    [Senate Hearing 116-374]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                           S. Hrg. 116-374

                       THE IMPACTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN
                                   THE TERRITORIES

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                                  COMMITTEE ON
                          ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                         ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 SECOND SESSION

                                   __________

                                 JUNE 30, 2020

                                   __________

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                           Printed for the use of the
                   Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

            Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov

                                   __________

                        U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    40-920                      WASHINGTON : 2021

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                   COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES

                        LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska, Chairman
    JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming               JOE MANCHIN III, West Virginia
    JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho                RON WYDEN, Oregon
    MIKE LEE, Utah                       MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
    STEVE DAINES, Montana                BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont
    BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana              DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan
    CORY GARDNER, Colorado               MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico
    CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi        MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii
    MARTHA McSALLY, Arizona              ANGUS S. KING, JR., Maine
    LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee           CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
    JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota

                          Brian Hughes, Staff Director
                          Lucy Murfitt, Chief Counsel
                      Isaac Edwards, Deputy Chief Counsel
                     Renae Black, Democratic Staff Director
                    Sam E. Fowler, Democratic Chief Counsel
             Melanie Thornton, Democratic Professional Staff Member
                         Darla Ripchensky, Chief Clerk

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------

                               OPENING STATEMENTS

                                                                       Page
    Murkowski, Hon. Lisa, Chairman and a U.S. Senator from Alaska....     1
    Manchin III, Hon. Joe, Ranking Member and a U.S. Senator from
      West Virginia..................................................     2

                                   WITNESSES

    Sablan, Hon. Gregorio Kilili Camacho, Congressman--Northern
      Mariana Islands, U.S. House of Representatives.................     4
    Radewagen, Hon. Aumua Amata, Congresswoman--American Samoa, U.S.
      House of Representatives.......................................    10
    Plaskett, Hon. Stacey, Congresswoman--U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S.
      House of Representatives.......................................    18
    Gonzalez-Colon, Hon. Jenniffer, Congresswoman--Puerto Rico, U.S.
      House of Representatives.......................................    27
    San Nicolas, Hon. Michael F.Q., Congressman--Guam, U.S. House of
      Representatives................................................    38

              ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED

    Bryan, Jr., Hon. Albert:
        Letter for the Record........................................   137
    Garced, Hon. Wanda Vazquez:
        Letter for the Record........................................   157
    Gonzalez-Colon, Hon. Jenniffer:
        Opening Statement............................................    27
        Chart entitled ``Impact of COVID-19 Nutrition Assistance
          Program (NAP) in Puerto Rico''.............................    28
        Chart entitled ``Pharmaceutical and Medical Device
          Manufacturing in Puerto Rico''.............................    29
        Written Testimony............................................    32
        Responses to Questions for the Record........................   112
    Guerrero, Hon. Lourdes A. Leon:
        Letter for the Record........................................   161
    Manchin III, Hon. Joe:
        Opening Statement............................................     2
    Murkowski, Hon. Lisa:
        Opening Statement............................................     1
    Northern Marianas Business Alliance Corporation:
        Letter for the Record........................................   165
    Plaskett, Hon. Stacey:
        Opening Statement............................................    18
        Written Testimony............................................    20
        Responses to Questions for the Record........................   103
    Radewagen, Hon. Aumua Amata Coleman:
        Opening Statement............................................    10
        Written Testimony............................................    12
        Responses to Questions for the Record........................    98
    Sablan, Hon. Gregorio Kilili Camacho:
        Opening Statement............................................     4
        Written Testimony............................................     7
        Responses to Questions for the Record........................    84
    San Nicolas, Hon. Michael F.Q.:
        Opening Statement............................................    38
        Written Testimony............................................    40
        Responses to Questions for the Record........................   133
    Torres, Hon. Ralph DLG.:
        Statement for the Record.....................................   171

            THE IMPACTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THE TERRITORIES

                                  ----------

                             TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2020

                                           U.S. Senate,
                     Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:42 p.m. in Room
    SD-366, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Lisa Murkowski,
    Chairman of the Committee, presiding.

               OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LISA MURKOWSKI,
                        U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA

        The Chairman. Good afternoon, everyone. The Committee will
    come to order. It is good to be able to welcome you all this
    afternoon, although Congresswoman Radewagen, I think, it is
    probably your good morning there, so we will just say good day
    to everyone.
        As folks may know, we have had a whole series of hearings
    on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past several
    weeks. We have looked at the impact on the energy sector, on
    our mineral supply chains, on wildfire preparedness, but today
    we are going to take a closer look at the virus' impact on the
    territories, at the implementation of existing law aimed at
    mitigating and preventing its spread and potential legislation
    that could benefit the territories in the future.
        All of our states face challenges in fighting the spread
    and the impact of COVID-19, but I think it is fair to say that
    the territories face additional hurdles. You have limited
    capacity to handle a health pandemic, to the economies with
    fewer sources of revenue that are severely harmed by the
    economic shutdown, particularly those that are dependent upon
    tourism. And that is where I can certainly relate to USVI, to
    Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, CMNI. These are all areas
    that see a flux of folks with tourism. Although the territories
    have limited ports of entry for the virus to arrive at their
    islands, the reality is that the virus spread well before
    travel restrictions were in place and, of course, once it is on
    an island it is difficult to contain. American Samoa is the
    only jurisdiction to keep the virus from reaching their shores,
    and while we certainly hope that remains the case, we don't
    take anything for granted nowadays.
        Congress has passed four funding bills to address the
    COVID-19 outbreak and while I know these bills do not contain
    everything that everyone wanted to have included, we did seek
    to ensure that the measures work for the territories where
    federal programs are not necessarily implemented in the same
    manner as the states. The Families First Coronavirus Response
    Act increased Medicaid funding for the territories and lowered
    the territory's Medicaid match rate. It provided additional
    SNAP funding and supplemental funding for those territories
    that utilize block grant funding instead of traditional SNAP.
    The CARES Act included language to allow all territories to
    participate in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program
    regardless of whether they have unemployment insurance
    programs. In addition to financial assistance for governments
    through the Coronavirus Relief Fund, it included an additional
    $55 million through DOI's Office of Insular Affairs for COVID-
    19 needs.
        I think we are probably going to hear this afternoon that
    more is needed and know that we will be working on that as we
    head into July and this next work period coming up. My hope is
    that today's hearing will provide us with a better
    understanding of what has worked so far, what needs to be
    adjusted and what additional measures should be considered. I
    am pleased that we have all five representatives of the
    territories with us today to lead this discussion. Before I
    introduce our witnesses, I will turn to Ranking Member Manchin
    for his remarks and comments this morning.
        Senator Manchin.

                  STATEMENT OF HON. JOE MANCHIN III,
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM WEST VIRGINIA

        Senator Manchin. Thank you, Chair Murkowski, for holding
    the hearing to discuss the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in
    the U.S. territories. I want to thank all of our honorable
    guests for being here to help us through this so we can help
    you. To date, the Coronavirus pandemic has taken the lives of
    over 125,000 of our fellow Americans, including 166 individuals
    from the territories, and our heart goes out to the grieving
    families across the country and around the world. The scope of
    the Committee's jurisdiction includes the five territories of
    Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the
    Northern Mariana Islands. I welcome our panel of witnesses that
    represent these five territories in the United States House of
    Representatives and appreciate all of you joining us to share
    how the pandemic has impacted your island communities.
        Each of these governments face unique challenges based on
    their geographic location. Import reliance, limited financial
    resources and different treatment under federal programs, these
    circumstances create both unique problems and risk of continued
    challenges throughout the pandemic. The island economies are
    taking a hard hit as a result of the pandemic, and I sure don't
    need to tell any of you that. The territories were quick to
    react to the spread of COVID-19 and by mid-March had instituted
    stay-at-home orders, travel restrictions and enhanced screening
    in an effort to keep the virus under control. In fact, American
    Samoa is the only place in the United States that has had no
    confirmed cases of COVID-19. And in 1918 they were able to
    avoid the Spanish Flu pandemic in large part due to swift
    action on travel restrictions and quarantine.
        It should come as no surprise that the beautiful
    territories are heavily dependent on tourism, but tourism has
    come to a halt as we attempt to flatten the curve.
    Unfortunately, this will not change anytime soon as we continue
    to urge social distancing and discourage travel during the
    ongoing global pandemic. This year, adding insult to injury,
    the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration is
    predicting a busy hurricane season in the Atlantic in the midst
    of the pandemic. The territories have been hit by severe
    natural disasters including hurricanes, typhoons and
    earthquakes in recent years. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
    Islands are still recovering from the 2017 hurricanes that
    wreaked havoc in the islands and caused over $140 billion in
    damages.
        Hurricane and disaster preparation are crucial during this
    time of year and especially this year given we have a global
    pandemic on our hands too. This will require an entirely
    different approach from both emergency managers and the public.
    Although the local and Federal Government have been working
    hard to recover and rebuild, more needs to be done to prepare
    for natural disasters amid COVID-19. Over the past few months,
    Congress has passed four pieces of legislation providing
    authority and funding necessary for COVID-19 relief and
    recovery efforts. This is a result of over $2 trillion in new
    direct spending for the U.S. Department of Treasury, the Small
    Business Administration, the Department of Health and Human
    Services and many other federal agencies and entities. We
    worked hard to ensure the territories were included and
    eligible for the funding and the various federal programs
    engaged in the response to the pandemic. For example, the
    territories received $2.5 billion in the Coronavirus Relief
    Fund, $2.2 billion in the Paycheck Protection Program, $35.5
    million in the Provider Relief Fund, $55 million in the Office
    of Insular Affairs' Technical Assistance Program, direct
    payments to individuals and families and additional funding
    from other federal agencies and entities engaged in the
    pandemic response.
        While there have been some economic relief success stories,
    I know our work is far from over and I know you know it too as
    we continue to hear from our families, small business owners,
    non-profits, the local governments, health care providers and
    frontline workers across the country who are not getting the
    help that they desperately need now. I look forward to learning
    more from our witnesses about the impacts our island
    communities are facing in the unpredictable global pandemic. I
    am hopeful that we can work together to create and respond to
    the challenges facing the territories and find commonsense,
    bipartisan solutions that lay the foundation for a strong,
    sustainable economic growth for many years to come.
        Thank you, Madam Chairman, and I look forward to hearing
    from our witnesses.
        The Chairman. Thank you, Senator.
        It is, indeed, a pleasure to be able to welcome you to the
    Committee, back to the Committee for several of you. Those of
    you who have walked the long distance from the House of
    Representatives, we appreciate that. We also recognize that we
    have the ability now to not only have you live and in person,
    but we can also do things virtually. So to have members that
    are either in their office in Washington, DC, or in their home
    offices in their districts in a territory like American Samoa,
    we are pleased to be able to accommodate via this venue. I am
    pleased to be able to, again, welcome you all and look forward
    to how you can educate us on the issues that have so directly
    impacted your constituents.
        We will begin this afternoon, just going off of the order
    on the witness list. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho
    Sablan, who is the Congressman from the Northern Mariana
    Islands, will begin our testimony. He will be followed by
    Congresswoman Amata Coleman Radewagen and, as I mentioned, the
    Congresswoman is in American Samoa this morning. We have here
    in the Committee room, Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett with the
    U.S. Virgin Islands. We welcome you back to the Committee,
    thank you. Congresswoman Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon from Puerto
    Rico, we are pleased that you are back before the Committee
    again. And Congressman Michael San Nicolas from Guam, we
    appreciate that you, as well, have joined us this afternoon.
        I am going to ask everyone to try to limit your comments to
    about five minutes. You are from the House side, so you are
    used to doing things in one minute, so we are giving you five
    times the talking time. We will then have an opportunity for
    questions, not only from those of us here, but those members
    that are also online. Your full statements will be included as
    part of the record. So let us first begin with Congressman
    Sablan. If you can give us the perspective from the Northern
    Mariana Islands, and welcome to you.

