[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16551-16552]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                              {time}  1300

                     CURRENT ISSUES AFFECTING GUAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Stearns). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Guam (Mr. Underwood) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I have the honor of representing Guam, 
which is the most distant U.S. area that is still represented in this 
body and is on the other side of the International Dateline. This means 
that Guam will be the first location in America that will witness the 
effects of the so-called Y2K bug.
  Guam is 15 hours ahead of the East Cost on the Continental United 
States. Thus on January 1, 2000 Guam time, the entire Nation will know 
far in advance of the beginning of their New Year's celebrations here 
on the East Coast what the devastating effects of Y2K will be.
  The administration, via the Office of Insular Affairs at the 
Department of Interior, has just announced that the territories will 
receive $22 million in new Federal funding to help repair the local 
governmental computer systems and make them Y2K compliant.
  However, Mr. Speaker, I have learned from very reliable sources that 
the breakdown of this necessary emergency funding will represent the 
greatest inequity in Federal territorial relations that Guam has 
experienced since 1898

[[Page 16552]]

when Guam became a U.S. possession. The administration, with no 
explanation, nor just cause, has deemed that out of a possible $22 
million in assistance divided for four territories, Guam will receive a 
mere $60,000, and Guam will be the first one to experience the Y2K 
problem.
  This amount is unconscionable, and this level of funding is 
proportionately ridiculous in terms of Guam's real Y2K problems which 
are estimated to be around $26 million to repair.
  Somewhere along the road between the Office of Insular Affairs and 
the Government of Guam, there seems to have been a breakdown in 
cooperation. The USDA made an assessment of the Government of Guam's 
Y2K readiness earlier this year, along with other territories. 
Supposedly, their efforts were met with some resistance by local 
officials and agency heads. I do not know if any of this is accurate; 
but at this stage, casting blame will not solve the problem.
  The fact remains that, if the rumors of uncooperativeness are true, 
and I am not sure that they are, the $60,000 apportionment out of $22 
million is tantamount to a punitive action.
  It is my understanding and certainly my hope that OMB and OIA will be 
meeting very soon to discuss redressing this gross inequity or to 
supplement the total pool of funds. I will make every effort to impress 
upon the administration that they need to make realistic and equitable 
allocations for Guam and the other territories.
  To that end, I will be contacting the House Committee on 
Appropriations' chairman and ranking member to express my deep concern 
over the proposed Y2K funding allocation. I hope and I trust that the 
realignment of this funding proposal can be met.
  The other item I would like to address is the INS reimbursement for 
the Government of Guam. Earlier this year, and in fact going back to 
last year, there has been a steady stream of illegal immigrants making 
a nearly 2,000 mile journey over the open ocean from the People's 
Republic of China to Guam.
  As a result of this, there has been over 500 illegal Chinese 
immigrants that have been captured in Guam and have been detained in 
Guam. Governor Carl Gutierrez intervened to prevent that action, the 
INS from releasing these people into the general community.
  Now, the government of Guam has been housing these illegal immigrants 
since January at a local corrections facility. This is a Federal 
responsibility. The Clinton administration thankfully has committed to 
reimbursing the Government of Guam for all costs incurred in relation 
to detaining and capturing the Chinese illegal immigrants.
  Last June, the Governor of Guam estimated that the cost to date had 
tallied some $4.4 million.
  I understand that the administration will be offering an amendment to 
the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary bill which 
will make good on this commitment.
  I am grateful for that opportunity, and I urge all the Members of 
this body as well as Members of the other body to support that and to 
continue to work towards the equitable distribution of funding for our 
insular areas.

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