[House Report 105-253]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
105th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 105-253
_______________________________________________________________________
ALLOWANCE FOR ELECTION OF THE DELEGATE FROM GUAM BY OTHER THAN SEPARATE
BALLOT, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
_______
September 18, 1997.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______________________________________________________________________
Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
together with
ADDITIONAL VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 1460]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 1460) to allow for election of the Delegate from Guam by
other than separate ballot, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment
and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu
thereof the following:
SECTION 1. BALLOT REQUIREMENT FOR DELEGATE.
Section 2(a) of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide that the
unincorporated territories of Guam and the Virgin Islands shall each be
represented in Congress by a Delegate to the House of Representatives''
approved April 10, 1972 (48 U.S.C. 1712(a)), is amended--
(1) by inserting ``from the Virgin Islands'' before ``shall
be elected at large''; and
(2) by inserting ``The Delegate from Guam shall be elected at
large and by a majority of the votes cast for the office of
Delegate.'' before ``If no candidate''.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of H.R. 1460 is to allow for the election of
the Delegate from Guam by other than separate ballot.
Background and Need for Legislation
The United States territory of Guam consists of the
southernmost island of Guam and adjacent islets of the 800-mile
Mariana Archipelago in the Western Pacific. Guam came under
U.S. sovereignty as part of the Treaty of Paris which concluded
the Spanish-American War of 1898. Article IX of the Treaty
provides that: ``The civil rights and political status of the
native inhabitants of the territories ceded to the United
States shall be determined by the Congress.''
In 1950, Congress extended United States citizenship to the
residents of Guam who had demonstrated unwavering loyalty to
the U.S. throughout the years of enemy occupation of the
territory during World War II. Local government was organized
under the 1950 Organic Act of Guam in lieu of a constitution.
Over the subsequent years, self-government on Guam continued to
evolve and build upon the 1950 Organic Act. Congress authorized
the direct election of the Governor of Guam in 1968 and
representation in Congress of the Americans in Guam through the
election of a Delegate from Guam to the U.S. House of
Representatives in 1972.
Finally, in 1976 Congress authorized one of the final steps
in the self-government process by giving Guam authority to
formulate and implement a constitution of its own adoption
(Public Law 94-584). Congress ignored prior precedents by not
requiring Congressional ratification of a Guam constitution
prior to implementation by Guam, based on the success of
previous federal-territorial constitutional processes. The
adoption of a local constitution is a significant part of the
evolution of self-government, but it does not preclude the
right of further self-determination in the advance toward a
final political status.
However, as no constitution has been approved by the people
of Guam, the prevailing instrument for self-governance in Guam
continues to be the Organic Act. Therefore, to alter the
current election procedures where the Delegate from Guam is
elected by separate ballot, the federal law must be changed, as
proposed in H.R. 1460, since the original Organic Act requires
the Delegate from Guam to be elected by separate ballot.
Guam has an active electorate with a higher voter turn-out
than the national average. Currently, qualified voters on Guam
manually fill in ballots for elections. These ballots are
tabulated by computerized reading machines. Under federal law
(Public Law 92-271), election ballots for the delegate from
Guam to the House of Representatives must be separate from
those for other elected officials. Logistically, this means
that the ballot for the Guam delegate be printed on a separate
sheet of paper, a requirement which adds an unnecessary cost to
the election process to the Government of Guam.
The Guam Election Commission has requested that the
Congress amend the law to remedy this costly situation which is
a burden to the Government of Guam.
Committee Action
H.R. 1460 was introduced on April 24, 1997, by Delegate
Robert A. Underwood. The bill was referred to the Committee on
Resources. The proposed change to allow for the election of the
Delegate from Guam by separate ballot is identical to Section 5
of H.R. 1332, which passed the House, but not the Senate, at
the end of the 104th Congress on September 28, 1996. This
proposed change regarding the election of the Delegate by
separate ballot was addressed in a July 1996, hearing of the
Subcommittee on Native American and Insular Affairs of the
Committee on Resources. The Administration has expressed
support for this modification of the law.
On July 16, 1997, the Committee met to mark up H.R. 1460.