    STATEMENT OF HON. GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, CONGRESSMAN--
        NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

        Mr. Sablan. Well, thank you very much, Madam Chair, thanks
    to you and Ranking Member Manchin and the members of the
    Committee for taking the initiative to hold today's hearing.
    Moreover, thank you for the 12 years of attention and support
    you have all given to the Northern Mariana Islands. Thanks as
    well to your constituents and all the American people for the
    extraordinary generosity to the people of the Northern Mariana
    Islands, especially in this time of unprecedented crisis.
        This hearing is about how Congress responds to the
    pandemic, but even before Congress' response could reach them,
    the people I represent and Marianas government officials had to
    take action. They did what was needed to be safe, and they
    succeeded.
        We had two deaths initially, 30 cases total, but have now
    gone for 22 days with no new cases. So far we are keeping COVID
    at bay. The Marianas have a unique advantage in a pandemic; we
    can seal ourselves off from the rest of the world. As a matter
    of fact, all cases are reported on Saipan. There have been no
    reported cases of infection on Tinian and Rota or from the
    three partially inhabited islands of Pagan, Agrihan and
    Alamagan.
        The flipside, however, is the disadvantage we face in
    reviving an economy that depends, as you said, almost entirely
    on high volume tourism. How can we welcome back visitors to the
    islands while ensuring those visitors are not bringing disease?
    Eventually, if there's a vaccine, we could return to some
    semblance of the old normal, as long as visitors could reliably
    certify they were vaccinated. But that is a big ``if.'' I think
    we must face the reality that we may never again exclusively
    base our economy on short-term, mass tourism and find
    alternatives. For instance:
        --Our robust cable connections and the competitive
                advantage of our time zone, just this month the
                Colorado-based InteliSecure, Inc. began hiring for
                a cybersecurity operation in the Northern Marianas.
        --We could grow our existing educational facilities which
                already attract long-term-stay students from Korea
                and other Asian locations.
        --We could obtain new classes of visas that would permit
                longer-term, second homeowners in the Marianas.
        Above all, and I always say this because we have no
    extractable resources--no oil or gold as in, say, Alaska, Madam
    Chair--we must relentlessly invest in our human resources,
    because with the better-trained and more educated population,
    the more likely that entrepreneurial ideas will emerge that
    will grow wealth and well-being.
        And at the same time we nurture new sources of income, we
    can also reduce our expenses. We can become even more energy
    independent and more self-sustaining when it comes to food.
        Governor Torres has recently taken the initiative. He
    brought the Marianas government and community leaders together
    in April to begin to search for the answer to questions of
    where we go from here and what steps we need to take. The two
    action items the Governor initially identified for Congress, we
    are already addressing: direct aid to the Commonwealth
    government (the CARES Act provided $36 million to cover
    unbudgeted pandemic costs, for example) and a waiver of local
    match for FEMA grants. But there will be more for Congress to
    do. For the long-term, to facilitate economic changes the
    Marianas decides on, whether that means new classes of visas,
    support for energy independence or modernizing infrastructure.
    In the near-term, to prop up individuals, small business and
    the local government, all of which had incomes shredded by the
    pandemic, and always, Congress must direct resources to health
    care, to local providers and to researchers in national labs so
    that this disease does not overwhelm us.
        Congress has already taken extraordinary action in response
    to the Coronavirus crisis and the territories have not been
    left behind: 414 businesses in the Marianas are receiving $37
    million through the Paycheck Protection Program, $70 million
    has been initially set up for the Pandemic Unemployment
    Assistance, $49 million has been credited to Marianas'
    taxpayers in Economic Impact Payments, and our schools are
    receiving in excess of $30 million. We are eligible for the
    range of grants provided by the Families First and CARES Acts
    for health care, child care and food aid. And, as mentioned,
    the Commonwealth government received $36 million to cover
    unbudgeted costs.
        But we cannot be lulled into believing the worst is over.
    In World War II, America did not declare victory after the
    Battle of Midway. There were years, still long years of
    struggle ahead. There could well be years of struggle before us
    now to ward off the Coronavirus and rebuild economically, but
    if there is one legislation that could unleash the help we need
    to get us through this crisis, that is the HEROES Act that the
    House wrote and passed. The bill builds on policies Congress
    previously enacted in the Families First and CARES Acts to help
    American families, businesses and state and local governments
    through this crisis. My fellow Delegates and I were listened to
    when the HEROES Act was drafted and passed in the House. We
    made sure our areas are provided for in measure equal to the
    needs we face.
        So I close by respectfully urging the Senate to take up the
    HEROES Act immediately, because this struggle is just starting
    and is far from over.
        Thank you for holding today's hearing and for the
    opportunity to testify. Thank you always for the care and
    attention you all have given to the American citizens residing
    in the territories. I look forward to working with you to
    ensure the territories and all of America find our way through
    this pandemic. Thank you. I went over my time.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Sablan follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The Chairman. Congressman, thank you. I appreciate your
    comments this afternoon.
        Let us now proceed to Congresswoman Radewagen.

        STATEMENT OF HON. AUMUA AMATA RADEWAGEN, CONGRESSWOMAN--
             AMERICAN SAMOA, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

        Mrs. Radewagen. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman and Ranking
    Member Manchin for holding this hearing today. I appreciate the
    work the ENR Committee does on behalf of American Samoa and all
    the territories, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to
    testify here today.
        Let me begin by saying that the initial response to the
    COVID-19 pandemic, at least in American Samoa, has been very
    positive. Both Congress and the Trump Administration have made
    great efforts to include the territories in these massive
    response efforts the past few months. I've included the full
    funding highlights along with my written testimony and to
    suffice it to say, American Samoa has received well over $100
    million in much needed relief funding and grants through direct
    aid to our local ASG operations, stimulus checks, PPP and EIDL
    loans and forthcoming PUA and unemployment assistance payments,
    all for which we are extremely grateful.
        With swift bipartisan Congressional funding and rapid
    implementation by President Trump's Administration, American
    Samoa and the country have avoided a much worse fate in this
    two-sided COVID war on both the health and economic fronts. We
    thank God everyday American Samoa has remained virus-free, but
    we're hardly immune to the economic fallout. We're in the same
    boat as the rest of the country with disruption to our
    churches, schools, small businesses and local government
    revenues as a result. We've had no commercial air travel to and
    from the islands since March. So due to these logistical
    problems, distribution of aid has had its challenges. I'm
    deeply thankful to Treasury, DOI, SBA, HHS, FEMA and the other
    agencies for working to overcome these long-distance challenges
    since we're more than 7,000 miles away. So please keep us in
    mind as Congress considers additional measures in response to
    the ongoing pandemic and to promote economic recovery.
        There are several points I want to highlight, and my
    written testimony provides further details on these priority
    health and economic needs. More COVID testing and tracing
    support is needed. Continued healthcare resiliency and capacity
    support in the areas of testing and tracing will be needed for
    American Samoa to reopen safely and prepare for future crisis.
    Support for CDC initiatives are vital as well. We welcomed
    Congress granting us the full Medicaid funding formula and ask
    that the cap be lifted as well to attract more services and
    physicians. LBJ Hospital improvements are needed as the Army
    Corps report to Congress pointed out.
        We're grateful to this Committee's directing DOI to study
    the cost of repairing and replacing our only hospital, LBJ
    Tropical Medical Center. The Army Corps report outlines
    millions are needed for LBJ's modernization. Long-term funding
    mechanisms need to be looked at by this Committee as Congress
    looks at providing essential and emergency healthcare
    capabilities and funding for the future. An increase to the
    annual ASG operations at DOI OIA is needed to help us further
    plan and design an effective modernization in accord with the
    Army Corps findings.
        More unemployment assistance is needed. Pandemic
    Unemployment Assistance (PUA) payments of $600 expire July 31,
    but applications locally are just now being processed since we
    have no local unemployment program. So I thank Secretary Scalia
    and the U.S. DOL team for their implementation efforts to date.
    Please include American Samoa in any modification that extends
    and expands the PUA payments to all our valid workers under
    local law.
        30A extension is needed. I encourage you to support
    multiyear continuation of the 30A American Samoa Economic
    Development Credit. Our sole remaining tuna cannery, two others
    have left for cheap foreign labor, it's nearly 20 percent of
    the workforce at 3,000+ jobs, and it relies heavily on the 30A
    tax credit. We cannot diversify our local economy without a
    five-year minimum extension. No business will invest in the
    developing territory when a job creation credit expires every
    year and is always uncertain of being renewed. We also need 30A
    to be included in any stimulus tax credit provision or
    qualifying list under IRS Section 38 or otherwise as well.
        Finally, increasing the highway funding formula for the
    territories and providing additional grant opportunities for
    seawall construction and safer ports should be a part of any
    broad infrastructure stimulus.
        In closing, I want to thank our Governor and our healthcare
    workers and first responders during this crisis and thank our
    military and note that American Samoa has one of the highest
    rates of service in the Army per capita and the highest rate of
    service per capita in NFL linemen and proudly play in college
    at West Virginia and all over. It takes a real tough Samoan to
    be a mountaineer in a lavalava.
        Thank you, Chairman Murkowski, Ranking Member Manchin and
    Committee members for your time today. God bless.
        [The prepared statement of Mrs. Radewagen follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The Chairman. Thank you, Congresswoman. I was wondering
    where you were taking that picture with the NFL lineman.
        Let us now turn to Congresswoman Plaskett. Thank you for
    joining us this afternoon. Give us the view from U.S. Virgin
    Islands, please.

