To increase the waiver requirement for certain local matching requirements for grants provided to American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and for other purposes.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, at 9:30 a.m. on Home Products Fire Safety.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, at 2:30 p.m. on Adult Stem Cell Research.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on Wednesday, July 14, at 11:30 a.m. to consider pending calendar business.

Agenda Item 1: S. 203--A bill to open certain withdrawn land in Big Horn County, Wyoming, to locatable mineral development for bentonite mining.

Agenda Item 4: S. 931--A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to undertake a program to reduce the risks from and mitigate the effects of avalanches on visitors to units of the National Park System and on other recreational users of public land.

Agenda Item 7: S. 1211--A bill to further the purposes of title XVI of the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992, the ``Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act'', by directing the Secretary of the Interior to undertake a demonstration program for water reclamation in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 14: S. 2052--A bill to amend the National Trails System Act to designate El Camino Real de los Tejas as a National Historic Trail.

Agenda Item 16: S. 2140--A bill to expand the boundary of the Mount Rainier National Park.

Agenda Item 17: S. 2167--A bill to establish the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in the States of Washington and Oregon, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 18: S. 2173--A bill to further the purposes of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Establishment Act of 2000.

Agenda Item 19: S. 2285--A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey a parcel of real property to Beaver County, Utah.

Agenda Item 20: S. 2287--A bill to adjust the boundary of the Barataria Preserve Unit of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in the State of Louisiana, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 21: S. 2460--A bill to provide assistance to the State of New Mexico for the development of comprehensive State water plans, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 22: S. 2508--A bill to redesignate the Ridges Basin Reservoir, Colorado, as Lake Nighthorse.

Agenda Item 23: S. 2511--A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a feasibility study of a Chimayo water supply system, to provide for the planning, design, and construction of a water supply, reclamation, and filtration facility for Espanola, New Mexico, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 24: S. 2543--A bill to establish a program and criteria for National Heritage Areas in the United States, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 27: H.R. 1284--To amend the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 to increase the Federal share of the costs of the San Gabriel Basin demonstration project.

Agenda Item 29: H.R. 1616--To authorize the exchange of certain lands within the Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site for lands owned by the City of Atlanta, Georgia, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 30: H.R. 3768--To expand the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, Florida.

In addition, the Committee may turn to any other measures that are ready for consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet in open Executive Session during the session on July 14, 2004, at 10 a.m., in a mock markup to consider proposed legislation implementing the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement; and to consider favorably reporting S. 2610, the U.S.- Australia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act; and the nominations of Joey Russell George, to be Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, U.S. Department of Treasury; Patrick P. O'Carroll, Jr., to be Inspector General, Social Security Administration; Timothy S. Bitsberger, to be Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets, U.S. Department of Treasury; Paul B. Jones, to be Member, IRS Oversight Board; and, Charles L. Kolbe, to be Member, IRA Oversight Board.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, at 9:30 a.m., to hold a hearing on Pakistan: Balancing Reform and Counterterrorism.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, at 2:30 p.m., to hold a hearing on U.S. Policy Toward Southeast Europe: Unfinished Business in the Balkans.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, at 10 a.m., in room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building, to conduct an oversight hearing on the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, at 10 a.m. on ``Examining the Implications of Drug Importation'' in the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226. The witness list will be delivered later today.

Witness List

Panel I: Hon. John Breaux, U.S. Senator; and Hon. Bryon Dorgan, U.S. Senator.

Panel II: William K. Hubbard, Associate Commissioner for Policy and Planning, U.S. Food and Drug Administration; John Taylor, III, Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration; and Elizabeth G. Durant, Director of Trade Programs, Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.

