S.Amdt. 1811

SA 1811. Mr. BINGAMAN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1813, to reauthorize Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

On page ___, between lines ___ and ___, insert the following:

SEC. __. APPROVAL OF THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE REPUBLIC OF PALAU.

(a) Definitions.--In this section:

(1) Agreement.--The term “Agreement” means the Agreement and appendices signed by the United States and the Republic of Palau on September 3, 2010.

(2) Compact of free association.--The term “Compact of Free Association” means the Compact of Free Association between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Palau (48 U.S.C. 1931 note; Public Law 99 658).

(b) Results of Compact Review.--

(1) In general.--Title I of Public Law 99 658 (48 U.S.C. 1931 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“SEC. 105. RESULTS OF COMPACT REVIEW.

“(a) In General.--The Agreement and appendices signed by the United States and the Republic of Palau on September 3, 2010 (referred to in this section as the ‘Agreement'), in connection with section 432 of the Compact of Free Association between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Palau (48 U.S.C. 1931 note; Public Law 99 658) (referred to in this section as the ‘Compact of Free Association'), are approved--

“(1) except for the extension of Article X of the Agreement Regarding Federal Programs and Services, and Concluded Pursuant to Article II of Title Two and Section 232 of the Compact of Free Association; and

“(2) subject to the provisions of this section.

“(b) Withholding of Funds.--If the Agreement becomes effective during fiscal year 2012, and if during the period beginning on September 30, 2011, and ending on the effective date of the Agreement, the Republic of Palau withdraws an amount greater than $5,000,000 from the trust fund established under section 211(f) of the Compact of Free Association, amounts payable under sections 1, 2(a), 3, and 4(a) of the Agreement shall be withheld from the Republic of Palau until the date on which the Republic of Palau reimburses the trust fund for the amount withdrawn that exceeds $5,000,000.

“(c) Funding for Certain Provisions Under Section 105 of Compact of Free Association.--On the date of enactment of this section, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary of the Interior such sums as are necessary for the Secretary of the Interior to implement sections 1, 2(a), 3, 4(a), and 5 of the Agreement, which sums shall remain available until expended without any further appropriation.

“(d) Authorizations of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be appropriated--

“(1) to the Secretary of the Interior to subsidize postal services provided by the United States Postal Service to the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia $1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2024, to remain available until expended; and

“(2) to the head of each Federal entity described in paragraphs (1), (3), and (4) of section 221(a) of the Compact of Free Association (including the successor of each Federal entity) to carry out the responsibilities of the Federal entity under section 221(a) of the Compact of Free Association such sums as are necessary, to remain available until expended.”.

(2) Offset.--Section 3 of the Act of June 30, 1954 (68 Stat. 330, 82 Stat. 1213, chapter 423), is repealed.

(c) Payment Schedule; Withholding of Funds; Funding.--

(1) Infrastructure maintenance fund.--Subsection (a) of section 2 of the Agreement shall be construed as though the subsection reads as follows:

“(a) The Government of the United States shall provide a grant of $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, a grant of $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2013, and a grant of $2,000,000 annually from the beginning of fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2024 to create a trust fund (the ‘Infrastructure Maintenance Fund') to be used for the routine and periodic maintenance of major capital improvement projects financed by funds provided by the United States. The Government of the Republic of Palau will match the contributions made by the United States by making contributions of $150,000 to the Infrastructure Maintenance Fund on a quarterly basis for fiscal year 2012, by making contributions of $300,000 to the Infrastructure Maintenance Fund on a quarterly basis for fiscal year 2013, and contributions of $150,000 to the Infrastructure Maintenance Fund on a quarterly basis from the beginning of fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2024. Implementation of this subsection shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Appendix A to this Agreement.”.

(2) Fiscal consolidation fund.--Section 3 of the Agreement shall be construed as though the section reads as follows:

“SEC. 3. FISCAL CONSOLIDATION FUND.

“In addition to $411,000 already provided in 2012, the Government of the United States shall provide the Government of Palau $4,589,000 in fiscal year 2012 and $5,000,000 in fiscal year 2013 for deposit in an interest bearing account to be used to reduce government payment arrears of Palau. Implementation of this section shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Appendix B to this Agreement.”.

