[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 95 (Tuesday, June 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S6853]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. AKAKA (for himself and Mr. Inouye):
  S. 1906. A bill to include certain territory with the jurisdiction of 
the State of Hawaii, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources.


              The Insular Areas Consolidation Act of 1996

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, with Senator Inouye as a cosponsor, I am 
introducing legislation to give the State of Hawaii a greater say over 
proposals to develop seven U.S. possessions in the Pacific which are 
currently not affiliated with any U.S. State or territory. These 
islands are Baker Island, Jarvis Island, Howland Island, Johnston 
Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Island, and Palmyra Atoll. My legislation 
would transfer jurisdiction, but not title, of these areas to the State 
of Hawaii.
  Proposals to consolidate these Pacific islands into the State of 
Hawaii's jurisdiction have surfaced before. Last year, Congressman 
Elton Gallegly introduced a nearly identical bill in the House and a 
hearing was held on the measure by the Subcommittee on Native American 
and Insular Affairs on January 31, 1995. The Clinton Administration 
supported the proposal, as did Hawaii's State Senate. At the time of 
its introduction, however, there were many people in the State of 
Hawaii who wanted to know more about the potential benefits and 
liabilities that would accrue to the State should jurisdiction be 
transferred under the Gallegly bill. As a consequence, Hawaii's Gov. 
Benjamin Cayetano convened a task force headed by the Office of State 
Planning and the Pacific Basin Development Council to review the 
implications of the proposal.
  My reason for reviving this legislation is that recent proposals to 
develop these islands have greatly alarmed the people of Hawaii and the 
Pacific. In blatant disregard for the welfare of people residing in the 
mid-Pacific region, a group of developers and financiers have announced 
a proposal to store high-level nuclear fuel on Palmyra Atoll, a 
privately owned U.S. possession located 1,000 miles from Hawaii. This 
action occurred after the group failed to secure Midway Island for 
their joint venture. On June 13, I introduced legislation to prohibit 
an interim or permanent nuclear storage facility on any U.S. possession 
outside of the 50 States, including Palmyra. However, I believe that 
the developers of Palmyra have forced us to consider a much broader 
issue; that is, how can we give the people of Hawaii a greater say in 
what goes on in our own backyard? While the cold war has ended, the 
threat of storing nuclear waste in isolated Pacific islands is just as 
alarming to the people of Hawaii. Instead of the tropical Pacific, 
nuclear entrepreneurs in search of a Pacific island for storing high-
level waste would turn our region into the toxic Pacific.
  The legislation I introduce today will give the people of Hawaii the 
opportunity to respond, at the local level, to efforts to store nuclear 
waste on Palmyra or any of these U.S. possessions. At the moment, 
Hawaii residents are effectively precluded from decisions on issues 
confronting these islands, despite the fact that some of these islands 
are geographically part of the Hawaiian islands and have historical, 
political, or cultural links to Hawaii. Through the transfer of 
jurisdiction to the State of Hawaii, the Governor of Hawaii, the State 
legislature, and the residents of Hawaii can have a real voice in 
determining the future of these islands.
  Five of the islands under my bill--Baker Island, Jarvis Island, 
Howland Island, Kingman Reef, and Palmyra Atoll--are uninhabited U.S. 
possessions, though Palmyra is privately owned. The other two islands--
Johnston Atoll and Midway Island--fall under Department of Defense 
jurisdiction. Five of the islands, excluding Palmyra Atoll and Kingman 
Reef, are national wildlife refuges.
  Midway Island has been managed as an overlay national wildlife refuge 
since 1988 when the U.S. Navy signed a cooperative agreement with the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Most recently, on May 22, 1996, the 
Navy transferred custody of and accountability for Midway to the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service.
  Johnston Atoll is currently being used by the U.S. Army for the 
Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System. There are about 960 
civilian and 250 military personnel working on the island. Most 
recently, the Army testified that it expects to complete the 
destruction of chemical weapons by the year 2000. This is welcome news 
to all of us in the Pacific.
  Mr. President, to ensure that U.S national security interests are not 
jeopardized, my bill would allow the United States to maintain its 
current defense operations and needs.
  In summary, Mr. President, the State of Hawaii has more at stake in 
what happens in the Pacific than any other State in the Union. The 
legislation I introduce today preserves U.S. interests in the Pacific 
while ensuring that the State of Hawaii has a clear voice over 
decisions that affect the region.

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