Panel III: Hon. Rudolph Giuliani; Carmen Catizone, M.S., RPh, DPh, Executive Director/Secretary, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy Boards; Kathleen Jaeger, President and CEO, GPhA; Ms. Joanna Disch, Board Member, AARP; and Ms. Elizabeth A. Wennar, M.P.H, D.H.A., President and CEO, United Health Alliance of Bennington, VT and Principle, HealthInova of Manchester, VT, United Health Alliance, Health Care Economist.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Rules and Administration be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2004, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct an oversight hearing on the Federal Election Commission.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, at 2:30 p.m.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on S. 2317, to limit the royalty on soda ash; S. 2353, to reauthorize and amend the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992; H.R. 1189, to increase the waiver requirement for certain local matching requirements for grants provided to American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and for other purposes; and H.R. 2010, to protect the voting rights of members of the armed services in elections for the delegate representing American Samoa in the United States House of Representatives, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1189) to increase the waiver requirement for certain local matching requirements for grants provided to American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1189 which was introduced by my friend and colleague, the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega), is important as a component of the larger interest in encouraging economic development in the territories.

I would like to add, earlier the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) talked about his many friends in Arizona. A few years ago I was fortunate to travel with the gentleman and Speaker Hastert around the Middle East and other countries. Everywhere we went we met Samoans. They all knew who he was. He has friends around the world in multiple continents. I can verify to that, as can the Speaker, not just in Arizona and his home area. Samoans were everywhere. I very much appreciate that.

Many Americans do not realize the role that our committee plays with this. This is a very important bill to the territories. H.R. 1189 increases the waiver for certain local matching requirements for all United States territories. Currently, Federal law allows Federal agencies or departments to waive the first $200,000 in matching requirements to the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. This legislation will increase that amount to $500,000. Further, for a grant requiring matching funds of more than $500,000 the legislation waives the first $500,000 of the matching requirement.

It is important to note that H.R. 1189 will also end the inconsistent manner in which current law is applied to the matching waiver. With this bill, the waiver will apply to all Federal agencies and departments making grants to the U.S. territories, not just the Department of Interior.

The bill of the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) closely resembles legislation introduced by Delegate Underwood in the 107th Congress which was also reported with strong bipartisan support by the Committee on Resources. It is clear that while territorial economies, in general, have improved over the last several years, each government continues to be challenged with rising unemployment, decreased government revenues, and limited new capital for diversification. Passage of this legislation today and its eventual enactment will truly broaden the U.S. Territories' access to Federal grants which should help to grow their unique economies.

I commend the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) for working with this committee and others to ensure this legislation moves forward. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1189.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to close, as someone who comes from the heartland of the United States, I know many of my constituents and others say, ``We still have territories?'' And then, ``Why are we doing grants to these territories?'' As my friend, the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) has just pointed out, when you go through our Armed Services anywhere around the world, they are among the most active and volunteering for our militaries in these different territories, the bases that we have in these places, the beautiful natural resources, are very important to our survival as a country. They pay taxes. They support our Nation. This brings equity to them in the grant structure. And we can, in this time of international pressure, all of a sudden appreciate more American Samoa, Hawaii, Mariana Islands, Guam, are right out there where we need them to be. And we are very supportive of these territories. This bill goes a long way towards saying thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 1189, a bill to assist our insular territories by waiving matching requirements at a certain Federal level for Federal grant programs. I would like to thank the gentleman from California (Chairman Pombo) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) of the Committee on Resources for their continued support regarding the needs of our island territories and for their help in bringing this legislation to the floor today.

I would also be mindful in expressing my appreciation to the support and cosponsorship of the gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen) and my good friend, the Resident Commissioner, the gentleman from Puerto Rico (Mr. Acevedo-Vila) for their support.

H.R. 1189 is a bill that would increase the waiver requirement for certain local matching requirements for grants provided for the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Mr. Speaker, Congress first enacted a matching waiver requirement for the territories in 1980, recognizing the difficulty of territorial governments to access Federal grant money that required matching as the basis of a funding. At that time the waiver was set at $100,000 for American Samoa and the CNMI. And later in 1983 and 1984 the law was amended to increase the requirements to $200,000 and was simultaneously added to the territories of the Guam and Virgin Islands for eligibility. It has now been 20 years since the law has been revisited, and the current waiver of $200,000 has been proven to be inadequate to meet the needs of these insular areas.

