[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 17, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H4888-H4892]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INSULAR AREAS ACT OF 2011
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass
the bill (S. 2009) to improve the administration of programs in the
insular areas, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
[[Page H4889]]
S. 2009
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Insular Areas Act of 2011''.
SEC. 2. CONTINUED MONITORING ON RUNIT ISLAND.
Section 103(f)(1) of the Compact of Free Association
Amendments Act of 2003 (48 U.S.C. 1921b(f)(1)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Notwithstanding'' and inserting the
following:
``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) Continued monitoring on runit island.--
``(i) Cactus crater containment and groundwater
monitoring.--Effective beginning January 1, 2012, the
Secretary of Energy shall, as a part of the Marshall Islands
program conducted under subparagraph (A), periodically (but
not less frequently than every 4 years) conduct--
``(I) a visual study of the concrete exterior of the Cactus
Crater containment structure on Runit Island; and
``(II) a radiochemical analysis of the groundwater
surrounding and in the Cactus Crater containment structure on
Runit Island.
``(ii) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to the Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, and the
Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives, a report that contains--
``(I) a description of--
``(aa) the results of each visual survey conducted under
clause (i)(I); and
``(bb) the results of the radiochemical analysis conducted
under clause (i)(II); and
``(II) a determination on whether the surveys and analyses
indicate any significant change in the health risks to the
people of Enewetak from the contaminants within the Cactus
Crater containment structure.
``(iii) Funding for groundwater monitoring.--The Secretary
of the Interior shall make available to the Department of
Energy, Marshall Islands Program, from funds available for
the Technical Assistance Program of the Office of Insular
Affairs, the amounts necessary to conduct the radiochemical
analysis of groundwater under clause(i)(II).''.
SEC. 3. CLARIFYING THE TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT OF JUDGES TO
COURTS OF THE FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.
Section 297(a) of title 28, United States Code, is amended
by striking ``circuit or district judge'' and inserting
``circuit, district, magistrate, or territorial judge of a
court''.
SEC. 4. DELAY OF SCHEDULED MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE IN AMERICAN
SAMOA.
(a) Delayed Increase Pending Government Accountability
Office Report.--Section 8103(b)(2)(C) of the Fair Minimum
Wage Act of 2007 (29 U.S.C. 206 note; Public Law 110-28) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``each year thereafter until'' and
inserting ``on September 30 of every third year thereafter
until''; and
(2) by striking ``except that'' and all that follows
through ``September 30'' and inserting ``except that there
shall be no such increase in 2012, 2013, and 2014 pending the
triennial report required under section 8104(a)''.
(b) Triennial Government Accountability Office Report.--
Section 8104(a) of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 (29
U.S.C. 206 note; Public Law 110-28) is amended by striking
``April 1, 2013, and every 2 years'' and inserting ``April 1,
2014, and every 3 years''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr.
Faleomavaega) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.
General Leave
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and to include extraneous material on the bill, S. 2009.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill, S. 2009 the Insular Areas
Act, a brief bill that passed the Senate unanimously in December before
being transmitted to the House and referred to multiple committees.
The bill consists of three short sections:
The first section, which shifts to the Department of Energy the
responsibility for Department of the Interior-funded radiological
monitoring at former U.S. nuclear test sites, has long been overseen by
the Committee on Natural Resources.
The second section, which confirms the continuing eligibility of U.S.
magistrates to participate in long-standing judicial exchange programs,
is primarily overseen by the Committee on the Judiciary.
And the third section, involving a domestic workforce issue, is
overseen by the Committee on Education and the Workforce.
All of these committees have reviewed the bill, waived additional
action, and consented to today's suspension consideration of the bill.
I want to thank those committees for their consideration and their
input.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Committee on Education and the Workforce, House of
Representatives,
Washington, DC, March 20, 2012.
Hon. John A. Boehner,
Speaker, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Speaker: I am writing to convey the consent of the
Committee on Education and the Workforce to be discharged
from consideration of S. 2009, Insular Areas Act of 2011, in
order to expedite its consideration on the House floor.
Although a formal request has not yet been prepared by the
Congressional Budget Office (CBO), CBO staff informally
estimates that the bill should not have any direct spending
or revenue effects and should have an annual discretionary
cost under CBO's de minimis threshold ($500,000).
