[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 6, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1227]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        ANTIGUA'S BREACH OF BILATERAL AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES

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                           HON. MIKE COFFMAN

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 6, 2011

  Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I would like to renew a 
discussion of an ongoing situation which requires our attention.
  The expropriation of the Half Moon Bay Resort in Antigua, owned and 
developed by a group of American citizens since 1971, was entered into 
the Congressional Record almost three years ago by my predecessor, the 
Hon. Thomas Tancredo (September 24, 2008--E1891).
  I would remind this House that the expropriation of this 
internationally recognized Resort has been the subject of ongoing legal 
proceedings from 2000 to June 2007, when the Privy Council in London 
allowed the Government of Antigua to ``forcibly acquire'' the property 
under its sovereign right of eminent domain, provided the owners' 
rights to payment of compensation were equally upheld.
  Since that date, four years ago, the dispossessed owners have had to 
initiate a number of legal actions against the Government of Antigua to 
move the process of arriving at compensation as prescribed by Antigua's 
own laws and Constitution.
  At this point, three issues still remain before the Courts: two in 
the Eastern Caribbean High Court and one before the Eastern Caribbean 
Court of Appeal. The subject matter of the cases have to do with the 
value of the property as established by a Government appointed 
Assessment Board, and with the owners' Constitutional Right to ``fair 
compensation within a reasonable time.''
  By request of the Attorney General, representing the Government in 
each of these cases, the hearings scheduled for dates in the first half 
of this year have been adjourned without a return date being set.
  The hearing before the Court of Appeal may occur during that court's 
next sitting in Antigua in September, but the Attorney General has 
already ignored a filing deadline ordered by that body, which may cause 
further postponement of that hearing.
  Meanwhile, Antigua's Ministers have announced various agreements that 
are being signed with developers for the Half Moon Bay property. Even 
more outrageous is a statement released to the Antiguan press by the 
Attorney General (who is also Antigua's Minister of Justice and 
Minister of Legal Affairs) that such re-development can legally 
commence prior to any compensation being paid to the dispossessed 
American owners.
  It is an established fact that expropriation of American-owned 
property and business is a breach of the Caribbean Economic Basin 
Recovery Act (CBERA) and by ignoring the rights of the owners to prompt 
and fair compensation, the Government of Antigua has also breached the 
WTO International Trade and Investment Rules.
  I urge the President, as mandated by the terms of the CBERA, to 
suspend Antigua's benefits and rights accorded to preferred trading 
partners.
  While the financial effect of such alienation may be negligible, the 
political aspect of recognizing the breach is essential to maintain 
respect for the treaty and its signatories. Our citizens deserve no 
less.

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