Good attention on your part, Ake. ;-) It appears that Hank Johnson has simply run afoul of the now legendary inability of (a great many) Americans to appreciate or understand irony...specially when it is delivered deadpan... Heh!

The poor man! He is now going to forever be accused of a gross stupidity that he never committed or intended to, and it will become the legend that stalks him for years and years. He should have known better than to speak in anything but purely literal and simplistic terms in front of news cameras. When you are being watched by hungry sharks and vultures, you must remain absolutely literal at all times or pay the price. Irony? Metaphor? Forget it! Only Dick and Jane levels of baldly literal presentation will get you through the minefield unscathed.

"Guam is a small island. Quite small. Don't you think that the influx of 100,000 American servicemen will have some negative impact upon the lives of the people living there, and on the local environment?"

That is evidently what he should have said. A lot of people just don't get metaphors.