While agreeing to waive consideration of S. 2009, the
Committee on Education and the Workforce does not waive any
jurisdiction that it has over provisions in the bill, nor
does it waive the right to seek appointment as conferees in
the event of a House-Senate conference on this or similar
legislation, should such a conference be convened.
Thank you again for your consideration.
Sincerely,
John Kline,
Chairman.
____
Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, March 28, 2012.
Hon. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,
Chairwoman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Rayburn House
Office Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen, the Foreign Affairs Committee
has primary jurisdiction over S. 2009, the ``Insular Areas
Act of 2011,'' which the Senate passed by unanimous consent
on December 16, 2011. Section 3 of the bill contains matter
that falls within the Rule X jurisdiction of the Judiciary
Committee. Having reviewed the bill, and pursuant to your
request, I agree to discharge the Judiciary Committee from
further consideration of the bill so that it may proceed
expeditiously to the House Floor.
The Judiciary Committee agrees to such discharge with the
understanding that, by foregoing consideration of S. 2009 at
this time, we do not waive any jurisdiction over the subject
matter contained in this or similar legislation, and with the
further understanding that at such time that the bill may be
called up on the House Floor, the bill will be identical in
form to the bill as referred to the Foreign Affairs
Committee. The Judiciary Committee reserves the right to
insist on certain amendments to the provisions of the bill
that fall within its Rule X jurisdiction if the bill is
called up under a rule permitting amendments thereto.
Additionally, if you intend to call up a suspension version
on the House Floor that is not identical to the bill as
referred to your committee, I respectfully request that you
consult further with the Judiciary Committee in advance of
such floor consideration.
Sincerely,
Lamar Smith,
Chairman.
____
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, March 13, 2012.
Hon. John A. Boehner,
Speaker, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Speaker: I am writing to convey the consent of the
Foreign Affairs Committee to be discharged from consideration
of S. 2009, the Insular Areas Act of 2011, in order to
expedite its consideration on the House floor.
In making this decision, the Foreign Affairs Committee
conferred extensively with the Committee on Resources, which
has traditionally dealt with the issues involved in the bill,
even though that Committee did not receive a formal referral
of S. 2009. Although a formal estimate has not yet been
prepared by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), CBO staff
provided an informal estimate that the bill should not have
any direct spending or revenue effects, and would have annual
discretionary costs under CBO's de minimis threshold
($500,000).
In agreeing to waive consideration of S. 2009, the Foreign
Affairs Committee does not waive any jurisdiction that it has
over provisions in that bill, or the right to seek to
participate in any conference on that bill, should one occur.
Thank you for your consideration.
Cordially,
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,
Chairman.
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. I want to express my deepest appreciation to the
[[Page H4890]]
gentlelady from Florida, the chairwoman of the House Committee on
Foreign Affairs, and certainly my colleague, the senior ranking member,
Mr. Berman of California.
I would also like to express my most sincere appreciation to our
Speaker of the House, John Boehner; our majority leader, Eric Cantor;
our Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi; our Democratic Whip, Steny Hoyer;
the chairman of our Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and
Ranking Member Howard Berman of California; Chairman John Kline and
Ranking Member George Miller of the Committee on Education and the
Workforce; Chairman Lamar Smith and Ranking Member John Conyers of the
Committee on the Judiciary; Chairman Doc Hastings and Ranking Member Ed
Markey of the Committee on Natural Resources; and certainly Senator
Jeff Bingaman and Senator Lisa Murkowski, who respectively served as
chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources for all that they have done on behalf of the insular
areas. I cannot thank my colleagues enough for standing with me because
I know the passage of this bill is only possible today due to their
support.
I also thank the committee staff leadership for their working in
close association with my office on the provision which will benefit
the Associated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall
Islands, and the Territory of American Samoa.
Mr. Speaker, as my chairman had alluded to earlier about this
section, it's very simple.
This atoll, Runit Atoll, is located in Enewetak. For the benefit and
information of my colleagues, the Enewetak Atoll is located in the
Marshall Islands. This is where we exploded 43 of our nuclear bombs out
of the 67 nuclear bombs that we exploded during our testing program
from 1943 to 1962; and in the process, this is where we exploded our
mini-hydrogen bomb, which was called a Mike shot, which was only about
700 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb that we exploded in
Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
Only about a couple of hundred of miles away is also the atoll called
Bikini Atoll, and in 1954 we exploded the most powerful and the first
hydrogen bomb that was ever exploded on this planet. It was known as
the Bravo shot, and it was 1,300 times more powerful than the bombs
that we dropped in Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
Just to give my colleagues a sense of understanding and appreciation,
what we did in this specific atoll, Enewetak, we had to collect all the
debris, all the nuclear waste materials as a result of the 43 bombs
that we exploded in this atoll for purposes of preventing nuclear
contamination from getting into the water and the ocean squall of that.
