever sent to represent them in Washington, D.C., believes she has found the right candidate to follow in her stead.

On Tuesday at GOP headquarters in Honolulu, Pat Saiki announced her pick: Shirlene Ostrov, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel.

“I want to introduce to you my candidate for the United States Congress, because I am sure that one day — if not this time, the next time or the next time, whenever it’s going to be — eventually she is going to be there to take over my seat,” said Saiki, with Ostrov at her side….

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Link: www.ShirleneOstrov.com

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