     STATEMENT OF HON. STACEY PLASKETT, CONGRESSWOMAN--U.S. VIRGIN
                 ISLANDS, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

        Ms. Plaskett. Thank you so much, Chairwoman Murkowski and
    Ranking Member Manchin. You also have testimony submitted by
    Governor Albert Bryan of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and I think
    that will, as well, be informative along with my testimony.
        The impact of the COVID virus in the territories has been
    tremendous. In the Virgin Islands, like other territories, the
    impact of disaster economic recessions, always much more
    negative in the territories than it is on the mainland. The
    first COVID case in the Virgin Islands was confirmed on March
    13th. On that day, Governor Albert Bryan declared a local state
    of emergency. And on April 2nd, President Trump approved
    Governor Bryan's request for major disaster declaration. We are
    presently in the ``open door'' phase of the Virgin Islands and,
    as of Monday, June 29th, the Virgin Islands Department of
    Health has identified 84 positive cases with five remaining
    active cases, 73 recovered cases and 6 deaths. With the
    assistance of our federal partners, we're better supplied now
    than at the beginning; however, we remain concerned about the
    full and timely replacement of personal protective equipment,
    swabbing and testing. We received $3.5 million federal support
    from the Provider Relief Fund but as airlines and visitors
    return to the territory, we are concerned about that.
        As you know, the Virgin Islands is uniquely dependent on
    tourism. It generates 30 percent of the territory's gross
    domestic product and employs 25 percent of our civilian labor
    force. Because the COVID-19 impact reduced tourism revenues
    essentially to zero, the territory is suffering devastating
    economic losses. As I will discuss, the most support needed for
    the Virgin Islands' recovery from COVID is economic. The scale
    of the economic calamity is such that even sweeping relief
    provided by the CARES Act, while very much appreciated, is
    inadequate to prevent the territory from falling off our
    economic cliff. Economic models have projected a revenue
    shortfall of $250 million in 2020, that's 25 percent of our
    annual budget, and another $250 million in 2021, another 25
    percent of our annual budget.
        The sudden and dramatic drop in government revenues has
    reduced the territory's cash on hand to dangerously low levels,
    days of cash on hand, jeopardizing our ability to make payroll
    and perform basic public services. Unemployment claims jumped
    100 percent between March and April, from 4.2 percent
    unemployment to 8.4, while government revenue drops have been
    to unprecedented lows. Tourist expenditures average $1.2
    billion a year as the territory brings in hundreds of thousands
    of air arrival and cruise visitors. Typically there's an
    average of 178,644 cruise ship visitors in March, based on data
    from 2013 to 2019. However, in March 2020, there were only
    78,000, or 43 percent, of a typical monthly average due to the
    global suspension of cruise ship activities that started on
    March 14th. It is unclear when we will receive even close to
    that monthly average again.
        The CARES Act has ameliorated some of the harm and we
    appreciate that, but it will not prevent serious and lasting
    damages to the Virgin Islands' economy. Let's think about it.
    We received $75 million. While the Virgin Islands' population
    is approximately one-fifth the size of the smallest state,
    under the CARES Act we received one-seventeenth the minimum
    funding of a smallest state. This is inequitable. The pandemic
    doesn't distinguish between an individual or a virus in the
    territories or the United States and help available to American
    citizens threatened should not be either. As a result, the
    Virgin Islands will need a significant infusion of operating
    funding for Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021, covering both the
    outlays for Coronavirus expenses and the loss of revenues.
    Otherwise, it will fall far short of the revenue lost because
    of the pandemic.
        I have pages more to discuss, but I really just want to
    impress on you all the impact financially to the territories
    because of the pandemic. We have already faced significant
    losses and concern over the hurricanes, as you discussed,
    recovering from two Category 5 hurricanes, community disaster
    loan debt payments, FEMA local cost share for recovery funding.
    That has already crippled our economy. But now, to have to deal
    with this pandemic where 25 percent of our revenues of loss,
    inequitable treatment in how we are going to be receiving
    funds. Congress has got to do better. It is Congress'
    responsibility to take care of the territories. That, along
    with tax implications of the tax bill from this last tax bill
    and the 2004 one, which drove out economic diversification of
    our economy, we have got to make some changes that deal not
    just with the disaster right now but the underlying
    fundamental, economic disparities that are in the territories
    which keep us from being able to keep up.
        So I've gone over my time. I will submit and answer any
    questions that you all have. Thank you so much.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Plaskett follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The Chairman. Thank you, Congresswoman.
        Let's next go to Congresswoman Gonzalez-Colon from Puerto
    Rico.

      STATEMENT OF HON. JENNIFFER GONZALEZ-COLON, CONGRESSWOMAN--
               PUERTO RICO, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

        Miss Gonzalez-Colon. Thank you, Chairman Murkowski and
    Ranking Member Manchin, as Puerto Rico's sole representative in
    Congress, for this invitation today in this hearing. I have
    submitted a more detailed version of my testimony to the
    Committee, so I will go over some immediate priorities during
    this time and knowing as well that the Governor of Puerto Rico
    submitted for the record her position.
        [Charts displayed during Oral Statement follow:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Miss Gonzalez-Colon. On March 15th, Puerto Rico became the
    first U.S. jurisdiction to implement the strictest lockdown
    with a mandatory curfew and a shutdown of all non-essential
    businesses. COVID-19 coupled with the 2017 hurricanes and this
    year's earthquakes have created major unexpected challenges for
    a territory that, because of its colonial and political status
    and the inability to fully participate in our nation's
    democracy, has always considerably lagged the states
    economically. One way to facilitate our recovery will be to
    include in any future emergency relief package, language
    similar to the ones that I have looked up from the bicameral
    Congressional Task Force--H.R. 302, the Child Tax Credit; H.R.
    754, the Earned Income Tax Credit--that will provide equal
    treatment under both of these programs and an immediate impact
    on low income families in Puerto Rico which has a poverty level
    of 43.1, the highest in the nation.
        Congress should--Puerto Rico's NAP to SNAP. Under the
    Family First and the CARES Act, we received $297 million in
    supplemental funding for a capped blockgrant which is funded at
    $1.96 billion and serve over 1.3 million beneficiaries on the
    island with benefits close to 50 percent less than SNAP which
    is in the states and we don't have the disaster portion of the
    SNAP program. However, this will not be enough to cover the
    actual demand. Congress should increase our capped grant by 30
    percent to $2.5 billion and provide an additional $1.27 billion
    for NAP just to cover the current ongoing health emergency
    because we are going through the regular numbers in August.
    Also Puerto Rico was not included in the pandemic EBT program
    which provides nutritional benefit to students in light of
    school closures which started in mid-March and are still closed
    to this day. We have 218,000 students enrolled in child
    nutrition programs. Having access to the pandemic EBT will help
    counter food insecurity and hunger in those kids.
        The Family First allowed testing for the uninsured, FMAP
    with 100 percent FMAP, even though the ongoing medical--
    Medicaid funding cap for the territories was raised for 3.5
    percent in this year and 3.0 percent for the next year, but
    expenses for the uninsured remain 100 percent FMAP. That means
    that together with the testing and the treatment for Medicaid
    beneficiaries that will result in additional spending costing
    Puerto Rico to use up its capped Medicaid funding more quickly.
    Congress should exempt the coverage of the uninsured for the
    Medicaid cap or, what I prefer, eliminate the cap which is not
    in place in the states.
        In Puerto Rico the best majority of Medicare beneficiaries
    receive their care through the local Medicare advantage
    organizations which accounted for nearly 50 percent of all
    healthcare expenses on the island. Congress should also provide
    emergency funding to providers of Medicare advantage so its
    funding can prevent hospitals from firing essential personnel
    during the emergency. Providers in Puerto Rico, so far, receive
    the lowest amount per capita of distribution of $23 compared to
    the national per capita of $174. Also, the providers in Puerto
    Rico are receiving $930 compared to the national medium of
    $9,700. That's a reason that won't be taken into account. This
    pandemic also demonstrated firsthand the risk posed by our
    country's heavy reliance on foreign manufacturing of medical
    supplies.
        We need to increase domestic production of medical goods.
    That's why we introduced H.R. 6443, which is a bipartisan bill
    that would establish federal tax incentives for current and
    repatriated manufacturing operations in distressed zones in
    areas of the whole nation that are extremely high poverty and
    prevalent unemployment across the nation. This bill will also
    incentivize research, development and manufacturing of
    population health works that because of their low cost and
    especially prone of offshoring. Puerto Rico can play a leading
    role in our efforts to bring back that manufacturing to the
    U.S. Twelve of the top 20 pharmaceutical and biotechnology
    companies in the world have manufacturing operations in Puerto
    Rico. We also manufacture half of the 2018 world's top ten most
    sold drugs. Puerto Rico is also home to medical devices
    manufacturing sites producing surgical and medical instruments
    like Medtronic and Abbott. Puerto Rico has a long history of
    pharmaceutical manufacturing and accounts with a highly skilled
    workforce. The island's university system has also invested in
    the highly skilled workforce by turning out a steady stream of
    new talent, highly sought by the likes of NASA. This bill will
    have a unique opportunity to bring jobs back to the United
    States and spur the economy of distressed zones, areas, like
    Puerto Rico.
        I look forward for answering any questions you may have and
    provide additional details and in the line of tourism, just
    with the COVID-19, we got 128 calls with Cruise Ship Council,
    53 of them were upwards, 75 of them were transit. That means
    that more than 350,000 passengers less through the last year.
    We, and again, the cruises industry, major cruise line has
    extended their sailing suspension to September so that means
    that it will be 183 cancels. So with that, my time is over.
    Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Miss Gonzalez-Colon follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The Chairman. Thank you, Congresswoman. We appreciate that.
        And finally, we will hear from the Congressman from Guam,
    the Honorable Michael San Nicolas.

