[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3797 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3797

 To transfer certain administrative functions of the Department of the 
Interior relating to the United States territories to the Department of 
                               Commerce.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 3, 1994

 Mr. Gallegly introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To transfer certain administrative functions of the Department of the 
Interior relating to the United States territories to the Department of 
                               Commerce.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Territorial Administrative Cessation 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the people of Palau in the United Nations Trust 
        Territory of the Pacific Islands, known as the Japanese 
        Mandated Islands, have voted to approve the Compact of Free 
        Association with the United States, thereby leading to the end 
        of the trusteeship responsibilities of the United States as 
        administering authority for Palau under the United Nations 
        Charter;
            (2) the Secretary of State is responsible for government-
        to-government relations with the freely associated states of 
        Micronesia and the Marshall Islands;
            (3) the United States territories have developed 
        progressively increased local self-government over the past 5 
        decades;
            (4) the territories predominantly deal directly with 
        Federal agencies and departments like a State;
            (5) the Department of the Interior's administering 
        responsibilities for the insular areas has declined 
        substantially during the past 5 decades; and
            (6) Federal-territorial relations can be enhanced and 
        Federal fiscal conditions improved by the elimination of 
        unnecessary Federal bureaucracy.

SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF RESPONSIBILITIES.

    (a) Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.--All responsibilities 
of the Office of Territorial and International Affairs of the 
Department of the Interior relating to the administration and 
termination of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and the 
implementation of the Compact of Free Association are hereby 
transferred to the Office of Pacific Island Affairs of the Department 
of State.
    (b) Technical Assistance and Operations and Management 
Assistance.--All responsibilities of the Office of Territorial and 
International Affairs of the Department of the Interior relating to 
technical assistance and operations and management assistance is hereby 
transferred to the Economic Development Administration of the 
Department of Commerce.
    (c) Termination of Position of Assistant Secretary.--Effective 30 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, section 5315 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ``Assistant Secretaries of 
the Interior (6)'' and inserting ``Assistant Secretaries of the 
Interior (5)''.

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