To clarify the tax treatment of bonds and other obligations issued by the Government of American Samoa.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 20, 2004, at 9:30 a.m., in closed session to receive a classified briefing from Major General Keith W. Dayton, USA, Former Commander of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) regarding the activities of the ISG in Iraq.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, July 20, 2004, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct an oversight hearing on the Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report of the Federal Reserve.

Concurrent with the hearing, the Committee intends to vote on the nominations of Mr. Stuart Levey, of Maryland, to be Under Secretary of the Treasury for Enforcement; Mr. Juan Carlos Zarate, of California, to be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes; and Ms. Carin M. Barth, of Texas, to be the Chief Financial Officer, Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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 Tuesday, July 20 at 10 a.m. to receive testimony on S. 2590, a bill to provide a conservation royalty from outer continental shelf revenues to establish the Coastal Impact Assistance Program, to provide assistance to States under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965, to ensure adequate funding for conserving and restoring wildlife, to assist local governments in improving local park and recreation systems, and for other purposes.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet in open Executive Session during the session on July 20, 2004, at 10 a.m., to consider favorably reporting S. 2677, the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act; H.R. 982, a bill to clarify the tax treatment of bonds and other obligations issued by the Government of American Samoa, 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; Paul B. Jones, to be Member, IRS Oversight Board; and, Charles L. Kolbe, to be Member, IRS 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 Tuesday, July 20, 2004, at 9:30 a.m. to hold a hearing on The Road Map: Detours and Disengagements.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Tuesday, July 20, 2004, at 10 a.m. in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing on S. 2605, the Snake River (Nez Perce) Water Rights Act of 2004.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized

to meet to continue its markup on Tuesday, July 20, 2004, at 9:30 a.m. in Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226. The agenda is attached.

Agenda

I. Nominations: Claude A. Allen to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit; David W. McKeague to be United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit; Richard A. Griffin to be United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit; Virginia Maria Hernandez Covington to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida; Michael H. Schneider, Sr., of Texas to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas; David E. Nahmias, of Georgia to be United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia; Robert Clark Corrente to be United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island; Ricardo H. Hinojosa to be Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission; Michael O'Neill to be a Member of the United States Sentencing Commission; and Ruben Castillo to be a Member of the United States Sentencing Commission.

II. Legislation: S. 1635, L-1 Visa (Intracompany Transferee) Reform Act of 2003--Chambliss; S.J. Res. 4, Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States authorizing Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States Act of 2003-- Hatch, Feinstein, Craig, Sessions, DeWine, Grassley, Graham, Cornyn, Chambliss, Specter, Kyl; S. 700, Advancing Justice through DNA Technology Act of 2003--Hatch, Biden, Specter, Leahy, DeWine, Feinstein, Kennedy, Schumer, Durbin, Kohl, Edwards; S. 2396, Federal Courts Improvement Act of 2004--Hatch, Leahy, Chambliss, Durbin, Schumer; S. Res. 401, A resolution designating the week of November 7 through November 13, 2004, as ``National Veterans Awareness Week'' to emphasize the need to develop educational programs regarding the contributions of veterans to the country of 2004--Biden, Chambliss, Cornyn, Durbin, Feingold, Feinstein, Graham, Grassley, Kennedy, Sessions, Specter; and S. Con. Res. 109, A concurrent resolution commending the United States Institute of Peace on the occasion of its 20th anniversary and recognizing the Institute for its contribution to international conflict resolution of 2004--Inouye, Harkin, Warner.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, July 20, 2004, at 2:30 p.m., for a markup on the pending legislation. The meeting will be held in room 418 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

Agenda

1. S. 1153, the ``Veterans Prescription Drugs Assistance Act of 2004;''

2. S. 2483, the ``Veterans Compensation Cost of Living Adjustment Act of 2004;''

3. S. 2484, the ``Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel Enhancement Act of 2003,'' as amended;

4. S. 2485, the ``Department of Veterans Affairs Real Property and Facilities Management Improvement Act of 2004,'' as amended;

