[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 167 (Tuesday, November 18, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H11468-H11469]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INCREASING THE WAIVER REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN LOCAL MATCHING
REQUIREMENTS TO AMERICAN SAMOA, GUAM, THE VIRGIN ISLANDS, OR THE
COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS
Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1189) to increase the waiver requirement for certain local
matching requirements for grants provided to American Samoa, Guam, the
Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
and for other purposes.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 1189
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. WAIVER OF LOCAL MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Waiver of Certain Matching Requirements.--Section 501
of the Act entitled ``An Act to authorize certain
appropriations for the territories of the United States, to
amend certain Acts relating thereto, and for other
purposes'', approved October 15, 1977 (48 U.S.C. 1469a; 91
Stat. 1164) is amended--
(1) in the last sentence of subsection (d), by striking
``by law''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the
case of American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the
Northern Mariana Islands, each department or agency of the
United States shall waive any requirement for local matching
funds (including in-kind contributions) that the insular area
would otherwise be required to provide for any grant as
follows:
``(1) For a grant requiring matching funds (including in-
kind contributions) of $500,000 or less, the entire matching
requirement shall be waived.
``(2) For a grant requiring matching funds (including in-
kind contributions) of more than $500,000, $500,000 of the
matching requirement shall be waived.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 601 of the Act entitled
``An Act to authorize appropriations for certain insular
areas of the United States, and for other purposes'',
approved March 12, 1980 (48 U.S.C. 1469a note; 94 Stat. 90),
is amended by striking ``, and adding the following
sentence'' and all that follows through ``Islands.' ''.
(c) Study.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall
complete and submit to the Committee on Resources of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources of the Senate the results of a study of the
implementation of the amendments made by subsection (a).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Indiana (Mr. Souder) and the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr.
Faleomavaega) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder).
General Leave
Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Indiana?
There was no objection.
Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1189 which was introduced by my friend and
colleague, the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega), is
important as a component of the larger interest in encouraging economic
development in the territories.
I would like to add, earlier the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr.
Faleomavaega) talked about his many friends in Arizona. A few years ago
I was fortunate to travel with the gentleman and Speaker Hastert around
the Middle East and other countries. Everywhere we went we met Samoans.
They all knew who he was. He has friends around the world in multiple
continents. I can verify to that, as can the Speaker, not just in
Arizona and his home area. Samoans were everywhere. I very much
appreciate that.
Many Americans do not realize the role that our committee plays with
this. This is a very important bill to the territories. H.R. 1189
increases the waiver for certain local matching requirements for all
United States territories. Currently, Federal law allows Federal
agencies or departments to waive the first $200,000 in matching
requirements to the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the
Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
This legislation will increase that amount to $500,000. Further, for a
grant requiring matching funds of more than $500,000 the legislation
waives the first $500,000 of the matching requirement.
It is important to note that H.R. 1189 will also end the inconsistent
manner in which current law is applied to the matching waiver. With
this bill, the waiver will apply to all Federal agencies and
departments making grants to the U.S. territories, not just the
Department of Interior.
The bill of the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega)
closely resembles legislation introduced by Delegate Underwood in the
107th Congress which was also reported with strong bipartisan support
by the Committee on Resources. It is clear that while territorial
economies, in general, have improved over the last several years, each
government continues to be challenged with rising unemployment,
decreased government revenues, and limited new capital for
diversification. Passage of this legislation today and its eventual
enactment will truly broaden the U.S. Territories' access to Federal
grants which should help to grow their unique economies.
I commend the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) for
working with this committee and others to ensure this legislation moves
forward. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1189.
Mr. Speaker, 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, I rise to support H.R. 1189, a bill to
assist our insular territories by waiving matching requirements at a
certain Federal level for Federal grant programs. I would like to thank
the gentleman from California (Chairman Pombo) and the gentleman from
West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) of the Committee on Resources for their
continued support regarding the needs of our island territories and for
their help in bringing this legislation to the floor today.
I would also be mindful in expressing my appreciation to the support
and cosponsorship of the gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) and the
gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen) and my good
friend, the Resident Commissioner, the gentleman from Puerto Rico (Mr.
Acevedo-Vila) for their support.
H.R. 1189 is a bill that would increase the waiver requirement for
certain local matching requirements for grants provided for the
territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Mr. Speaker, Congress first enacted a matching waiver requirement for
the territories in 1980, recognizing the difficulty of territorial
governments to access Federal grant money that required matching as the
basis of a funding. At that time the waiver was set at $100,000 for
American Samoa and the CNMI. And later in 1983 and 1984 the law was
amended to increase the requirements to $200,000 and was simultaneously
added to the territories of the Guam and Virgin Islands for
eligibility. It has now been 20 years since the law has been revisited,
and the current waiver of $200,000 has been proven to be inadequate to
meet the needs of these insular areas.
[[Page H11469]]
Mr. Speaker, our territorial governments continue to be challenged
with rising unemployment, decreased government revenues, and
impediments to attracting new capital for diversification. The insular
areas simply do not have the financial resources to meet the matching
fund requirements required by Federal law. Consequently, we are often
unable to apply for the Federal grants that we need to address critical
issues like health, education, and economic development. H.R. 1189
would alleviate these difficulties by increasing the waiver requirement
to $500,000.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1189 the would also direct the Secretary of the
Interior to complete and to submit to the House Committee on Resources
and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources the results of
a study of the implementation to the changes to the matching
requirement made through this legislation. While it is clear that more
comprehensive legislation is needed to bring about sustainable economic
growth and relief for the insular areas, I believe this legislation
will alleviate some of the economic difficulties we are facing.
Again, Mr. Speaker, I would also like to take this opportunity to
thank my colleagues, the gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo), the
gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen), the gentleman
from Puerto Rico (Mr. Acevedo-Vila) for expressing their support.
Again, I express my appreciation to the gentleman from California (Mr.
Pombo) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) and the
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder). I want to let the gentleman from
Indiana know that I did not forget that trip that we took to the Middle
East. Yes, in fact, just about every military installation that we
visited with the then chairman of the International Security
Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Reform, the gentleman from
Illinois, whose name was Mr. Hastert, who is now the Honorable Speaker
of the House, from which I really enjoyed meeting not only with our
soldiers and our troops in that opportunity that we had.
Again, Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, the gentleman from
Indiana (Mr. Souder) for his assistance in managing this proposed bill.
I urge my colleagues to support this proposed legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I wanted to close, as someone who comes from the
heartland of the United States, I know many of my constituents and
others say, ``We still have territories?'' And then, ``Why are we doing
grants to these territories?'' As my friend, the gentleman from
American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) has just pointed out, when you go
through our Armed Services anywhere around the world, they are among
the most active and volunteering for our militaries in these different
territories, the bases that we have in these places, the beautiful
natural resources, are very important to our survival as a country.
They pay taxes. They support our Nation. This brings equity to them in
the grant structure. And we can, in this time of international
pressure, all of a sudden appreciate more American Samoa, Hawaii,
Mariana Islands, Guam, are right out there where we need them to be.
And we are very supportive of these territories. This bill goes a long
way towards saying thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 1189.
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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