Mr. Underwood offered an amendment to strike section two of the
bill entitled, ``Temporary Absence of Officials,'' which would
have amended the Organic Act of Guam to permit the governor and
lieutenant governor of Guam to continue their authority when
off-island, instead of transferring their authority to the next
individual in the line-of-authority under current law. The
amendment was adopted by voice vote. The bill, as amended, was
then ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives
by voice vote.
Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations
With respect to the requirements of clause 2(l)(3) of rule
XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, and clause
2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives,
the Committee on Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
Constitutional Authority Statement
Article IV, section 3 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact H.R. 1460.
Cost of the Legislation
Clause 7(a) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the
Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out
H.R. 1460. However, clause 7(d) of that rule provides that this
requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in
its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill
prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office
under section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
Compliance With House Rule XI
1. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(B) of
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, H.R.
1460 does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
2. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(D) of
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee has received no report of oversight findings and
recommendations from the Committee on Government Reform and
Oversight on the subject of H.R. 1460.
3. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(C) of
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the
Committee has received the following cost estimate for H.R.
1460 from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, July 29, 1997.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1460, a bill to
allow for election of the Delegate from Guam by other than
separate ballot, and for other purposes.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are John R.
Righter (for federal costs), and Marjorie Miller (for the state
and local impact).
Sincerely,
June E. O'Neill, Director.
Enclosure.
H.R. 1460--A bill to allow for election of the Delegate from Guam by
other than separate ballot, and for other purposes
H.R. 1460 would allow the Guam Election Commission to
include the office of the Delegate to the U.S. House of
Representatives on the same ballot as other elected offices.
CBO estimates that enacting this bill would have no impact on
the federal budget. Because the bill would not affect direct
spending or receipts, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply.
H.R. 1460 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal
governments. Enacting this bill would result in reduced
election costs for the government of Guam. Based on information
provided by officials from Guam, CBO estimates that these
savings would amount to about $10,000 for each election.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are John R.
Righter (for federal costs), and Marjorie Miller (for the state
and local impact). This estimate was approved by Robert A.
Sunshine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
Compliance With Public Law 104-4
H.R. 1460 contains no unfunded mandates.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3 of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
SECTION 2 OF THE ACT OF APRIL 10, 1972
AN ACT To provide that the unincorporated territories of Guam and the
Virgin Islands shall each be represented in Congress by a delegate to
the House of Representatives
Sec. 2. (a) The Delegate shall be elected by the people
qualified to vote for the members of the legislature of the
territory he is to represent at the general election of 1972,
and thereafter at such general election every second year
thereafter. The Delegate shall be elected at large from the
Virgin Islands, by separate ballot and by a majority of the
votes cast for the office of Delegate. If no candidate receives
such majority, on the fourteenth day following such election a
runoff election shall be held between the candidates receiving
the highest and the second highest number of votes cast for the
office of Delegate. In case of a permanent vacancy in the
office of Delegate, by reason of death, resignation, or
permanent disability, the office of Delegate shall remain
vacant until a successor shall have been elected and qualified.
* * * * * * *
ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF DELEGATE ROBERT UNDERWOOD
The purpose of the bill is clear. It is to facilitate the
election of the Delegate from Guam and to avoid unnecessary
costs. The bill amends the Act of April 10, 1972, which
provides Guam and the Virgin Islands with Delegates to the U.S.
House of Representatives.
Although any matter pertaining to the election of the
Delegate can be framed as part of Guam's political development,
this particular piece of legislation neither enhances nor
detracts from that progress.
Consequently, the comments of this report regarding the
Organic Act and the authorization of a Constitution seem out of
place. The third paragraph under ``Background and Need for
Legislation'' discusses Public Law 94-584, the Constitution
process. The argument is made that having a local Constitution
does not preclude the right of self-determination. There is no
argument with this.
However, there has been a great deal of discussion in Guam
about whether to proceed with a Constitution without a change
in Guam's current political status. This was resolved via
election in 1979, when the Constitution was defeated. The
people of Guam want a political status change first. Having a
Constitution before having a political status is putting the
cart before the carabao.
Robert A. Underwood.