(3) Direct economic assistance.--Subsections (a) and (b) of section 4 of the Agreement shall be construed as though the subsections read as follows:

“(a) In addition to the economic assistance of $13,147,000 provided to the Government of Palau by the Government of the United States in each of fiscal years 2010, 2011, and 2012, and unless otherwise specified in this Agreement or in an Appendix to this Agreement, the Government of the United States shall provide the Government of Palau $81,750,000 in economic assistance as follows: $12,500,000 in fiscal year 2013; $12,000,000 in fiscal year 2014; $11,500,000 in fiscal year 2015; $10,000,000 in fiscal year 2016; $8,500,000 in fiscal year 2017; $7,250,000 in fiscal year 2018; $6,000,000 in fiscal year 2019; $5,000,000 in fiscal year 2020; $4,000,000 in fiscal year 2021; $3,000,000 in fiscal year 2022; and $2,000,000 in fiscal year 2023. Of the $13,147,000 in economic assistance already provided to the Government of Palau in 2012, $12,706,000 is for economic assistance while the remaining $411,000 is for the Fiscal Consolidation Fund. The funds provided in any fiscal year under this subsection for economic assistance shall be provided in 4 quarterly payments (30 percent in the first quarter, 30 percent in the second quarter, 20 percent in the third quarter, and 20 percent in the fourth quarter) unless otherwise specified in this Agreement or in an Appendix to this Agreement.

“(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of Compact section 211(f) and the Agreement Between the Government of the United States and the Government of Palau Regarding Economic Assistance Concluded Pursuant to Section 211(f) of the Compact of Free Association, with respect to fiscal year 2011 the Government of Palau did not exceed a $5,000,000 distribution from the Section 211(f) Fund and, with respect to fiscal years 2012 through fiscal year 2023 and except as otherwise agreed by the Government of the United States and the Government of Palau, the Government of Palau agrees not to exceed the following distributions from the Section 211(f) Fund: $5,000,000 annually beginning in fiscal year 2012 through fiscal year 2013; $5,250,000 in fiscal year 2014; $5,500,000 in fiscal year 2015; $6,750,000 in fiscal year 2016; $8,000,000 in fiscal year 2017; $9,000,000 in fiscal year 2018; $10,000,000 in fiscal year 2019; $10,500,000 in fiscal year 2020; $11,000,000 in fiscal year 2021; $12,000,000 in fiscal year 2022; and $13,000,000 in fiscal year 2023.”.

(4) Infrastructure projects.--Section 5 of the Agreement shall be construed as though the section reads as follows:

“SEC. 5. INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.

“The Government of the United States shall provide grants totaling $40,000,000 to the Government of Palau as follows: $8,000,000 annually in fiscal years 2012 through fiscal year 2014; $6,000,000 in fiscal year 2015; and $5,000,000 annually in fiscal years 2016 and 2017; towards 1 or more mutually agreed infrastructure projects in accordance with the provisions of Appendix C to this Agreement.”.

(d) Continuing Programs and Laws.--Section 105(f)(1)(B)(ix) of the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2003 (48 U.S.C. 192ld(f)(1)(B)(ix)) is amended by striking “2009” and inserting “2024”.

(e) Passport Requirement.--Section 141 of Article IV of Title One of the Compact of Free Association shall be construed and applied as if it read as follows:

“SEC. 141. PASSPORT REQUIREMENT.

“(a) Any person in the following categories may be admitted to, lawfully engage in occupations, and establish residence as a nonimmigrant in the United States and its territories and possessions without regard to paragraphs (5) or (7)(B)(i)(II) of section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(5) or (a)(7)(B)(i)(II)), provided that the passport presented to satisfy section 212(a)(7)(B)(i)(I) of such Act is a valid unexpired machine-readable passport that satisfies the internationally accepted standard for machine readability--

“(1) a person who, on September 30, 1994, was a citizen of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, as defined in title 53 of the Trust Territory Code in force on January 1, 1979, and has become and remains a citizen of Palau;

“(2) a person who acquires the citizenship of Palau, at birth, on or after the effective date of the Constitution of Palau; or

“(3) a naturalized citizen of Palau, who has been an actual resident of Palau for not less than five years after attaining such naturalization and who holds a certificate of actual residence.

“(b) Such persons shall be considered to have the permission of the Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States to accept employment in the United States.

“(c) The right of such persons to establish habitual residence in a territory or possession of the United States may, however, be subjected to non-discriminatory limitations provided for--

“(1) in statutes or regulations of the United States; or

“(2) in those statutes or regulations of the territory or possession concerned which are authorized by the laws of the United States.

“(d) Section 141(a) does not confer on a citizen of Palau the right to establish the residence necessary for naturalization under the Immigration and Nationality Act, or to petition for benefits for alien relatives under that Act. Section 141(a), however, shall not prevent a citizen of Palau from otherwise acquiring such rights or lawful permanent resident alien status in the United States.”.