[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 219 (Thursday, December 24, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1199-E1200]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SUPPORTING OUR COMMITMENTS TO OUR FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES ALLIES

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. ED CASE

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 24, 2020

  Mr. CASE. Madam Speaker, last year, I was proud to help create the 
first-ever Congressional Pacific Islands Caucus, which I co-chair along 
with four of my colleagues.
  When we launched the Caucus, I noted that our country's and world's 
future lie in the Indo-Pacific, and that the island nations of the 
Pacific are a key yet too-often overlooked part of that region and 
future.
  We have critical strategic interests and longstanding partnerships 
throughout the Pacific islands. Yet now our allies and friends and all 
other Pacific jurisdictions are increasingly under severe economic and 
environmental stress, and China is aggressively seeking to grow its 
influence. We cannot ignore these critical developments, and our new 
Caucus is dedicated to assuring that does not happen.
  Among these nations are three with which we have an especially close 
relationship under

[[Page E1200]]

a unique status: the freely-associated Republic of the Marshall 
Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau. 
These are island countries with which we share a long history dating 
back to the Second World War and before and an enduring relationship 
built on decades of shared interests and like values. These countries, 
also collectively known as the Freely Associated States, span an 
expanse of the Pacific ranging from just southwest of my State of 
Hawaii to our territories of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in 
the western Pacific, an area the size of the forty-eight contiguous 
States.
  Under our Compacts of Free Association, our country can construct 
military bases on their soil and make decisions that affect our mutual 
security. In return, we provide financial assistance, access to some 
federal programs and enable free movement of their citizens to live and 
work in the United States.
  The role these islands play in our national defense cannot be 
understated. For example, Palau asked our country to increase its 
military presence in its islands, and the Marshall Islands are home to 
what the Army calls ``the premier missile test range in the world.'' In 
November, a Navy destroyer near Hawaii intercepted a mock ICBM launched 
from U.S. Army Garrison Kwajalein Atoll in an exercise viewed as an 
important accomplishment and critical milestone by our military. 
Vulnerable as this small island community is to COVID-19, it opened its 
closed borders to our citizens who needed to work at Kwajalein.
  Given the importance of the Compacts, we must always demonstrate to 
the Freely Associated States and the world that the U.S. can be trusted 
to uphold its commitments. For example, I am very pleased that the 
final Fiscal Year 2021 omnibus funding bill includes $5 million of a 
$20 million debt the U.S. owes to the Marshall Islands in response to 
unilateral changes made to the investment tax and trade incentives in 
the initial version of the Compact of Free Association.
  On the other hand, I was extremely disappointed that the outgoing 
Administration recommended providing $2 million less for Fiscal Year 
2021 than was agreed to in compensation for amending various education 
programs back in 2003. This underfunding erodes the trust that our 
allies and partners have for our commitment to the Compacts.
  We must fulfill and take these obligations seriously, especially as 
we work to renew the economic provisions of these Compacts. I look 
forward to working closely with my colleagues in the coming Congress to 
remedy this error and address other issues that may arise relating to 
the Compacts.
  Our alliances and partnerships worldwide, powered by shared interests 
and values, are America's greatest strengths, especially in this era of 
great power competition. Trust in our country's ability and willingness 
to honor our commitments must be the unshakeable foundation of these 
crucial relationships. We can and must do better to protect that trust.

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