[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 19582]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Ms. Cantwell) (by request):
  S. 2360. A bill to improve the administration of certain programs in 
the insular areas, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise with Senator Cantwell of 
Washington State to introduce the Omnibus Territories Act of 2015, 
which relates to the U.S. territory of American Samoa, as well as the 
Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, 
and the Republic of Palau--collectively known as the Freely Associated 
States. Sections 2 and 3 of the legislation are introduced at the 
request of the administration and section 4 at the request of the 
governments of the three Freely Associated States.
  Section 2 would permit the use of resettlement and relocation funds 
provided to the people of Bikini Atoll to be used within or outside of 
the Republic of the Marshall Islands. As a result of nuclear weapons 
testing by the United States in the northern islands and atolls of the 
Marshall Islands, Congress, through Public Law 97-257 in 1982, provided 
the people of Bikini Atoll a relocation and resettlement trust fund to 
be used by the people of Bikini to resettle from their traditional 
homeland of Bikini Atoll to other islands within the Marshall Islands. 
Currently, most members of the community live on the islands of Kili 
and Ejit. Today, however, the people on these islands have limited 
living space, lack suitable sustainable resources to provide water and 
food for their population, and they are exposed to tidal flooding on an 
increasingly frequent basis. Under current Federal law, citizens of the 
Freely Associated States, including the people of Bikini, are able to 
enter into, reside, work, and study in the United States as 
nonimmigrants without visas. This section would allow the people of 
Bikini to use the resettlement and relocation trust funds for 
relocation and resettlement outside of the Marshall Islands, whether in 
the United States or elsewhere, if they so choose.
  Section 3 seeks to improve air service capabilities in American 
Samoa. There are currently no U.S. airlines that provide flight service 
within American Samoa between the islands of Tutuila and Manu'a. The 
U.S. Department of Transportation has granted a foreign air carrier 
emergency service capability to provide this service, but that 
designation must be renewed every thirty days under statutory 
requirement. This section would amend current statute to allow for a 
foreign carrier to operate between the islands of Tutuila and Manu'a 
without the need for an emergency service capability designation.
  Section 4 would amend the REAL ID Act of 2005, Public Law 109-13, to 
allow citizens of the Freely Associated States to document their lawful 
resident status in the United States in conformance with the Compacts 
of Free Association between the United States and each of these three 
nations. Section 141 of the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act 
of 2003, Public Law 108-188, and the law that implemented the Compact 
of Free Association with Palau, Public Law 101-219, permits citizens of 
the FAS to enter into the United States to lawfully engage in 
occupations and establish residence as nonimmigrants. However, the REAL 
ID Act of 2005 did not provide a means for FAS citizens to document 
their lawful status in the United States. As a consequence, FAS 
citizens are denied anything more than a temporary ID valid only for 
one year, resulting in practical difficulties in their ability to 
maintain employment and engage in other lawful activities where they 
reside. Giving FAS citizens the ability to document their lawful status 
and obtain a State-issued driver's license or identification card would 
facilitate employment and provide more stability and certainty as they 
engage in lawful activity as legal residents in the United States.

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