[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16898]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     GUAM OMNIBUS OPPORTUNITIES ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. PATSY T. MINK

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 25, 2000

  Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2462, the 
Guam Omnibus Opportunities Act. The bill provides the authority for the 
Federal Government to transfer back to the Government of Guam land 
owned by the United States. Land in Guam was acquired by the United 
States for military use in the years following World War II. The bill 
assures that the Government of Guam has the first opportunity to 
acquire excess Federal land in Guam.
  In addition the bill has a provision that is important to the State 
of Hawaii. The bill authorizes the Governor of Hawaii to report to the 
Secretary of the Interior annually on the financial and social impacts 
on the State of the compacts of free association with the Federated 
States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the 
Republic of Palau. The Governors of Guam, Samoa and the Northern 
Marianas are also authorized to make such reports. The Secretary of the 
Interior is required to review the reports and forward them, together 
with any comments of the administration, to the Congress. The bill 
authorizes the Secretary to conduct a census of Mircronesians for each 
of the impacted jurisdictions where the Governor requests one and 
authorizes a total of $300,000 for the censuses.
  The reporting requirement improves current law by requiring the 
Department of Interior to consider the reports of Hawaii and the other 
jurisdictions affected by the compact of free association, comment on 
them and forward them to the Congress. While the most important issue 
is to provide Hawaii and other jurisdictions affected by the compacts 
of free association with necessary aid as a result of the compacts, 
this provision helps assure that the needs of the jurisdictions are 
placed before the Congress. The reports will assure that Congress is 
aware of the needs of Hawaii and its Pacific neighbors as a result of 
the compacts.




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