5. S. 2486, the ``Veterans Benefits Improvements Act of 2004,'' as amended.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 20, 2004 at 10:30 a.m. to hold a hearing on intelligence matters.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 20, 2004 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a hearing on intelligence matters.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, be authorized to meet on Tuesday, July 20, 2004 at 9 a.m. for a hearing entitled, ``Building the 21st Century Federal Workforce: Assessing Progress in Human Capital Management.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Subcommittee on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services be authorized to meet for a hearing on Performance and Outcome Measurement in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Programs during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, July 20, 2004, at 10 a.m.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my sense of appreciation to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Renzi) and the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) who are both managing several pieces of legislation this afternoon. I thank them for their assistance and leadership in doing so.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank the gentleman from California (Chairman Pombo) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), the ranking member, for the Committee on Resources; and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Chairman Sensenbrenner) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), the ranking member from the Committee on the Judiciary, for their continued support regarding the needs of the territory of American Samoa and for their efforts to bring H.R. 982 to the floor this afternoon.

H.R. 982 would amend the U.S. Code to allow interest earned from American Samoa bonds to be exempt from both State and local taxation.

Mr. Speaker, under current Federal law, Congress has expressly provided for the exemption of State and local taxes for bonds issued for or by the territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands and the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. While American Samoa can issue bonds similar to the other territories, the interest earned from American Samoa bonds is subject to taxation by several States, Washington, D.C. and other territories. This proposed legislation would simply provide equity and parity to the territory of American Samoa.

It has been a slight oversight over the years, that is the reason I am having to propose this legislation. H.R. 982 would also make American Samoa bonds more attractive to investors and will save the local government between $20,000 to $50,000 in interest alone on municipal bonds it may issue. This legislation will lower the interest costs of the prospective sales and will also enable the government to address deficiencies in its current infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation is identical to H.R. 1448, which I introduced in the 107th Congress, which was adopted by both the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Resources, and finally agreed to by voice vote on September 24, 2002. Unfortunately, the other body was unable to consider this legislation before the 107th Congress adjourned.

However, the Committee on Resources and the Committee on the Judiciary have unanimously passed H.R. 982, and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. In doing so, I want to thank committee staff, Tony Babauta, and my office staff, Judy Leilani and Lisa Williams, for their efforts in making the proper preparations and assisting tremendously in bringing this legislation to the floor for consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 982) to clarify the tax treatment of bonds and other obligations issued by the Government of American Samoa.

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.

I rise today in support of H.R. 982, a bill to clarify the tax treatment of bonds and other obligations issued by the Government of American Samoa. This bill, introduced by the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega), will permit the interest earned on bonds issued by the American Samoa Government to be exempt from both State and local taxation. Passage of H.R. 982 will provide parity in the tax treatment of their bonds with other territories in the United States.

It is my hope that this legislation would help to provide more funding to the American Samoa Government as well as putting this territory on the same playing field with others when investors look to the islands for economic development.

At this time, the House Committee on the Judiciary has also passed this legislation with strong bipartisan support by their Members. In the 107th Congress, we also passed this bill under suspension of the rules near the end of that Congress.

I thank the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) for his work with us to move this bill more quickly during this session, and I want to thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) for his cooperation in bringing this bill to the floor today. I ask Members to adopt H.R. 982.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

(Mr. UDALL of New Mexico asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 982, sponsored by our distinguished colleague, the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega), is intended to remove a barrier to economic development in the U.S. Territory of American Samoa.

In essence, H.R. 982 provides American Samoa parity with other U.S. Territories whose bonds are not taxed by the State or local governments. I congratulate the gentleman from American Samoa for his work on this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega).

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I just want to congratulate the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) on all his hard work in the Committee on Resources, his tenacity, and his persistence. I know he has worked hard and long on this very important issue to American Samoa. I just want to recognize that here today.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 655, H.R. 982.

I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements be printed in the Record.