    STATEMENT OF HON. MICHAEL F.Q. SAN NICOLAS, CONGRESSMAN--GUAM,
                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

        Mr. San Nicolas. Good afternoon and Hafa Adai, Chairwoman
    Murkowski, Ranking Member Manchin and members of the Committee.
    I want to thank you for your leadership and advocacy in our
    combined efforts to provide equitable access of federal
    resources to the people of Guam and our U.S. territories in
    this global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
        In accessing our COVID-19 circumstances and evaluating what
    further action must be taken federally in order to fully meet
    the needs of our territories, we can find one very specific
    parallel to the pandemic itself, preexisting conditions
    exacerbate risk factors. For Guam, in particular, the
    preexisting conditions of unfunded earned income tax credit
    (EITC) mandates, the lack of supplemental security income
    applicability and the underfunded costs of the migratory
    impacts and the Compacts of Free Association left us vulnerable
    and stall our efforts to recover.
        From inception, the EITC costs for Guam have ballooned to
    roughly 30 percent of total income tax refund liabilities on
    Guam. The very nature of the EITC is that it is intended to pay
    a qualified recipient an amount in excess of their total banked
    income tax withholdings in order to incentivize work. While the
    EITC is a broad federal program is sustainable with the U.S.
    Treasury able to fund those costs using various deficit
    spending tools, applying them to Guam and leaving Guam to fund
    them is wholly unsustainable because a territory does not have
    similar access to such tools. As a result of this preexisting
    condition, Guam's capacity to meet COVID-19 threats was greatly
    diminished with less facility readiness and nurse recruitment
    and retention already inadequate to meet Guam's needs. The
    Congress must see to it that the Federal Government absorbs the
    cost of EITC by permanently funding it on a reimbursement basis
    in the territories. Additional thought should be put into a
    federal reserve facility to capitalize EITC costs to
    territories and direct payments from the Treasury to the Fed at
    the close of the Fiscal Year to reconcile it.
        When the pandemic struck and our tourism-based economy
    contracted, we have seen many families go from making ends meet
    to not being able to provide. We must recognize that
    preexisting challenges facing our at-risk community and how
    their situations went from bleak to destitute as a result of
    the pandemic. At its core, supplemental security income, SSI,
    is intended to serve as a lifeline for those who qualify,
    particularly the aged and the disabled, who otherwise would
    have little means to provide for their basic needs. The lack of
    SSI on Guam means that thousands of children and families go
    without what otherwise would be a staple of American decency
    throughout this country.
        Prior to the pandemic this at-risk group was cared for by
    aging parents and gracious family members, many of whom worked
    multiple jobs to supplement the cost of living and care for
    their loved ones. This preexisting condition already strained
    households and the economic savaging of the pandemic has caused
    people to not only lose their jobs but lose the ability to care
    for the disabled loved ones who would be supported by SSI had
    they not been statutorily excluded. The Congress must end the
    discriminatory exclusion of territories from SSI. Recent
    Federal Court rulings are already indicating that such an
    outcome is forthcoming. It would be both pragmatic and
    magnanimous for the Congress to fully extend SSI to the
    territories, particularly during these COVID-19 times, so the
    people most in need, even before the pandemic, are finally made
    whole during the pandemic.
        As the renegotiations for the Compacts of Free Association
    (COFA) Implementation Agreements begin in earnest, we must be
    mindful of how the preexisting condition of these agreements
    have created critical health, education and public safety
    vulnerabilities in the territory of Guam. To avail of the
    freedom to migrate, COFA citizens must either be doing so for
    education, health care or employment. The costs associated with
    hosting COFA migrants under either of these three prerequisites
    have vastly exceeded current funding levels. In 2019 the rate
    of federally-funded compact impact per COFA migrant was $892
    which is far short of the cost to educate at over $9,000, the
    cost for government health care at almost $3,000 and the cost
    of EITC should they be working and receiving that benefit at
    $2,800 on a per citizen basis on Guam. These shortfalls create
    real systemic imbalances and right preexisting conditions for
    COVID-19 to go untested, untreated or undiagnosed as COFA
    migrants aren't eligible for Medicaid coverage and the cash
    shortfall underfunded migratory costs overburden the systems of
    care.
        The Congress must strive to provide as much balance as
    possible to the costs associated of hosting COFA migrants, as
    failure to do so comes at a cost to health, education and
    public safety institutions provided by host communities. The
    Congress must also extend the applicability of Medicaid to COFA
    migrants as a commonsense component of the authorized migratory
    purpose of seeking healthcare and further consider extending
    Medicaid directly into COFA states as a means to ameliorate
    healthcare migration at the source. Addressing these
    preexisting conditions will certainly improve the outcome of
    all COVID-19 relief provided and permanently strengthen the
    Guam community to better withstand any future threats. While
    they represent longstanding issues within the territory of
    Guam, these pandemic circumstances have revealed the structural
    weaknesses caused by their systemic corrosion. To ensure our
    COVID-19 relief efforts are fully effective and to ensure that
    Guam and our territories are properly situated for any future
    risks, we must address the EITC, SSI and COFA inequities now,
    not later.
        Thank you, Chairwoman Murkowski and Ranking Member Manchin
    and members of the Committee, for the opportunity to testify
    before you today. I stand ready to answer any questions you may
    have.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. San Nicolas follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The Chairman. Thank you so very much, and we appreciate the
    testimony of each of you here today.
        I am going to start off. There has been a great deal of
    focus, as there necessarily should be, on the economic impact
    due to COVID-19, but I am going to start my questions off with
    regard to healthcare capacity. As I look through the numbers
    out there, all of the island territories are very similar to
    Alaska in that you have either a mandatory 14-day quarantine or
    require some level of testing as we do in Alaska. The question
    to you is that I understood that in the early days of the COVID
    testing the results were either flown to Hawaii for testing or
    to Atlanta for results which, of course, just adds to the days
    and sometimes weeks to get a turnaround. Has that been
    resolved? Do you have the ability to get test results on island
    at this point in time in all five that are represented today?
        Puerto Rico says yes. Guam, yes. USVI?
        How about out in CNMI and American Samoa?
        Mr. Sablan. Yes.
        Mrs. Radewagen. Yes.
        The Chairman. Okay, okay.
        I think it was you, Congresswoman Plaskett, that mentioned
    that there was a worry or a concern about replacement PPE. Are
    there any other medical equipment shortages, PPE, that you all
    are currently worried about that FEMA is not being responsive,
    that HHS is not being responsive, that you have not addressed
    here today that any one of you would wish to share with us? I
    will start with our two individuals that are online, either
    Congresswoman Radewagen or Congressman Sablan?
        Mr. Sablan. Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, in the beginning,
    when I wasn't, I'm not sure if it was at the direction of FEMA
    or if it was locally, but the Commonwealth government purchased
    testing agents, reagents, and test swabs from a company from
    South Korea and the swabs were not approved, CDC approved, FDA
    approved. Subsequent to that, I asked Dr. Fauci if he could
    help get FDA to approve it and eventually they're now approved
    but there was recently also a raid by the FBI on the company,
    both on Guam and on Saipan; it's the same company that sold us
    those unauthorized swabs and reagents.
        The Chairman. Okay.
        Mr. Sablan. Thank you.
        The Chairman. Anything else, Congresswoman or any of the
    panelists here?
        Ms. Plaskett. I just wanted to add that yes, we have the
    supplies that we need and FEMA is very responsive, because
    they're on the ground already in the Virgin Islands and Puerto
    Rico related to our other disaster. We also have capacity
    issues just based on our hospitals not having the facilities in
    the manner that they're supposed to be. On the island of St.
    Croix, we are just this past couple of weeks, put up the
    temporary facility before the rebuild of our hospital from the
    2017. So having the beds necessary if there's a surge has been
    a problem that we are dealing with and because the territories,
    the smaller territories, also are still being reimbursed based
    on TEFRA rather than on another reimbursable. There's a
    question of whether or not we're going to be able to get the
    add-on payments that are needed if those patients are Medicaid
    or Medicare.
        The Chairman. So, it is, and I was out there on St. Croix
    and saw the devastation to that hospital, incredible to see
    what you had experienced and then to recognize just how long it
    was going to be until you actually had another facility.
        Ms. Plaskett. Right.
        The Chairman. I know that Congresswoman Radewagen, you also
    mentioned American Samoa's LBJ Hospital. I have not seen that
    one myself, but it kind of speaks to the capacity issues that
    you face when, you know, fortunately for American Samoa, you do
    not have any cases. You want to keep it that way, but your
    capacity is limited, at least in a couple of these areas
    because you have had a disaster visit you before and we have
    not been able to get on top of that to this point in time.
        Ms. Plaskett. And while FEMA and the Army Corps are very
    good about identifying other locations and putting up the beds
    and the capacity that's needed, the cost of that, the share
    that we have to pay for each one of those beds is really
    exorbitant.
        The Chairman. Congresswoman.
        Miss Gonzalez-Colon. One of the issues that is related to
    that hospital capacity is actually that hospitals in Puerto
    Rico use 50 percent for Medicaid Advantage. So although Family
    First and CARES had included money for Medicaid, many of those
    hospitals are firing personnel, essential personnel, because
    they are not having any activity or payments or advancement by
    the Medicare Advantage Program and that's not only in Puerto
    Rico, that's happening in Florida, Oregon and many other
    states. But in our case, that represent more than 50 percent.
        So even when we do have 3,800 beds in use, of them just 102
    from COVID and more than 2,400 available, that doesn't mean
    that the hospitals are going to continue to maintain their
    operations because they are not receiving the Medicaid
    Advantage funds. So that is a critical issue and we saw a lot
    of layoff from hospitals and nurses during this emergency time,
    at least on the island.
        The Chairman. I appreciate that.
        Mrs. Radewagen. Chairman Murkowski?
        The Chairman. Go ahead, you can finish up.
        Mrs. Radewagen. The funds from the CARES Act are being used
    at LBJ for the virus-related expenditures which total more than
    $3.6 million and includes over $1.3 million in medical
    equipment, nearly $2 million in medical supplies and $320,000
    in infrastructure costs. According to LBJ, the hospital
