[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 95 (Monday, June 15, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4143-S4144]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2021. Ms. HIRONO submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 1463 proposed by Mr. McCain to the bill H.R. 1735, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for military activities 
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for 
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military 
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which 
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle E of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 1264. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE FULFILLMENT BY THE UNITED 
                   STATES OF ITS OBLIGATIONS TO THE REPUBLIC OF 
                   PALAU.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The Republic of Palau is comprised of 300 islands and 
     covers roughly 177 square miles strategically located in the 
     western Pacific Ocean between the Philippines and the United 
     States territory of Guam.
       (2) The United States and Palau have forged close security, 
     economic, and cultural ties since the United States defeated 
     the armed forces of Imperial Japan in Palau in 1944.
       (3) The United States administered Palau as a District of 
     the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands 
     from 1947 to 1994.
       (4) In 1994, the United States and Palau entered into a 50-
     year Compact of Free Association which provided for the 
     independence of Palau and set forth the terms for close and 
     mutually beneficial relations in security, economic, and 
     governmental affairs.
       (5) The security terms of the Compact grant the United 
     States full authority and responsibility for the security and 
     defense of Palau, including the right to foreclose the 
     territory of Palau to any nation except the United States and 
     to establish and use defense sites in Palau.
       (6) The Compact entitles any citizen of Palau to volunteer 
     for service in the Armed Forces of the United States, and the 
     citizens of Palau volunteer for such service at a rate that 
     exceeds that of any of the 50 States.

[[Page S4144]]

       (7) In 2009, in accordance with section 432 of the Compact, 
     the United States and Palau reviewed their overall 
     relationship. In 2010, the two nations signed an agreement 
     updating and extending several provisions of the Compact 
     including an extension of United States financial and program 
     assistance to Palau, and the establishment of increased 
     immigration protections in the wake of the September 11, 
     2001, terrorist attacks. However, the United States has not 
     yet approved this agreement or provided the assistance called 
     for in the agreement.
       (8) On July 1, 2013 the Secretary of the Interior, the 
     Secretary of State, and the Secretary Defense submitted to 
     the Senate proposed legislation to approve the agreement 
     described in paragraph (7) and included an analysis of the 
     budgetary impact of the proposed legislation. The letter 
     transmitting the proposed legislation concluded that 
     ``[a]pproving the results of the Agreement is of import to 
     the national security of the United States, to our bilateral 
     relationship with Palau and to our broader strategic interest 
     in the Asia-Pacific region''.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) in order to fulfill the promises and commitment of the 
     United States to our ally, the Republic of Palau, and 
     reaffirm the special relationship between the United States 
     and Palau, Congress and the President should place a top 
     priority on the approval of and full funding for the 
     agreement signed by the United States and Palau in 2010; and
       (2) Congress and the President should immediately seek a 
     mutually acceptable means of funding the legislation proposed 
     to implement the agreement.
                                 ______