[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 144 (Thursday, October 21, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2160]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2670, DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND 
  STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 20, 1999

  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Conference 
Report of H.R. 2670, the Commerce, Justice, State appropriations bill 
for FY 2000. This legislation fails to provide for adequate funding for 
many issues important to the safety of our communities and our 
families. Programs such as the President's Community Oriented Policing 
initiative requires full funding to put more officers in our 
neighborhoods and on our streets to safeguard our children. I am also 
disappointed that Conferees did not include legislation that would have 
expanded the definition of hate crimes to include acts committed 
against a person based on sexual orientation, gender or disability. 
Furthermore, I oppose this Conference Report because it also does not 
include any federal reimbursement to the Territory of Guam for taking 
on the federal responsibility to detain illegal aliens seeking asylum 
in the United States. In this first half of this year alone, Guam has 
spent more than $8 million in behalf of the Immigration and 
Naturalization Service for housing illegal aliens attempting to enter 
the U.S. through Guam. From this month until the end of the year, an 
additional $5 million will be spent.
  In recent years, Guam has been subject to illegal immigration from 
Asian countries, particularly from the People's Republic of China, 
partly because of the Asian economic crisis. In just the first four 
months of 1999, Guam was the recipient of more than 700 Chinese illegal 
aliens seeking political asylum in the United States. Never before had 
Guam experienced such a surge of illegal immigration from Asia. This 
surge depleted INS financial resources on Guam and forced the 
Government of Guam to incur detention costs to our local correctional 
facility, which is already overcrowded, at a cost of nearly $45,000 per 
day for more than 430 current alien detainees.
  Since the start of the year, I along with Governor of Guam Carl 
Gutierrez, have been working with the Clinton Administration to address 
the surge of illegal immigration from China. With their cooperation and 
also with the collaboration of the U.S. Coast Guard and the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, illegal immigration--for 
now--has slowed. However, there remains more than 430 alien detainees 
that are housed in Guam's correctional facility awaiting for the INS 
asylum process to run its course.
  Illegal immigration into the United States is a federal 
responsibility. Because of Guam's proximity to Asia, it is incumbent 
that federal agencies assist the Government of Guam in combating this 
serious problem on our shores. Guam's size of only 212 square miles and 
a population of 150,000 does not lend itself to unexpected and 
significant increases in the immigrant population. Any increases 
translate into serious social and financial repercussions because our 
resources have been strained by the Asian economic crisis and we do not 
have alternative resources available for non-criminal immigrants that 
are available on the U.S. mainland to supplement federal resources.
  I believe that special budget requests from U.S. Territories in 
Congress are perhaps the greatest challenges territorial delegates face 
during our terms in office. Our needs and our states are often 
misunderstood because our distances from the mainland U.S. are great. 
Apart from federal programs that both states and territories can 
participate, any other requests outside of the norm can be a 
frustrating ordeal. We are vulnerable to federal interagency 
differences about how to treat the territories as well as having little 
leverage during the appropriations process.
  I am appreciative for the collaboration and support of the President 
for including reimbursement for Guam as part of his Administration's 
priorities during the appropriations process. I remain confident that 
the President is committed to reimbursing Guam for shouldering the 
costs of the federal government's responsibility and I remain committed 
to working with my colleagues to ensure that Guam is reimbursed for all 
past, present and future costs related to the detention of illegal 
aliens on Guam.

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