    anticipates more expenditures for more COVID-19 project
    supplies and equipment. And just to make a long story short, as
    of June 14th, total test kits on hand is 3,300 with 1,800 test
    kits for the GeneXpert testing machines which serve to test
    symptomatic patients and 1,500 test kits for the Abbott ID NOW
    being used. So we're okay so far.
        The Chairman. Good, good.
        Senator Manchin.
        Senator Manchin. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
        First I would like to start with Congresswoman Radewagen
    since you have no reported cases in American Samoa. Can you
    tell us about what time period you all took action when you had
    heard of COVID-19? This will go down the line to all of you,
    but your timetable and what you did immediately that you think
    was able to have the outcome you have had so far?
        Mrs. Radewagen. Yes, Ranking Member Manchin. The borders
    were closed right away in March----
        Senator Manchin. Was that early March, about March 19th or
    earlier than that?
        Mrs. Radewagen. About the third week in March, I believe it
    was.
        Senator Manchin. Okay.
        Mrs. Radewagen. And commercial flights were suspended and
    they still are suspended as of now and it's been a big help but
    we have a lot of angry constituents who are stuck up in the
    states wanting to come home and ones who want to go up to the
    states, but that has been very effective for us. And as you
    mentioned, the Spanish Flu in 1918, it's exactly what they did.
    They closed the borders.
        Senator Manchin. We will just go right down the line, if we
    can.
        Congressman Sablan.
        Mr. Sablan. Yeah, thank you, Senator Manchin.
        We did as well. We closed just around the same time. Our
    tourists come from South Korea, China and Japan, primarily. And
    we were able to, we closed just as early as we could, although,
    we were, I think, a week or two behind but still we were
    blessed. We were very fortunate that we had no tourists coming
    into the Marianas. There were two missionaries from the
    Philippines, they all came to Saipan, just to Saipan and they
    both, they were already infected and they both, they're the
    only two infected individuals that actually passed away. But we
    have been just very lucky. Thank God.
        Senator Manchin. Congressman Plaskett.
        Ms. Plaskett. I would say that we closed early and our
    numbers remained very low until just recently. Most of our
    infections have been travel-related, that is the----
        Senator Manchin. Is that when you opened back up?
        Ms. Plaskett. Right. Yes, sir.
        Our Governor closed our hotels. While he was unable to
    close the airlines, the fact that there were not hotel rooms
    meant that people were not able to come. And Virgin Islanders,
    like the other territories, are used to disaster, so when the
    Governor says everything is shutdown, people usually comply. We
    understand that.
        We just, in this week, started to have some community
    transmissions. That's a concern and so, thankfully, we will
    begin the tracing. We have been doing a good job of the tracing
    as well. But I think shutting down early and people following
    has been what has helped us. Wouldn't you say, Jenniffer?
        Miss Gonzalez-Colon. Thank you.
        In our case, in Puerto Rico, of 3.3 million, we got 1,600
    cases confirmed molecular test and 5,700 serological tests,
    probable cases for a total of 7,400, but again, Puerto Rico
    closed. It was in a strict curfew and shutdown on March 15. So
    we were the first jurisdiction in the nation to do that. And
    right now, the Governor just yesterday announced that there's
    going to be a new requirement for all passengers arriving to
    Puerto Rico to provide test results, molecular test or
    serological test, before arriving to the island. We are doing
    those tests onsite. They're voluntarily right now, but there's
    going to be a requirement of providing at least 72 hours before
    arriving. And if you are noncompliant with that, you're going
    to have a 14-day quarantine on the island.
        Mr. San Nicolas. We closed early as well, Senator, similar
    to our colleagues in the CNMI, around the same time.
        What the reality is on the ground now, however, is because
    of these social programs that I mentioned earlier, not applying
    to Guam and the various impact that it's having on our local
    revenue streams, we're really running into that very real
    sticky place where, you know, people want to stay safe and
    secure and not bring the virus in but we're such a tourism
    dependent economy, that if we don't open up and if we don't
    begin having flights coming in, the financial circumstances are
    going to result in, perhaps, equally damaging healthcare
    realities for many of our people.
        And so, in the earlier question, Senator Murkowski, about
    the PPE needs. While FEMA has been wonderful and HHS has been
    wonderful in meeting our status quo needs, the reality is when
    we bring these tourists in, we're going to have an exponential
    need. We have 160,000 people living on Guam, but we bring in
    1.6 million tourists a year, the most per capita of anywhere
    else in the country. If we don't have PPE for those visitors,
    we're just going to be inviting catastrophe and once that
    spirals out of control, the tourism will shutdown all over
    again.
        And so, we have a very unique set of circumstances where we
    need to understand that opening up eventually is going to have
    to happen, but we're also going to need the resources and the
    plans in place in order to do so responsibly so that it's
    sustainable.
        Senator Manchin. Let me just say, if I can take one more
    liberty here. We know the economies are all struggling in all
    states and all territories. We know that the economy is not
    going to come back until we have a vaccine where people feel
    safe, so they can really go out and operate like we have done
    before.
        So without the economy coming back the way you would like
    for it to, can you, real quickly, just all of you, say what is
    your greatest need you have? Do you think it is food that is
    going to be the greatest concern you have sustaining your
    citizens? Is it going to be your healthcare services, being
    able to sustain your healthcare services that they might be
    needing? What would you term or define as your greatest need? I
    would assume you all are looking forward to another round of
    COVID assistance in the CARES Act?
        Mr. San Nicolas. Well, Senator, from our perspective we're
    able to provide some unique set of eyes on that. Our
    unemployment program is only now getting stood up. And so, we
    can, kinda, give you an example of what happens when
    unemployment isn't around anymore. On top of that, the eviction
    moratoriums are expiring on the 25th of July. The Federal
    Pandemic Unemployment Compensation is expiring at the end of
    July.
        And so, we're going to be facing multiple threats. Right
    now, because unemployment has taken so long to roll out, we
    have people literally lining up at two in the morning in their
    cars waiting for food assistance to get handed out. And they'll
    wait for four hours and then when they show up, when they
    finally make it up to the front of the line, food's out. And
    so, you know, food can be looked at as one definite need, but
    definitely health care and it's all multifaceted. The reality
    is until our economies are working again, those are all going
    to be needs to include rental assistance, housing assistance.
        And so, as my colleague from the CNMI mentioned earlier,
    the HEROES Act does provide a significant amount of support
    that we think would help carry us into where a vaccine would
    probably be available. But absent any additional COVID relief,
    similar to the CARES Act and on a continuous and ongoing basis,
    particularly for our tourism-oriented economies, we're going to
    be in a very, a very bad place.
        Miss Gonzalez-Colon. In the case of Puerto Rico I think the
    PPP is a very important program and everything is going to be
    in during this summer, equal to unemployment. I will say health
    care is one of the most important, in terms of Medicare and, of
    course, the food assistance through NAP and I will say EBT.
        In the agricultural program, I don't know what they said
    happened with the territories, although we all qualify. In the
    case of Puerto Rico, all specialty crops, like coffee, bananas,
    plantains, many other of our produce are not listed as
    qualifying. So our farmers are not eligible to receive all that
    was approved just because our crops in the Caribbean or in the
    islands are not listed as the main ones. We sent letters to
    address that issue so we are waiting for USDA just to clarify.
    But at least in our case, we're talking about mangos,
    pineapple, all lettuce, peppers, jams, cilantro, passionfruit,
    many others, all that the island produces is not included as a
    regular crop.
        Senator Manchin. I am sorry----
        Mr. Sablan. If I may also, Senator.
        In the Northern Marianas, you know, we have a cap on
    Medicaid just like the rest of the territories and just as of
    April, just after the COVID, of course, people lost their jobs
    and additional 2,606 individuals are signed up for Medicaid,
    qualified for Medicaid. And right now, Medicaid covers over 50
    percent of the total U.S. citizens in the Marianas as of the
    swabs, for example, and reagents, as of yesterday, testing
    supplies available are the SolGent, of Korean products, 1,502
    of test kits. The Abbott ID is 3,474 and the GeneXpert is
    2,749. So yeah, we could expect to see these things run out in
    a very short time.
        Thank you.
        Ms. Plaskett. Senator, I believe it's economic. The support
    for unemployment and the equitable treatment, if there are
    funding to states to have that funding to go to the territories
    which are going to take a long time in coming back up, I think,
    are the most important.
        Mrs. Radewagen. The short answer for American Samoa is all
    of the above. We need everything. As a matter of fact, I would
    say almost 90 percent of the goods and supplies are imported
    and many of the things that are taken for granted in the United
    States are things that we still have a tremendous need for.
        Thank you.
        The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Manchin.
        Let's go to Senator Hirono, who is online.
        Senator Hirono. Thank you, Madam Chair.
        It is good to see all of you. Thank you so much for coming
    to tell us what is happening in your countries.
        So I have a question for Representative San Nicolas. Hawaii
    and Guam are home to sizable populations of COFA citizens who
    are not covered under Medicaid and this happened in my view,
    inadvertently when the 1996 welfare, we will call it the
    Welfare Reform Act, was enacted, and so the pandemic has
    underscored the need for everyone to be covered by health
    insurance and access to health care is really important.
        Last July, I introduced the Covering our FAS Allies Act in
    the Senate, and I am thankful to you, Representatives Sablan
    and Radewagen, for cosponsoring the House companion bill. How
    would restoring Medicaid benefits to COFA citizens by passing
    the Covering our FAS Allies Act improve Guam's ability to
    respond to the COVID-19 pandemic?
        Mr. San Nicolas. Thank you very much, Senator, for the
    question.
        Because COFA migrants are not covered under Medicaid, they
    fall under what Guam refers to as the medically indigent
    program which is basically 100 percent local funded----
        Senator Hirono. Yes.
        Mr. San Nicolas. ----care to be provided for the COFA
    migrant. Because we're not able to use those funds to get the
    matching that we're able to get under Medicaid, we basically
    are suffering from a loss of buying power, significant loss of
    buying power because right now, I think, if recent legislation
    passed, I believe that we're able to get over 80 percent
    Medicaid matching now for every Medicaid dollar that Guam
    spends. But we're not able to do that for the COFA migrants. So