Well, it started to leak, and there are some very serious problems of
nuclear contamination seepage coming out of what we've done in burying,
supposedly, the nuclear waste materials on this atoll called Runit
Atoll.
This provision is just simply the Congress directs the Secretary of
Energy to do a monitoring program and to see what is happening after
some 40 years that we did all this tremendous damage, not only to
property, but to the lives of these people in the Marshall Islands.
This is what this provision provides. It very simply authorizes the
Secretary of Energy to go over there and find out what's going on and
monitor the underground water so that these people can survive
properly.
In the process, and what's about good about this bill, Mr. Speaker,
is it doesn't require any offsets. We don't have to worry about any
financials. It will be funded by the Technical Assistance Program that
is now provided by the Office of Insular Affairs.
The second provision in this bill, Mr. Speaker, it just simply amends
the Compact of Free Association to authorize our judges to go there and
serve temporarily in the courts of the Associated States of Micronesia.
That's all it does. It doesn't require any more expense than it is but
just to simply authorize them.
{time} 1800
And the third provision that I want to share with my colleagues is
simply to delay the increase of the minimum wage in my little Territory
of American Samoa for the next 3 years. That's all that this bill
provides.
As I said, Mr. Speaker, this is one of the most unusual bills. It has
the support of four committee chairmen and senior ranking members. Now,
you talk about bipartisanship: I don't know of any other bill that I've
ever heard or known and the fact that we have something we can all work
toward in solving some of the serious problems affecting the lives of
our fellow Americans. And that's all I'm asking for.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 2009, the Insular Areas
Act of 2011, which was passed by the Senate on December 16, 2011.
At this time, I would like to express my sincerest appreciation to
Speaker of the House John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor,
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, Chairman
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Ranking Member Howard Berman of the Committee
on Foreign Affairs, Chairman John Kline and Ranking Member George
Miller of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, Chairman Lamar
Smith and Ranking Member John Conyers of the Committee on the
Judiciary, Chairman Doc Hastings and Ranking Member Ed Markey of the
Committee on Natural Resources, and Senators Jeff Bingaman and Lisa
Murkowski who respectively serve as the Chairman and Ranking Member of
the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for all they have
done for and on behalf of the people of American Samoa.
I cannot thank my colleagues enough for standing with me because I
know that passage of this bill is only possible today due to their
support. I also thank committee and leadership staff for working in
close association with my office on provisions which will benefit our
Associated States of Micronesia, Republic of Marshall Islands, and the
U.S. Territory of American Samoa for years to come. Most of all, I
thank the people of American Samoa, our tuna cannery workers, our Fono,
and Governor for their support and prayers.
I want to especially commend Senator Bingaman and Senator Murkowski
for their leadership in getting S. 2009 passed by the Senate. S. 2009
includes a provision to delay minimum wage increases in American Samoa
until 2015. The provision regarding minimum wage was worked out in
advance with my office as well as the Senate HELP Committee, the Senate
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the House Committee on
Education and the Workforce, and the House Committee on Natural
Resources.
Because S. 2009 included other provisions not related to minimum
wage, the bill was referred to three different committees in the House,
including Education and the Workforce, the Judiciary, and the Committee
on Foreign Affairs which has primary jurisdiction for S. 2009. With
three different committees sharing jurisdiction, the bill could not
move to the House floor unless the committees agreed to be discharged
from consideration of S. 2009.
At my request, each of the Chairmen and Ranking Members agreed to
waive consideration in order to expedite the bill's consideration.
Although S. 2009 was not referred to the House Committee on Natural
Resources, I sought and received the support of Chairman Doc Hastings
and Ranking Member Ed Markey, too.
While we were hopeful that the bill could be placed on the House
calendar after Congress returned from the Christmas recess, in January
2012 the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs
(OIA) unwittingly halted the advancement of the bill due to concerns it
raised about a provision related to the monitoring of Runit Island.
