[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 11, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H6744-H6745]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           COMPACT-IMPACT AID

  (Mr. UNDERWOOD asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, in 1986 the United States flung open its 
borders to the three countries of the former U.S. Trust Territory of 
the Pacific. The Compact of Free Association, negotiated between these 
nations and the United States, waives all usual INS procedures allowing 
totally unrestricted immigration into the United States. Because of 
Guam's proximity to these islands, we bear the brunt of this in-
migration.

[[Page H 6745]]

  The law implementing the Compact of Free Association authorized 
reimbursement to Guam for the impact of this policy. Today, over 8,000 
foreign citizens, 6 percent of our population, now legally reside on 
Guam.
  The Government of Guam has carried the water for this ill-conceived 
immigration policy since 1986 and has incurred costs in excess of $70 
million. I urge my colleagues to support an amendment that I will offer 
to the Interior appropriations bill to restore the administration's 
request of $4.58 million for Guam compact-impact aid. Guam may be 
10,000 miles away, but on this immigration issue, Guam will not buy the 
excuse that the Federal Government lost our compact-impact check in the 
mail.

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