    basically, we're suffering from not being able to service three
    times as many migrants who might need COVID treatments because
    we're not able to leverage our dollar using Medicaid matching
    resources.
        Senator Hirono. So it would make a huge difference to Guam
    as well as to Hawaii and there are other places now, Arkansas,
    there are other places where COFA citizens live and they are
    not covered under Medicaid. And so, it would make a huge
    difference. For Hawaii, it would be a difference of millions
    and millions of dollars.
        I want to thank the members of the House, all of you, for
    putting this item into, I believe it is in your CARES Act.
    Thank you very much.
        A question for Congresswoman Radewagen. Both of us are--
    both for where you are, American Samoa, Hawaii--we are very
    dependent on air travel for our tourists, of course, and right
    now we do not have national standards for how to reopen air
    travel faithfully. I have written a letter to the Department of
    Transportation, Homeland Security, Secretary of State and
    others for them to work together to come up with common
    standards that airlines can follow rather than all the airlines
    doing their own thing, the states, the airports, everybody
    doing their own thing. Knowing how important travel is to both
    American Samoa and, in fact, all of our territories, do you
    agree that we should have national standards to enable air
    travel to open safely?
        Mrs. Radewagen. Well, right offhand it makes a lot of
    sense.
        Senator Hirono. What about the rest of you? Do you agree?
    The rest of the panel?
        Ms. Plaskett. I'm reluctant to impose national standards on
    airlines throughout the country and I think, however, that it's
    Congress' responsibility to continually question and have some
    oversight over the airlines as they engage in what their
    practices are going to be. You know, there are constitutional
    issues that, kind of, make me cringe when I think about what
    may need to be done for our airlines and airports, restrictions
    that can and cannot work. And you know, I'm looking to see what
    your bill looks like, Senator, that would be very interesting
    to review to see how that can be done in a manner that is safe
    for all Americans but still keeps businesses competitive and
    independent.
        Mr. Sablan. Senator, if I may?
        Senator Hirono. Actually, Representative Plaskett, it is
    not a bill. It is a request to the federal agencies that have
    oversight over various aspects of air travel to come together
    with some common kinds of standards. For example, the FAA
    imposes all kinds of standards on our airlines and our airports
    all the time. So this is really a request that we have some
    common standards because what you are now going to face are
    different airports having different requirements, different
    airlines having different requirements.
        Ms. Plaskett. Right.
        Senator Hirono. And it makes air travel pretty tough, I
    would say.
        Ms. Plaskett. Yes, it does.
        Senator Hirono. And since we are so dependent, it is not a
    bill. I hope that you all can agree with me that that would
    probably be a good thing.
        Ms. Plaskett. Thank you.
        Senator Hirono. Congressman Sablan, would you like to add
    anything to that? If not, I will go on to the next question.
        Mr. Sablan. Yes, I'm willing to look at what you're
    offering, Senator Hirono.
        You know, I just flew in. I have to fly to Guam.
        Senator Hirono. Yes.
        Mr. Sablan. A whole day in Guam, fly to Hawaii, Senator.
        Senator Hirono. Yes.
        Mr. Sablan. To Houston, then DC. It is difficult and it's
    scary to ride in an airplane.
        Senator Hirono. Not to mention, by the way, that the CARES
    Act and the COVID bills provided billions for the airlines.
        Mr. Sablan. Yes.
        Senator Hirono. And now they are getting back to, pretty
    much, packing their airplanes and I do not think that is what
    the CDC is recommending in terms of spacing and social
    distancing. So I think we need to remain very concerned about
    what is going on with air travel.
        Mr. Sablan. Right. Between San Francisco and Honolulu there
    are actually full flights often----
        Senator Hirono. Yes, and I think that is not particularly
    safe.
        Am I, Madam Chair, am I over my time? I can't tell.
        The Chairman. Yes, Senator Hirono, you are.
        Senator Hirono. Thank you.
        The Chairman. Thank you.
        Senator Hirono. I will submit my other questions, but I
    thank the panelists.
        The Chairman. Senator Hirono, thank you. I think you offer
    a very important perspective coming from our islanded state.
        Several of you, well, just about everybody does have to
    some extent a reliance on the cruise industry to bring your
    tourists and for many of you it is a significant part of your
    tourist base. We have been talking about the restrictions and
    limitations on air travel and, believe me, in Alaska we know
    what it means to have your summer visitors decide that they are
    going to go somewhere else when they look and see that well,
    there is a 14-day quarantine if I come to your state and I
    don't want to spend my whole vacation in a hotel somewhere. So
    that is not a good option for us.
        For us, we were expecting 1.4 million tourists to come to
    Alaska this summer on cruise ships. As you all have indicated,
    we are, as they say, dead in the water. There are no cruise
    ships that are coming, possibly in September, but it does not
    make for a season. And for us, that season is over in
    September. As much as everybody wants to come to Alaska, they
    do not view it as their winter vacation and that is why they
    don't sell those cruises then.
        But for you all that is an opportunity when the industry,
    kind of, gets back to work here. But I recognize that right now
    we have an industry that is not ready to receive the passengers
    and in many of the communities, the communities do not want to
    receive people that are coming off a cruise ship. So the
    question that I would have to you and all of you who welcome
    the cruise industry to your regions is what movement you have
    seen from the CDC to work to develop these health and safety
    protocols so that not only do the passengers feel that it is
    safe to get on these ships but the communities feel safe in
    receiving them--because I know in Alaska's experience, we have
    several of our communities that have said as much as we want
    the revenues that are going to come in when you stop, we are
    not sure that we want to run that risk if this is still high
    risk for COVID.
        So if you can speak to that, Miss Gonzalez?
        Miss Gonzalez-Colon. Madam Chair.
        The Chairman. Congresswoman.
        Miss Gonzalez-Colon. We agree on what you are experiencing
    in Alaska. We're having the same thing in San Juan which is our
    major port for cruise ships. And having said that, they're
    going to be suspended, all cruise ships, to December. Right
    now, the impact between March 14 and now is pretty much $66
    million, at least in Puerto Rico.
        So we're talking about a direct impact in tourism, even
    though tourism is seven percent of the GDP of the island, many
    people think that number is higher. It's just seven percent.
    We're talking about the airlines coming to the island as well,
    passengers. We've got several airports and now we're just
    serving San Juan as a way to try to receive all of them and do
    the voluntary test. The National Guard in Puerto Rico are doing
    voluntary testing of all passengers that are arriving. But
    again, if you are not complying with that, that's the reason
    the new Executive Order from the Governor requesting 72-hours
    before a test be made by the passenger.
        And I know the Senator was explaining before, and I agree
    with Congresswoman Plaskett, is the issue that we can do that,
    Hawaii can do that or any different jurisdiction but we need to
    have a uniform way to address this issue, not just where the
    passenger is coming from, but how are we going to comply with
    legal issues and at the same time how you balance health and
    economy because we need to learn how to live with this because
    today is COVID-19 but maybe in several months it's going to be
    another virus.
        So we need, in terms of the CDC or what are going to be the
    guidelines? We did a hearing in the House, not just in T&I
    Committee, Transportation and Infrastructure, but several
    others just for the tourism industry about cruises and planes
    because we don't want to lose a lot of the airplane's routes
    that are serving smaller airports across our island. And I
    assume that's the same thing happening in Alaska because one
    thing is the international airport but the local ones are,
    right now, directly impacted because all those flights are
    cancelled.
        The Chairman. And some of those companies are now going
    bankrupt.
        Congresswoman Plaskett.
        Ms. Plaskett. Senator, may I point something out that I
    find really interesting about how we attempted to deal with
    CARES Act and the economic impact? We have, the CARES Act put
    money in airports. We gave money to airlines. We also gave to
    local economies based on the number of individuals infected.
    But there has not been money given to marine ports, you know,
    for us, like Puerto Rico and these other islands, our ports are
    our lifeline for supplies, Senator Manchin, like you were
    talking about food and others. There's not been funding given
    to that.
        And there have not been given funding to places like Alaska
    and others that have, were reliant on cruise ship passengers
    and what that means to their economies. We spent a lot of time
    focused on airlines throughout this, whether it's CDC
    guidelines for how airlines were going to open, but not much in
    effort has been put on shipping, ports and these cruise lines.
    And I think that's something that you're, we're recognizing and
    I'm glad you raised that question because I don't think there's
    been a lot of, a lot of effort put in there.
        The Chairman. I think it is something that we need to be
    engaged with the CDC on this to make sure that, again, but that
    there is this back and forth, if you will, in terms of
    understanding what these protocols are and a recognition that
    we are dealing with health safety issues, but we are also
    dealing with significant economic repercussions as well.
        Let me turn to Senator Manchin.
        Senator Manchin. My heart goes out to all of you. It really
    does. I have been able to visit some, and I have enjoyed every
    time I have been there, but I know on top of the disasters, the
    natural disasters, the hurricanes coming through, folks are
    still trying to recover from that and hitting on top of this
    and economies flattening out completely.
        I don't know what the next round is going to be. I really
    can't tell you that. It is not going to be as robust as you all
    have done over in the House, but what we are going to do is, we
    are going to pinpoint. We want to find out really and I think
    you all can help us, all of you. Tell us what has not worked,
    because we are all different. West Virginia is different than
    Texas and California. Puerto Rico is going to be a little bit
    different than American Samoa and the Virgin Islands, and we
    all have different needs. We have got to be able now to do a
    surgical attack. This has to be a surgical attack the next
    time, how we are able to help and assist and where it may be,
    unemployment?
        Okay, I am having a problem with unemployment compensation
    right now because the $600 on top of the unemployment, people
    won't go back to work. They are just not going back. They won't
    go back until it runs out on July 31st. Now with that being
    said, you can't take a sinister approach and say, okay, no
    more. What I thought from day one, it should be, ``keep them
    whole.'' Whatever their paycheck was, we will keep that
    paycheck whole until we get this economy moving again. We have
    bumped up an incentive and it really just incentivized people
    to want to get back into action. It is going to be a rude
