[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 106 (Tuesday, September 12, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H7403-H7404]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   DETERMINING SIZE AND QUORUM OF LEGISLATURE BY LAWS OF THE VIRGIN 
                                ISLANDS

  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 2296) to amend the Revised Organic Act of the 
Virgin Islands to provide that the number of members on the legislature 
of the Virgin Islands and the number of such members constituting a 
quorum shall be determined by the laws of the Virgin Islands, and for 
other purposes.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2296

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SIZE AND QUORUM OF LEGISLATURE DETERMINED BY LAWS 
                   OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.

       (a) Size of Legislature.--Section 5(b) of the Revised 
     Organic Act of the Virgin Islands (48 U.S.C. 1571(b)) is 
     amended--
       (1) by striking ``fifteen''; and
       (2) by inserting after the first sentence the following: 
     ``The number of such senators shall be determined by the laws 
     of the Virgin Islands.''.
       (b) Number Constituting Quorum.--The first sentence of 
     section 9(a) of the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands 
     (48 U.S.C. 1575(a)) is amended to read as follows: ``The 
     number of members of the legislature needed to constitute a 
     quorum shall be determined by the laws of the Virgin 
     Islands.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Walden) and the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. 
Faleomavaega) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden).


                             General Leave

  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks on H.R. 2296.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Oregon?
  There was no objection.

[[Page H7404]]

  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2296, legislation which 
would amend the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands to provide 
that the number of members of the legislature of the Virgin Islands and 
the number of such members constituting a quorum shall be determined by 
the laws of the Virgin Islands.
  Mr. Speaker, I would ask support for passage of H.R. 2296, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, again I want to highly commend and 
compliment the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen) 
for her sponsorship and authorship of this legislation. It certainly 
has the bipartisan support of both sides of the aisle on this 
committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting that the people of the U.S. Virgin 
Islands still have to come to Congress to reduce the size of their 
legislature. But that they must do so provides some insight into the 
structure of the relationships between the United States and its 
insular areas. For better or worse, each relationship is unique.
  In the case of the Virgin Islands, Congress has given the authority 
to the Government of the Virgin Islands to establish a constitutional 
form of government under which the people of the Virgin Islands could 
control such things as the size of their government. This more 
localized form of government has not been established yet, and in an 
effort to make the government more efficient, the people of the Virgin 
Islands wish to reduce the size of their unicameral legislature from 15 
members to 9.
  This is a request being made by the people of the Virgin Islands, and 
it comes to Congress from a duly enacted resolution of the local 
legislature. As it is in keeping with the wishes of the people and 
their elected local representatives, and is consistent with sound 
management practices, I support this bill and ask my colleagues to do 
the same.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, the passage of H.R. 
2296 is long overdue. This noncontroversial legislation allows the 
Virgin Islands Government to free up government revenue by reducing the 
size of their legislature and thereby redirecting the savings towards 
education, law enforcement, and other issues confronting their 
community.
  H.R. 2296 was first introduced by our colleague, Ms. Christian-
Christensen, during the 105th Congress and though it passed the 
Resources Committee unanimously, we were unable to get it scheduled for 
floor consideration. I am pleased that we are finally taking action on 
this legislation today and hope that it provides some relief of our 
fellow Americans in the Virgin Islands who have not experienced the 
same level of economic prosperity we have enjoyed on the mainland.
  I commend the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands for her work on 
this matter and urge full support of its passage.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman 
from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen).
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2296, a bill 
I introduced earlier this year to give my constituents, the people of 
the U.S. Virgin Islands, a greater degree of self-government by 
allowing us and not Congress, to determine the size of our local 
legislature.
  I must begin my remarks by also thanking the gentleman from Alaska 
(Mr. Young), chairman of the Committee on Resources and the gentleman 
from California (Mr. George Miller), ranking member, for their support 
and hard work in getting this bill to the floor today.
  The gentleman from Alaska (Chairman Young), the gentleman from 
California (Mr. George Miller), Ranking Democrat, and I all recognize 
and acknowledge that H.R. 2296 is only necessary because the Virgin 
Islands have not yet adopted a local constitution after four attempts.
  Although I believe our adopting a constitution would be the preferred 
process, a constitution convention and adoption of a Virgin Islands 
constitution may still be a long way off. Therefore, H.R. 2296 was 
introduced on June 22 of last year in response to a resolution that was 
passed by the 22nd Legislature of the Virgin Islands to petition 
Congress to reduce the size of the local legislature from its current 
15 members to 9 as a means of saving our cash-starved government badly 
needed funds. A similar bill to H.R. 2296 was introduced in the 105th 
Congress and was reported out by the Committee on Resources in August 5 
by a voice vote.
  The Virgin Islands continues to struggle, Mr. Speaker, with a severe 
fiscal crisis, and H.R. 2296 is looked at by some Virgin Islanders as a 
means of saving scarce funds by reducing the size of our legislature. I 
drafted this bill to cede the authority to restructure the legislature 
to the Virgin Islands rather than have Congress prescribe a specific 
number of local senators because, in my estimation, all alternatives 
that can produce more accountability and reduce budgets ought to be 
considered, not just the reduction in numbers.
  In closing, I want to thank Virgin Islands Senator Adlah Foncie 
Donastorg for his authorship of the resolution which led to the 
introduction of the bill before us today. I also want to thank the 
staff of the Committee on Resources for their work on the bill. I thank 
my colleagues for supporting it.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 2296.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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