[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 12 (Wednesday, February 9, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 9, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   VIEQUES LANDS TRANSFER ACT OF 1994

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                     HON. CARLOS A. ROMERO-BARCELO

                             of puerto rico

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 9, 1994

  Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO. Mr. Speaker, today I introduced the Vieques Lands 
Transfer Act of 1994. The purpose of this legislation is to authorize 
and direct the transfer of certain lands on the island of Vieques, PR, 
to the municipality of Vieques for public purposes that benefit the 
people of the island.
  The island of Vieques is located in the Caribbean Sea, approximately 
6 miles east from the eastern coast of Puerto Rico and 22 miles 
southwest of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Vieques is a long narrow 
island nearly 20 miles long and 4.5 miles wide at its widest point. It 
has an area of about 33,000 acres of 51 square miles of land and, 
according to the 1990 census, a population of 8,602. The island's 2 
towns, Isabel Segunda and Esperanza, have populations of 1,702 and 
1,656, respectively. The other residents are classified as rural 
inhabitants. Vieques is a civilian municipality of the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico and is divided into seven wards--barrios.
  The Navy and Marine Corps conduct Atlantic Fleet training and 
readiness exercises at the Puerto Rico-Virgin Island complex known as 
the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Range [AFWTR]. Headquartered at 
Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Ceiba, PR, the complex consists of 
four ranges: the inner range on the east end of Vieques; the outer 
range which is an easterly ocean range extending both north and south 
of Puerto Rico; the underwater tracking range at St. Croix, VI, and an 
electronic warfare range which overlaps all of the ranges.
  On Vieques, but outside the inner range, is the naval ammunition 
facility [NAF] which occupies the entire area west of the civilian 
zone--approximately 8,000 acres. The Navy uses this facility for deep 
storage of conventional ammunition. Ships delivering the ordnance dock 
at Mosquito Pier, located on the northern coast of the NAF. From there, 
it is transported by truck to bunkers distributed throughout the NAF. 
Most of the ammunition is destined for off-island use by the Navy, the 
Marines, and the Puerto Rican National Guard. Occasionally, ammunition 
is transferred overland from the NAF to the ground maneuver area 
located east of the civilian zone. At present, training exercises are 
not carried out at the NAF.
  Since the 1940's, when the U.S. Navy acquired 78 precent--
approximately 26,000 of 33,000 acres--of Vieques' territory, the island 
has suffered a prolonged and ever-increasing economic crisis and a 
massive out-migration. From a population of around 15,000 in the 
1940's, Vieques currently has 8,602 inhabitants according to the 1990 
census. An unemployment rate higher than 50 percent, lack of adequate 
housing, health, educational facilities, and a growing crime rate are 
among the clearest manifestations of the critical economic situation on 
Vieques. According to the 1990 census the per capita income in the 
island was $2,997, and the Viequense families with an income below the 
established poverty level reached 70 percent in 1989.
  Women must be flown by emergency plane to the main island of Puerto 
Rico to give birth due to the poor condition of Vieques' hospital. The 
island also suffers from the highest rate of broken families among 
Puerto Rico's 78 municipalities.
  In the late 1970's, Viequense fishermen spearheaded a drive to stop 
the bombing on the island and end restrictions on fishing. Many of them 
were arrested.
  In 1980, my colleague from California, Congressman Ron Dellums, 
directed a House Armed Services Committee panel review of the naval 
training activities on the Island of Vieques. This panel concluded in 
its final report to the Committee that the Navy ``should locate an 
alternative site'' and that ``[i]n the interim, the Navy should make 
every effort to work closely with the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 
implementing programs to alleviate the impact of its activities and in 
particular explore turning over additional land to the island for 
civilian use.''
  In 1983, while Governor of Puerto Rico, I signed an agreement with 
the Department of the Navy whereby the Puerto Rican Government agreed 
to drop all litigations in court against the military for ecological 
and economic damage on Vieques in exchange for a Navy commitment to 
mitigate the ecological impact of their activities and help with local 
economic development. All of the economic projects set up in Vieques 
with assistance from the Navy closed down within 1 or 2 years after 
initiating operations.
  Lack of control of over two-thirds of the island by the municipal 
government is widely recognized as the principal cause of Vieques' 
economic and social woes. Trying to find a solution to the current 
problems, the local planning board and the municipal government, in 
close coordination with the Government of Puerto Rico and the state 
legislature have designed and commenced the implementation of a tourism 
industry strategy. But the truth of the fact is that this gloomy 
economic picture can only be improved if and when the municipal 
government of Vieques acquires sufficient lands to develop the required 
infrastructure for the implementation of the tourism industry strategy.
  I strongly believe that this bill provides a solution that will 
beneficial for both the people of Vieques and the U.S. Navy, and I am 
hopeful that it will receive favorable congressional action at an early 
date.

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