    awakening on July 31st to a lot of people. It is going to stop.
        Yes, Stacey?
        Ms. Plaskett. May I say something, Senator?
        Senator Manchin. Sure.
        Ms. Plaskett. One area that I think we need to be careful
    of because the territories usually receive reimbursement in
    terms of stipends, I know for us, our seniors are still waiting
    for funding for social security.
        Senator Manchin. Yes.
        Ms. Plaskett. We're still waiting for the IRS and Treasury
    to send the list to the Governors so that they can get that
    money out to individuals. But one of the good things I want to
    tell a story about is for us the PPP program for small
    businesses has worked tremendously well, particularly in the
    second round of funding when it was targeted toward smaller
    banks because we're in a small community and the banks know the
    businesses.
        Senator Manchin. Oh, yes.
        Ms. Plaskett. We were able to get large amounts to our
    small businesses----
        Senator Manchin. That was the second round you are talking
    about?
        Ms. Plaskett. Yes.
        Senator Manchin. Yes, we all got hit, every rural area in
    America got hit the same as the islands got hit, money was not
    going out to them.
        Ms. Plaskett. And then how did the second round do for
    your----
        Senator Manchin. Much better. Oh, yes, much better on that
    and we have looked at that and, you know, there is a lot of
    money left. There is over $400 billion left in the large loan
    programs which the corporations would not take----
        Ms. Plaskett. Right.
        Senator Manchin. ----because they did not want to be held
    to the strict guidelines that you could not give bonuses and
    you could not have stock buybacks. So there is a lot of money
    in play right now that we can retransfer, if you will, and
    surgically put it in areas it is really needed. That is what we
    are looking at and we just have not done enough in evaluating
    it. We are going to wait until everything runs out and someone
    says, let's throw a chunk of more money to it. I don't think
    that is going to happen. So the more we can do right now to
    surgically help each one of you all, the same as all of our
    states need help, too, is what we really should be doing.
        Ms. Plaskett. Mr. San Nicolas, my junior colleague there, I
    like reminding him that he is a freshman, has been doing some
    tremendous work on financial services, and one of the letters
    that he wrote was about municipal credit facilities which the
    territories were not eligible for. The Treasury decided that
    they were not going to include us. They interpreted on their
    own that we weren't eligible to receive that funding.
        Senator Manchin. You all did receive--the same as the
    states, every state got a minimum. The smallest states in
    America got $1.25 billion that went to their states to assist
    them in trying to help to the expense of Coronavirus. Did all
    of the territories, didn't you all receive----
        Ms. Plaskett. We did not receive----
        Mr. Sablan. No.
        Ms. Plaskett. No.
        Senator Manchin. You received some but not $1.25, I know
    that.
        Mr. San Nicolas. Specifically, to the municipal liquidity
    facility that's administered by the Fed, territories are not
    able to access that at all and that's an issue because our
    liquidity is incredibly strained. And I've raised this issue
    with Chairman Powell, my Chairwoman in the FSC Committee--
    Chairman Waters raised it today again. They're saying that
    they're looking at it, but if we can get help to have the Fed
    really understand that, you know, getting territories access to
    that liquidity facility is critical at this time.
        Ms. Plaskett. We did receive the federal funding that each
    one of the states got. It's just that our percentage was very
    different than the rest of the states were.
        Senator Manchin. Was it because of the infection rate or--
    --
        Ms. Plaskett. No, because they decided that they were going
    to create a separate amount of funding for the territories and
    then allow us to split that up in the same way that they do
    Medicaid. They came up with a number that they----
        Senator Manchin. Are any of you hurting right now,
    basically not being able to meet your Coronavirus expenses, the
    expenses directly to the virus?
        Mr. Sablan. Yes. Yes.
        Senator Manchin. You are?
        Mr. Sablan. Yes. And Senator Manchin, may I?
        Senator Manchin. Sure.
        Mr. Sablan. Just as a matter of, you know, a matter of law,
    the PUA and FPUA, the unemployment compensation, for example,
    the Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Labor has
    interpreted that and for purposes of the COFA nation citizens
    who reside in the United States, has interpreted, they have
    gone instead, instead of interpreting it based on the law, they
    have gone actually to FEMA and asked FEMA to give them an
    interpretation on how it's interpreted based on the Stafford
    Act.
        Now, the Stafford Act is different. I mean, this
    unemployment compensation has eligibility requirements for
    unemployment, especially in the Pacific Island nations, but
    citizens of COFA are not eligible because the U.S. Department
    of Labor went to FEMA and got their interpretation in terms of
    the Stafford Act which first, they're not eligible, but they
    meet the eligibility under the CARES Act, unfortunately. And
    so, I'm sure there's a whole lot more in Guam, Hawaii. You
    know, just as of last night when I found out that 1,100
    citizens of COFA who work for Tysons are infected, 1,100.
    That's a large number and I don't know who is going to pay for
    their hospital bills.
        Mrs. Radewagen. Senator Manchin, getting back to your
    question on what hasn't worked. I would say that for American
    Samoa, getting funding to the people--the SBA waiting period
    and the deadlines, and the unemployment funds are just
    beginning to come in.
        Senator Manchin. Yes.
        Mrs. Radewagen. Those are some of the key things that
    haven't worked for American Samoa.
        Senator Manchin. Thank you.
        Yes?
        Miss Gonzalez-Colon. Mr. Senator, I think one of the issues
    that we've got back home, even when we receive the full amount
    for the state the municipalities were not allowed to receive
    because all of them do not meet the 500,000 people threshold.
    So that's an issue when you've got municipalities suffering
    from the earthquakes, same thing to still recovering from the
    hurricanes and then now we've got the COVID-19 and us, in the
    Caribbean, now facing the Sahara dust that is, you know,
    another issue.
        So housing is an issue for Puerto Rico and even though we
    receive $20 billion from CDBG funds, not all of them are
    already on the islands. So one of the asks that we're trying to
    have is if we can, schools and houses that were impacted by the
    hurricanes were impacted as well with the earthquakes, so if we
    can use those funds to repair, no matter if it was the
    hurricane or the earthquake, those facilities, because right
    now, it's just labeled that money and you can't use it to
    repair in that sense. So it's commonsense. You cannot touch the
    money from the earthquakes to the money from the hurricanes.
        Senator Manchin. Let's see if we can help you on that.
        Miss Gonzalez-Colon. Thank you.
        Senator Manchin. It is crazy.
        Thank you, all.
        The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Manchin.
        That was a great question, what has not worked, and I think
    it is important that we understand from lessons learned. Again,
    I think we recognize that when we put in place the CARES Act,
    we were moving a lot of money out real quick and we were going
    to either undershoot or overshoot or miss the mark altogether.
    And we have learned, we have made some adjustments on that.
    Some of them have not come in a very timely manner, but they
    have come. But if we are going to be moving forward in yet
    another round, it does not make sense to just add money to a
    program that has clearly demonstrated that it fails certain
    constituencies. And if we need to make those adjustments, we
    need to do just that.
        As I think about how this country, our territories, move
    forward, and thinking about economic recovery, so much of it is
    in what you all have outlined with regards to things that are
    just, really, critically important when it comes to health care
    and Medicaid and just all of the reimbursement issues. But I
    want to talk hard infrastructure just for a moment because
    there is a lot of discussion around here, oh, yes, we are going
    to do an infrastructure bill. Well we have been talking about
    that for a long while, and we are running out of daylight here.
        But, one of the things that we have really come to
    appreciate, I think, during this time of COVID is that our
    healthcare, our education system is made stronger if you have
    good broadband, you have the ability to do telehealth or
    distance learning. So I am curious to know from those of you if
    internet broadband is a consideration, an issue for you. In
    other hard infrastructure I know that we passed legislation
    here five years ago directing DOI to develop energy action
    plans for the territories. And so, you know, that often is
    viewed, energy infrastructure to deliver clean energy solutions
    where you are not relying on diesel that is shipped in, is
    something that, I think, we all look to as a future.
        Congresswoman Gonzalez, you mentioned the Puerto Rico
    Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, the WaterSMART grants,
    recognizing that, again, when you are talking about a pandemic
    it is really important that you have clean water for your
    citizens.
        As we think about infrastructure, I would be curious to
    hear from the five of you what could be beneficial from an
    economic recovery perspective that you would classify in this
    particular bucket. We will go down this direction, so we will
    start with you, Congressman San Nicolas.
        Mr. San Nicolas. Thank you. Thank you, Senator.
        I'd first like to recognize my colleague, Congresswoman
    Plaskett, because she's done tremendous work to increase the
    allotment for our roadways in the territories and that's being
    included in our infrastructure bill in the House that we're
    currently working on. I know that my colleague also,
    Congresswoman Gonzalez-Colon, actually wanted to increase that
    amount further. Roadway infrastructure is a serious issue,
    especially on Guam. Our weather conditions make for a very
    short lifespan for even a well-built road. On top of that,
    because we don't have the same kind of investment in public
    transportation that a lot of the states have, we have a lot of
    drivers on these roads. And so, road wear and tear from use,
    road wear and tear from environmental conditions result in a
    lot of roadwork that needs to be taken care of.
        And so, these additional road resources are very welcomed,
    but I would like to ask if there is a way for us to consider,
    at least for our territories, those road resources are
    specifically for routed roads, but we have a lot of secondary
    roads on our island that do not have any kind of funding
    resources. They are, perhaps, not perhaps, they absolutely are
    in worse shape than our federally-routed roads that do have the
    federal resources. And with the COVID-19 circumstances and our
    tax revenue base dropping out of the bottom, I don't see any
    local resources being available to maintain secondary roads
    anytime soon. And so, I mean, road infrastructure, all the way
    back to Roman times, has been critical for economic
    sustainability. That's something that I would very much like to
    ask to be a priority for the infrastructure bill.
        The Chairman. Very good.
        Congresswoman.
        Miss Gonzalez-Colon. In the case of Puerto Rico, I need to
    say that we are right now having a drought. So beside all the
    situation, our condition is living in the Caribbean add more
    pressure to the resources. So we are the only territory, the
