[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2522 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2522
To amend the Organic Act of Guam to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to reduce, release, or waive amounts owed by the Government of
Guam to the United States to offset unreimbursed Compact impact
expenses.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 19, 2003
Ms. Bordallo (for herself, Mr. Gallegly, Mr. Rahall, Mr. Faleomavaega,
Mr. Rehberg, Mr. Abercrombie, and Mr. Case) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Organic Act of Guam to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to reduce, release, or waive amounts owed by the Government of
Guam to the United States to offset unreimbursed Compact impact
expenses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Compact Impact Reconciliation Act''.
SEC. 2. COMPACT IMPACT RECONCILIATION.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) In enacting the Compact of Free Association Act of 1985
(Public Law 99-239), Congress authorized unrestricted migration
from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the
Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau to the United
States. Public Law 99-239 stated that if any adverse
consequences to Guam resulted from implementation of the
Compacts of Free Association, the Congress would act
sympathetically and expeditiously to redress those adverse
consequences.
(2) The General Accounting Office has reported that such
migration permitted under the Compacts of Free Association has
had a significant impact on Guam.
(3) By placing demands on local government for health,
educational, and other social services, migration under the
Compacts of Free Association has adversely affected the
budgetary resources of the Government of Guam.
(4) Insufficient sums have been appropriated to cover the
costs incurred by the Government of Guam resulting from
increased demands placed on health, educational, and other
social services by citizens of the Federated States of
Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the
Republic of Palau.
(5) The Government of Guam has provided health,
educational, and other social services in good faith with the
expectation that such incurred costs would be reimbursed by the
United States.
(6) Guam has experienced a severe economic crisis in recent
years which has been exacerbated by expenses incurred related
to Compact migration without adequate reimbursement from the
United States.
(7) The Government of Guam has accrued significant
obligations to the United States Government, including but not
limited to--
(A) $9,000,000 owed by the Guam Waterworks
Authority to the Department of the Navy for water
consumption;
(B) $3,000,000 owed by the Guam Community College
to the Department of Education for construction of a
student housing facility;
(C) $40,000,000 owed by the Government of Guam in
local matching funds to the Department of Homeland
Security for Typhoon Chata'an (FEMA-1426-DR) and
Supertyphoon Pongsona (FEMA-1446-DR) disaster
assistance; and
(D) $105,000,000 owed by the Guam Telephone
Authority to the Department of Agriculture for
telephone infrastructure improvements.
(8) Congress has the authority to reconcile the amounts
that have not been appropriated to Guam for Compact impact
assistance with obligations owed by the Government of Guam to
the United States.
(9) Reconciliation is in the national interest and would
promote good will in the future renewal of the Compacts of Free
Association and the economic recovery of Guam.
(b) In General.--The Organic Act of Guam (48 U.S.C. 1421 et seq.)
is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 36. The Secretary of the Interior may reduce, release, or
waive all or part of any amounts owed by the Government of Guam (or its
autonomous agencies or instrumentalities) to any department, agency,
independent agency, office, or instrumentality of the United States.''.
<all>