[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 134 (Thursday, September 22, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 22, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       LET'S INVEST IN OUR PEOPLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Guam [Mr. Underwood] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, today, I have introduced H.R. 5074, the 
Guam Labor Preference Act, amend the Organic Act of Guam to grant 
authority to the Government of Guam to give preference, in awarding 
contracts, to persons or firms that hire a specified percentage of 
persons who are United States Citizens, nationals or permanent resident 
aliens.
  This innovative amendment to the Organic Act was developed by the 
Speaker of the 22d Guam Legislature, the Honorable Joe T. San Agustin, 
as a means to encourage companies that do business on Guam to hire 
locally and to train residents of Guam for jobs that might otherwise go 
to temporary foreign workers. Guam's unemployment rate this year is 
approaching 9.3 percent, and Speaker San Agustin is right to be 
concerned about the long-term effects of the unemployment situation.
  The Guam Labor Preference Act provides that the percentage of 
American citizens, nationals and permanent resident aliens for this 
contract preference program would be determined by local law by the 
Guam Legislature. The flexibility of this approach would allow the 
Government of Guam to adjust to changing circumstances and to set 
percentages that make sense for the island's contractors. The 
Government of Guam is a significant force in the island's economy, and 
this program will have an impact on school and highway construction and 
other government- financed projects.
  Speaker San Agustin was successful in incorporating similar 
provisions in local legislation in the mid-1980's authorizing a 
miltimillion dollar highway bond. The result was an increase in local 
hiring and training, and the success of this earlier program serves as 
a model for a wider Government of Guam program. While the initial 
program was limited to construction projects, this new authority can be 
used by the Government of Guam to expand preferential hiring to service 
contracts affecting potentially hundreds of new jobs for American 
citizens on Guam. Some States have used this approach to give 
preferential hiring to American citizens for State-funded jobs and the 
Guam program is an extension of that concept.
  The practical effect of the Guam Labor Preference Act will be to 
reward those companies that invest in our people, and to reward those 
companies that give back to our community a share of what they reap 
from Government of Guam contracts. This is not only good policy, it is 
good government.
  Again, Mr. Speaker, I commend the Speaker of the 22d Guam 
Legislature, the Honorable Joe T. San Agustin, for his concern for 
those who are caught in difficult times on Guam and for his commitment 
to the welfare of the American citizens, nationals and permanent 
residents of our island.

                          ____________________