    only state in the whole nation that is excluded from the
    WaterSMART Grants Eligibility Act that actually works with
    drought resiliency and fresh water. So that's an easy one,
    right? Just including us as the rest of the states.
        The second, I will say, is the rural areas for broadband.
    There's a reality that right now you need to move forward a lot
    of schools to go to remote work with kids. We've still got a
    problem with schools in the south part of the island because
    those municipalities were impacted by the earthquakes. So you
    get one town like, Guanica, all six schools are closed. So
    you've really got a situation back home in terms of access to
    broadband in the rural areas on the island.
        In terms of the infrastructure for, I'll say, ports, being
    an island, ports should be in the best condition ever and not
    just the San Juan area, but the rest of the ports on the
    island. In terms of the, we receive a block grant as a
    territory for roads and highways. Our problem is that having
    the same metrics that you use for lines in the rest of the
    states who are receiving that allocation, Puerto Rico is just
    receiving $200 million when the states that make, compared to
    us, will be receiving $418. So we are asking to remove the cap
    or, at least, increase the amount of funds going to highways
    and local roads because we are, I mean, we are not receiving,
    using the same metrics, the money that should be used for
    infrastructure. And Puerto Rico's infrastructure serves a lot
    of the pharmaceutical that supplies the national supply chains
    and many others.
        So, and social security incomes, supplemental, SSI, I mean,
    a lot of our elderly people are not receiving those resources
    and you see the poverty level line of 43 percent is because all
    this program, instead of having SNAP, which is the program all
    states got for food assistance, in the territories we receive
    NAP, at least in Puerto Rico. That means it's the less of the
    funds and resources as well.
        So I say, infrastructure for taking the cap for the
    blockgrant, moving us from the rural areas for broadband in
    rural areas and, of course, the WaterSMART. And I'm not talking
    here about energy that you may know, you were on the island
    that we are having a lot of, 40 percent of petroleum, 39
    percent of gas and 18 percent of coal, just two percent of
    renewables and all the infrastructure suffer by the hurricanes
    and the earthquakes and we don't have access yet to the $1.9
    billion allocated by Congress to manage the energy area.
        The Chairman. Here we go, we have three more to finish this
    up and then we will turn to Senator Cantwell.
        Congresswoman Plaskett.
        Ms. Plaskett. I'll be very quick.
        In terms of infrastructure I think one of the major ones is
    trans-shipment which would include ports, but I think we have
    the potential and there had been discussion previously about
    utilizing either Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands for LNG trans-
    shipment to the rest of the Caribbean. And I think that's
    something that needs to be put back on the plate.
        I'm working with a colleague, the Dean of the House from
    Alaska, Don Young, about support for ferry systems in our areas
    which are remote needed, but I think also your discussion about
    broadband. In my estimation, broadband is for transportation
    the same way that the railroads were in the 1800s. It is the
    way that goods and services, information is going to be
    transported in this country and we need to make the investment
    in it. The Virgin Islands has some of the--has the largest
    broadband capacity in the United States, outside of New York
    City, more than Silicon Valley, elsewhere because Global
    Crossing put their North American hub on the island of St.
    Croix. But our children have the lowest bandwidth capacity.
    They have the lowest speed because they do not have that access
    in that last mile coming to their homes. That's inexcusable,
    and so the investment in that is really, I think, key to us
    being also able to grow our economy.
        So thanks.
        The Chairman. That is very interesting information.
        Let's go to Congressman Sablan.
        Mr. Sablan. Yeah, thank you.
        I'd also echo broadband. I come from a place where no less
    than 60 percent of our students fall below the poverty level,
    and so many of them do not have access to broadband. But also
    in terms of schools, the Army Corps of Engineers did a study in
    2013, Senator, and actually made an inventory of school
    facilities and found that the schools were just in need of
    repair, and a middle school in Saipan--which was built right
    after the war has finally--was destroyed by our recent super
    typhoon and students are now taking classes in tents.
        Having said that, again, in H.R. to consider today we have
    the reopen and restore schools language from the Ed & Labor and
    provide money for $100 million, $100 billion to restore or to
    cancel deferred maintenance for school facilities throughout
    the nation. And so yes, schools are also very in need.
        And if I may, Senator, the Energy Task Force that was by
    law assigned to Interior, nothing has come out of that except
    the organization of the task force. I've been bringing that up
    twice a year at least.
        The Chairman. Yes.
        Mr. Sablan. Thank you.
        The Chairman. I figured as much.
        Congresswoman Radewagen, you get the last word here.
        Mrs. Radewagen. Thank you, Chairman Murkowski.
        With regard to infrastructure, my written testimony that's
    being submitted addresses many of the details and key needs
    there for us. But thank you also for bringing up
    interconnectivity, the internet. I'm not the most tech savvy
    person, but in short, yes, we need both more high-speed
    connectivity and more tech training for our young professionals
    and students at the American Samoa Community College, our only
    community college. Additional broadband grants will provide
    this generation with must-have tools to be part of the virtual
    and teleworking economy that's growing more rapidly than ever
    due to the ongoing health crisis and our local CBOC for
    veterans also heavily relies on internet connectivity for
    telehealth. Investment into telecommunications has increasingly
    become the most important lifeline to the outside world for
    these remote islands, but we are making progress here. And as I
    am live from 7,000+ miles away. Thank you.
        The Chairman. Thank you, Congresswoman.
        Senator Cantwell.
        Senator Cantwell. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for
    this hearing.
        If I could go back to Congresswoman Radewagen. Samoa has, I
    think, no cases so far but as travel is starting to open up,
    obviously we have had various hearings in the Commerce
    Committee about standards that we would like to see in the
    aviation sector so that there are uniform health standards
    across. What steps do you think need to be taken by the Federal
    Government to have confidence in reopening commercial air
    travel to the island?
        Mrs. Radewagen. Well, I think that, I want to complement
    the Governor here and his task force and the working team on
    the things that they've put into place that has worked very
    well for us at this point in time. And I think that, of course,
    we need more resources, but the Federal Government has been
    working closely with the local government to see that we can
    continue to be the only state or territory that has not a
    single positive case. That's a good thing.
        Senator Cantwell. How do you think people feel about air
    travel at this point?
        Mrs. Radewagen. Well, I think that there are a lot of angry
    constituents out there. People want to travel, always want to
    travel, and it's been tough for us. We only have one airline
    and when that shuts down, nothing moves and it's really by the
    Grace of God that I haven't--here after spending two weeks of
    quarantine in Hawaii and then I managed to get on a flight to
    come down and then immediately into another two weeks of
    quarantine here in American Samoa. I don't know if I'm
    answering your question, but----
        Senator Cantwell. We all care about air travel and it is
    essential for moving goods and services and for our mail,
    medical supplies, so we want our airlines to operate. I am
    asking you because, obviously, it is so much a part of your
    economy, tourism, and my feeling is if we get this right and we
    could get national standards in place, if we could get some
    distancing and some processes and procedures that had to be
    followed, you might get to a level where the public feels more
    comfortable in flying.
        So we have just been pushing for standards, even if they
    are, you know, guidelines that would be implemented by all the
    airlines. Again, we know that American Samoa has a strong
    tourism economy and probably really counts on this, so we are
    just looking for the day that we can get that restarted. Thank
    you.
        Thank you, Madam Chair.
        Mrs. Radewagen. Yes, and as I mentioned to Senator Hirono,
    it makes sense. I think it makes sense to take a good look at
    that.
        The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Cantwell.
        Thank you, all. I appreciate what you have provided us. I
    think there has been a good review on some lessons learned but
    also how COVID-19 has really helped shine a spotlight on some
    of the disparities that we have, not just within how our
    territories are treated, but some of the disparities that we
    see here in mainland United States. You look at the
    vulnerabilities of so many of our minority populations and you
    think about how we can work to be responsive, again, not only
    when it comes to the health and safety of individuals but then
    how we are responsive to the economic impact as a follow-on
    from COVID-19.
        It is a challenge, but hearing what you have provided the
    Committee today, I think, is a reminder, certainly to me as a
    state that while we are not an island, sometimes we feel like
    an island up there not sharing a common border with the rest of
    the Lower 48, but in a recognition of the reliance of your
    economies on a tourism base that can literally be shutdown
    overnight and be cut off then for not just the period where the
    health is at risk, but again, once you lose that season, you
    lose that season for possibly a year. The fact that so many of
    our territories are still struggling to recover from various
    natural disasters, whether it is the hurricanes in the
    Caribbeans or the most recent earthquakes or the typhoons out
    in the Pacific. These are still very real natural disasters
    that you have not even been able to take a deep breath in your
    recovery to move on to this next one.
        I think the reason that we wanted to have this discussion
    today was to make sure that as we work toward a broader
    national effort toward recovery, that we are not forgetting our
    territories. I don't care, Congresswoman Radewagen, whether you
    are 7,000 miles away or you are 700 miles away, we have a
    responsibility here, and it is just more challenging in certain
    places than others because of the geography, but it is
    respecting the people on the ground where ever they may be.
        I think you are probably going to be fielding some
    questions for the record from other colleagues, and we will
    appreciate your weighing in.
        But use us here in the Energy and Natural Resources
    Committee as a resource if you have more information following
    on that you think we need to know in anticipation of the work
    that we are going to be doing over here in the month of July.
    That would be very helpful and truly, very welcome.
        We thank you for your partnership in this, and we thank you
    for the representation that you provide for your constituents
    as well.
        With that, the Committee stands adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 4:23 p.m. the hearing was adjourned.]

                          APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED

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