After explaining how important delaying further minimum wage increases
is to American Samoa's economy, we were able to resolve OIA's concerns
and move forward. But given these setbacks, Speaker Boehner's office
subsequently requested that we formalize, in writing, the commitment of
the Chairmen of the committees of jurisdiction and, as of March 28,
2012, we completed this request.
On Tuesday, July 10, 2012, I personally met with Majority Leader Eric
Cantor and presented our case, and he agreed that with the support of
Speaker Boehner, Democratic Leader Pelosi and Democratic Whip Hoyer
that he would schedule the bill for consideration. Once the bill was
publicly placed on the House calendar for July 17, 2012, I announced
the progress we had made. Given the sensitivities surrounding minimum
wage, I felt like a public announcement any sooner could have
jeopardized our efforts.
The matter of minimum wage is of utmost importance to American Samoa.
Since 1956, until Congress enacted P.L. 110-28 which
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automatically increases wage rates by $.50 per hour effective July 2007
and every year thereafter until 2014, wage rates for American Samoa
were determined by Special Industry Committees in accordance with
Sections 5, 6, and 8 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C.
Sections 205, 206, 208). While these Industry Committees were phased
out in other U.S. Territories due to their more diversified economies,
American Samoa continues to be a single industry economy, and automatic
increases have only served to exacerbate an already difficult situation
for the local economy.
For more than 50 years, American Samoa's private sector economy had
been nearly 80% dependent, either directly or indirectly, on two
canneries--StarKist and Chicken of the Sea--which until recently
employed more than 74 percent of our private sector workforce. However,
on September 30, 2009, one day after American Samoa was struck by a
powerful 8.3 Richter Scale earthquake which set off a 20-foot wave
tsunami that left untold damage and loss from which the Territory has
not fully recovered, Chicken of the Sea closed its operations in
American Samoa and outsourced more than 2,000 jobs to Thailand where
fish cleaners are paid $0.75 and less per hour compared to wage rates
of about $4.76 per hour in American Samoa.
As noted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), before
minimum wage increases went into effect tuna canneries in American
Samoa were operating at about a $7.5 million loss per year when
compared to canneries, like Bumble Bee, and now Chicken of the Sea,
which outsource fish cleaning jobs to low-wage rate countries.
Outsourcing has adversely impacted American Samoa's economy in untold
ways. Higher fish costs, higher shipping costs, higher fuel costs,
better local tax incentives offered by competitors and the global
economic recession have especially contributed to the weakening of the
Territory's economy. Passage of S. 2009 will help resolve some of these
problems by providing ASG with the time it needs to diversify the
Territory's private-sector economy.
While I thank my colleagues for their support and urge them to vote
in favor of S. 2009, it is my sincere hope that improvements on the
territory's economy will be such that it will provide for fair wages
for American Samoa's workers. So between now and 2015, it will be up to
ASG and our corporate partners, including StarKist and Tri-Marine, to
find new ways of succeeding without further compromising the wages of
both our public and private sector workers or wage earners.
American Samoa's cannery workers have been the backbone of the U.S.
tuna and fishing processing industries, and I salute them for
stabilizing the Territory's economy. With heart-felt gratitude for the
sacrifices they have made on our behalf, I am noting their service in
the Congressional Record for historical purposes.
Once more, I thank my colleagues in the House and Senate for helping
American Samoa in its time of need, and I urge passage of S. 2009.
The Enewetak People--Challenges Facing the only Population Ever
Resettled on a Nuclear Test Site
Introduction
Enewetak was the site of 43 of the 67 nuclear tests that
the U.S. conducted in the Marshall Islands and the Enewetak
people are the only people ever resettled on a nuclear test
site.
Enewetak Atoll as a Nuclear Test Site
Enewetak Atoll, was the site of forty-three of the sixty-
six nuclear tests conducted by the United States in the
Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958. One of the tests at
Enewetak was especially significant as it was the first test
of a hydrogen bomb. This test occurred on October 31, 1952
and was known as the ``Mike'' test. The test had a yield of
10.4 megatons (750 times greater than the Hiroshima bomb).
The destructive power of the Mike test was exceeded only by
the Bravo test (15 megatons) in all the nuclear tests
conducted by the United States anywhere. The Mike test
vaporized an island, leaving a crater a mile in diameter and
200 feet deep. The Mike test detonation and the detonation of
the other 42 nuclear devices on Enewetak resulted in the
vaporization of over 8% of the land and otherwise devastated
the atoll. The devastation is so severe that to this day,
fifty-four years after the last nuclear explosion, over half
of the land and all of the lagoon remain contaminated by
radiation. The damage is so pervasive that the Enewetak
people cannot live on over 50% of our land. In fact, they
can't live on Enewetak without the importation of food.