Mr. Speaker, our territorial governments continue to be challenged with rising unemployment, decreased government revenues, and impediments to attracting new capital for diversification. The insular areas simply do not have the financial resources to meet the matching fund requirements required by Federal law. Consequently, we are often unable to apply for the Federal grants that we need to address critical issues like health, education, and economic development. H.R. 1189 would alleviate these difficulties by increasing the waiver requirement to $500,000.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1189 the would also direct the Secretary of the Interior to complete and to submit to the House Committee on Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources the results of a study of the implementation to the changes to the matching requirement made through this legislation. While it is clear that more comprehensive legislation is needed to bring about sustainable economic growth and relief for the insular areas, I believe this legislation will alleviate some of the economic difficulties we are facing.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues, the gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo), the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen), the gentleman from Puerto Rico (Mr. Acevedo-Vila) for expressing their support. Again, I express my appreciation to the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) and the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder). I want to let the gentleman from Indiana know that I did not forget that trip that we took to the Middle East. Yes, in fact, just about every military installation that we visited with the then chairman of the International Security Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Reform, the gentleman from Illinois, whose name was Mr. Hastert, who is now the Honorable Speaker of the House, from which I really enjoyed meeting not only with our soldiers and our troops in that opportunity that we had.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder) for his assistance in managing this proposed bill. I urge my colleagues to support this proposed legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1189, to increase the waiver requirement for certain local matching requirements for grants to American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. I want to commend my colleagues Eni Faleomavaega and Madeleine Bordallo for introducing the bill, which would increase the matching waiver requirement for the first time in twenty years.

Last year the Resources Committee unanimously passed a similar bill jointly sponsored by our former colleague from Guam Robert Underwood, Eni Faleomavaega and myself and I'm pleased that we are once again taking this action.

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, it has been nearly twenty years since this law has been revisited. While territorial economies have improved each government, particularly my own, the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands continues to be challenged with rising unemployment, decreased government revenues, and attracting new capital for diversification. H.R. 1189 will help broaden U.S. territories' access to Federal grants by increasing the amount Federal agencies shall waive to $500,000.

The bill also seeks to end the inconsistent manner in which 48 U.S.C. section 1469(a) is applied by clarifying that the matching waiver applies to all federal agencies and departments making grants to the U.S. territories, not just the Department of Interior (DOI). The bill also requires DOI to provide a report to Congress on the effect of the updated waiver requirement.

It is my hope also Mr. Speaker, that Federal agencies will apply the waiver not just to grants awarded to the territorial governments, but also to non-profit organizations and other eligible non-governmental entities in the territories. Non-profit organizations in the territories fulfill a significant role in our communities. Groups such as Lutheran Social Services, the St. Croix Community Foundation and the V.I. Resource Center help meet the needs of the homeless, the disadvantaged, and those whose lives are buffeted by tough economic times. Their work is often supported by federal grants. Without such Federal assistance, the non-profit organizations in the territories would struggle to meet their missions and most would not be able to maintain the current level of assistance to our communities.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Pombo and Ranking Member Rahall for their willingness to support and shepherd this bill through the legislative process. I also want to particularly thank our former colleague Bob Underwood, who for most of his tenure in the House, made increasing the matching waiver for the territories one of his highest priorities. I urge my colleagues to support passage of this bill.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that the following hearing has been scheduled before the Subcommittee on National Parks of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources:

The hearing will be held on Thursday, July 15, 2004 at 2:30 p.m. in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills: S. 1852, to provide financial assistance for the rehabilitation of the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the development of an exhibit to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin; S. 2142, to authorize appropriations for the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trial Route, and for other purposes; S. 2181, to adjust the boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park in the State of Colorado; S. 2374, to provide for the conveyance of certain land to the United States and to revise the boundary of Chickasaw National Recreation Area, OK, and for other purposes; S. 2397 and H.R. 3706, to adjust the boundary of the John Muir national Historic Site, and for other purposes; S. 2432, to expand the boundaries of Wilson's Creek Battlefield National Park, and for other purposes; S. 2567, to adjust the boundary of Redwood National Park in the State of California; and H.R. 1113, to authorize an exchange of land at Fort Frederica National Monument, and for other purposes.

Because of the limited time available for the hearings, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record should send two copies of their testimony to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, SD-364 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510-6150.

For further information, please contact Tom Lillie at (202) 224-5161 or Sarah Creachbaum at (202) 224-6293.