[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10557]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



               COMPACT IMPACT AID TO GUAM NOT SUFFICIENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Hart). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Guam (Mr. Underwood) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Madam Speaker, today I want to draw the attention of 
Members to the financial and economic conditions in Guam by discussing 
two policy and legislative items with dramatic consequences for Guam.
  First of all, I want to talk about the Interior appropriations bill 
which was marked up today by the full Committee on Appropriations. Guam 
was given $5.38 million for Compact Impact Aid. Compact Impact 
assistance is money that is given to the Government of Guam as a form 
of reimbursement for educational and social services given to migrants 
from the Freely Associated States, primarily the FSM, the Federated 
States of Micronesia, some impact from the Republic of the Marshall 
Islands and the Republic of Palau.
  These three states, that are independent nations, are in free 
association with the United States; and these compacts of free 
association have allowed these three nations to be the only independent 
nations on the face of the Earth to have unmonitored and unregulated 
migration into the United States.
  Because of the geographic and developmental conditions in the 
Micronesian region, Guam is impacted more than any other state or 
territory by the unmonitored migration by the Freely Associated States 
in Micronesia, which continues to have dramatic impact for a number of 
services provided by the Government of Guam.
  Since the Compacts of Free Association were first established in 
1986, Guam only started to receive Compact Impact aid in fiscal year 
1996, and during that time period until 1999 Guam annually received 
$4.58 million from the Department of Interior's Office of Insular 
Affairs budget. However, the Government of Guam continues to maintain 
that it expends anywhere between $15 million to $25 million annually to 
provide educational and social services for migrants.
  Although there continues to be differences between how the Government 
of Guam and how the Department of the Interior calculate these actual 
impact costs, the Department of Interior in a letter accompanying a 
report by the new Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton, acknowledges 
the Department of the Interior's own best estimates of $12.8 million 
annually for Compact Impact costs for Guam. This is acknowledged in a 
letter by the new Secretary of the Interior.
  It has been noted by the Governor of Guam, Carl T. Gutierrez, that 
Guam has spent over $150 million for these migrants who have come to 
Guam since 1986, while Federal reimbursement has totalled roughly $40 
million for the same period.
  Funding authority for Compact Impact assistance stems from Public Law 
99-239. This is the law which governs the relationship between the 
United States and these three independent countries. Basically, the law 
states that there are hereby authorized to be appropriated for fiscal 
years beginning after 1985 such sums as may be necessary to cover the 
costs, if any, incurred by the State of Hawaii, the Territories of 
Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands, resulting from 
any increased demands placed on educational and social services by 
immigrants from the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of 
Micronesia.
  The impact has been direct, the impact has been dramatic, right on 
Guam. The need for Compact Impact Aid has been documented. It is doable 
to fix this problem.
  This situation for the Government of Guam is further aggravated by 
the recent passage of the President's tax cut plan. Guam and the Virgin 
Islands are two territories that operate under a mirror Tax Code. That 
is, any changes that are made in the Federal Tax Code are immediately 
reflected in the local tax codes, which also collect income tax. So 
this means that, particularly in the case of Guam, we are probably 
likely to experience cuts over the next year of anywhere between $20 
million and $30 million in local revenues as a result of these tax cuts 
that have been introduced by President Bush and have now passed into 
law.
  These tax cuts were conceived here for the Federal Government because 
of a surplus. In Guam, the Government of Guam is operating on a 
deficit, we are experiencing some 15 percent unemployment, and we are 
in the middle of an economic downturn as a result of the Japanese 
economic downturn and recent reductions in military spending.
  So, basically, we need the Compact Impact Aid. It can be done, it is 
doable, it is the right thing to do, and I urge Members to consider 
this as the Interior appropriations works its way through.




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