The U.S. Department of Energy described the devastating
effects of the 43 nuclear tests on Enewetak as follows:
``The immense ball of flame, cloud of dark dust, evaporated
steel tower, melted sand for a thousand feet, 10 million tons
of water rising out of the lagoon, waves subsiding from a
height of eighty feet to seven feet in three miles were all
repeated, in various degrees, 43 times on Enewetak Atoll.''
Removal of the Enewetak People from Enewetak Atoll to Ujelang Atoll
A few days before Christmas in 1947, the U.S. removed the
Enewetak people to the much smaller, resource poor, and
isolated atoll of Ujelang. They were told by the U.S. that
their removal would be for a short time. In fact, Captain
John P. W. Vest, the U.S. Military Governor for the Marshall
Islands, told them that their removal from Enewetak would be
temporary and last no more than three to five years.
Unfortunately, they were exiled on Ujelang for a period of
over thirty-three years.
Hardship on Ujelang
The exile on Ujelang was particularly difficult for the
Enewetak people leading to hopelessness and despair. During
the 33-year exile on Ujelang they endured the suffering of
near starvation. They tried to provide food for themselves
and their children, but one meal a day and constant hunger
was the norm. Malnutrition caused illness and disease.
Children and the elderly were particularly vulnerable. Health
care was woefully inadequate. In addition, children went
largely uneducated in the struggle for survival. They became
so desperate that in the late 1960's they took over a
visiting government field-trip ship, demanding that they be
taken off of Ujelang and returned to Enewetak.
After years of hardship, neglect and isolation the Enewetak
people became increasingly insistent that they be returned
home. Eventually, the U.S. said it would attempt to make
Enewetak Atoll habitable.
The suffering and hardship experienced by the Enewetak
people while on Ujelang, was eventually acknowledged by the
U.S. The U.S. Department of Interior in a letter to the
President of the U.S. Senate, dated January 14, 1978, said,
in relevant part:
``The people of Enewetak Atoll were removed from their home
atoll in 1947 by the U.S. Government in order that their
atoll could be used in the atomic testing program. The people
were promised that they would be able to return home once the
U.S. Government no longer had need for their islands.
During the thirty years that the Enewetak people have been
displaced from their home atoll they have suffered grave
privations, including periods of near starvation, in their
temporary home on Ujelang Atoll. The people have cooperated
willingly with the U.S. Government and have made many
sacrifices to permit the United States to use their home
islands for atomic testing purposes.''
Initial Cleanup Attempt of Enewetak Atoll
In 1972, the U.S. said that it would soon no longer require
the use of Enewetak. The U.S. recognized that the extensive
damage and residual radiation at Enewetak would require
radiological cleanup, soil rehabilitation, housing and basic
infrastructure before the people could resettle Enewetak. An
extensive cleanup, rehabilitation and resettlement effort was
undertaken between 1977 and 1980.
Unfortunately, the cleanup left over half of the land mass
of the atoll contaminated by radiation confining the people
to the southern half of the atoll. This has prevented the
Enjebi island members of the Enewetak community from
resettling their home island in the northern part of the
atoll, and has prevented the people from making full and
unrestricted use of their atoll. In addition, the cleanup and
rehabilitation was not effective in rehabilitating the soil
and revegetating the islands. An extensive soil
rehabilitation and revegetation effort is still required to
permit the growing of food crops.
Runit Dome
The cleanup of Enewetak entailed removal and collection of
highly contaminated topsoil, vegetation, and debris (concrete
and metal) that was subsequently entombed within an unlined
crater produced by an 18 kilo ton surface test and capped
with a concrete dome. The site is now known as the Runit
Dome. Evidence indicates open hydraulic communication between
radioactive waste and intruding ocean water, with migration
pathways leading to local groundwater and circulating lagoon
waters.
