[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 153 (Thursday, September 13, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1252]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SUPPORTING THE REAL ID ACT MODIFICATION FOR FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES

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                   HON. AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN

                           of american samoa

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 13, 2018

  Mrs. RADEWAGEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong 
support for the REAL ID Act Modification for Freely Associated States 
Act (H.R. 3998).
  When Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005, no reference was made 
to the Freely Associated States (FAS) of the Republic of the Marshall 
Islands (RMI), the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of 
Palau--trusted U.S. allies and friends. Instead, in a true technical 
glitch, the law defined ``State'' to include the ``Trust Territories of 
the Pacific Islands,'' a legal entity that has once included the FAS 
but has not existed since 1994. This anachronistic reference to the 
Trust Territories of the Pacific clearly demonstrates congressional 
intent to include FAS citizens in the law.
  As a consequence of the law's wording, FAS citizens today are denied 
anything more than a temporary ID or driver's license valid only for 
one year. This makes it extraordinarily difficult for them to maintain 
employment and otherwise contribute meaningfully to society.
  This problem must be resolved and our House Dean, Congressman Don 
Young of Alaska and my good friend Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of 
Hawaii have devised the right Bi-Partisan solution in crafting H.R. 
3998.
  The Republic of the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States 
of Micronesia are some of the U.S.'s closest allies and great friends 
and neighbors in the Pacific to American Samoa. They vote with us 
consistently and reliably at the United Nations. They send their sons 
and daughters to fight with us, side by side, in the United States 
Armed Forces.
  The RMI in particular, which was once my home, is also home to The 
Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll, which I 
recently visited on a CODEL, and all three nations play a key critical 
role in U.S. national defense and strategy in a threatening part of the 
world, close to North Korea and China.
  Congress needs to make this technical correction and enable those 
from the Freely Associated States to fully contribute to the American 
communities in which they live. I urge my colleagues to please vote yes 
on final passage of H.R. 3998.

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