Inside the Runit Dome lies over 110,000 cubic yards of
plutonium and other radioactive debris that is radioactive
for thousands of years. And, many areas of Runit Island have
dangerous levels of contamination. Consequently, the dome and
the surrounding area need to be monitored in the same manner
that they would be monitored in the US. The reason for such
monitoring is simple--the Enewetak people are entitled to the
same level of protection from US created radiation as the
people of the US.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate Mr. Faleomavaega for the warm way
in which he works with every member of our committee, and that is why
it is a pleasure for all of us on the Committee on Foreign Affairs to
do everything that we can to help the gentleman, because we know how
important these bills are to him, as we can see, as we have heard. What
we may consider to be a suspension bill that will not impact our daily
lives, it impacts the many thousands of people whom he is so proud to
represent in a very real and meaningful way.
So I thank him for his gentle manners. I thank him for his
graciousness. I thank him for the important bills that he brings to our
attention. And I want to tell him what an honor it is for
[[Page H4892]]
all of us on our committee to work with him in a bipartisan way.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, S. 2009 is primarily concerned with U.S.
responsibilities to the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the other
Freely Associated States in Micronesia, and with a pause in the
implementation of federal minimum wage in American Samoa.
I certainly support continuing U.S. oversight of the effects of
nuclear testing in the Marshalls.
And I defer to my colleague from American Samoa with respect to
economic policy in his district.
In one respect, though, S. 2009 does impact my district, the Northern
Marianas Islands.
The bill moves a Government Accountability Office report on the
effect of minimum wage increases in the Northern Marianas and American
Samoa from every two years to every three years.
These GAO reports are important. They provide a credible analysis of
a complex policy, namely the annual 50 cents increase in the minimum
wage in the Marianas.
Yet this decision to delay the next GAO report and stretch out the
period of time between reports is being made without benefit of a
hearing in this House.
Neither businesses nor workers, who are impacted by the minimum wage
increases in my district, have had a chance to be heard from.
Last year, in part based on the GAO's findings, I supported a one-
year break in the wage increase.
Looking ahead to next year, I had hoped to have another GAO report to
guide any decision about--perhaps--skipping another year.
But S. 2009 will leave us without benefit of the GAO's advice.
And I believe this House needs that guidance.
I will not object to passage of S. 2009, but I do regret that this
House did not follow its regular order before bringing the measure to
the floor.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in
support of S. 2009. This legislation includes provisions adjusting the
federal minimum wage schedule for American Samoa in light of GAO's
findings on its unique labor market conditions. Mr. Faleomavaega of
American Samoa has asked the Congress to make these adjustments for
American Samoa and pass this bill.
Current law requires that the minimum wage increase in American Samoa
annually until it reaches the Mainland's federal minimum wage level.
Current law also requires the GAO to regularly report to Congress on
economic conditions in American Samoa over the course of these minimum
wage adjustments. These GAO reports are intended to give Congress
information so that, if necessary, Congress can adjust the minimum wage
schedule for the territory.
Precisely because American Samoa has a unique, isolated, and
relatively undiversified economy and because the path to the full
federal minimum wage for this territory is a necessarily long one,
Congress must be flexible over time with the minimum wage schedule in
response to changing economic conditions. Congress must also maintain
the clear requirement that the minimum wage in American Samoa be on a
schedule to reach Mainland levels. In decades past, the use of a
special industry committee to periodically review and set the minimum
wage in American Samoa proved ineffective, unfairly depressing wage
levels below what was economically feasible.
The minimum wage provision in S. 2009 meets these standards. The
adjustment proposed by S. 2009 is the result of the GAO's latest
report, which lays out certain economic difficulties confronting
American Samoa. These difficulties arise from a variety of factors,
including recent global economic conditions and a specific set of
challenges facing American Samoa's tuna canning industry.
In response to the GAO report, this bill adjusts the schedule by
delaying any minimum wage increases in American Samoa until 2015.
Importantly, it maintains a clear minimum wage schedule for the
territory, with new increases made triennially.
This is not the first adjustment in the schedule since the increases
began in 2007. Adjustments were also enacted in 2010.
Congress must continue to monitor conditions in American Samoa.
Future adjustments to either accelerate or delay the minimum wage
schedule may be necessary and warranted. Workers in American Samoa
deserve a fair minimum wage as soon as possible, which not only
improves their standard of living but generates new economic activity
for everyone's benefit. To achieve that end and to be sensitive to
other economic pressures on the island that may affect employment
levels, it is our ongoing responsibility to calibrate the minimum wage
schedule as conditions warrant.
I look forward to continuing to work with Mr. Faleomavaega and other
colleagues in the House and Senate to ensure workers in American Samoa
receive a just wage.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, S. 2009.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
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