Insular Areas Act of 2011

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

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

I want to express my deepest appreciation to the

gentlelady from Florida, the chairwoman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and certainly my colleague, the senior ranking member, Mr. Berman of California.

I would also like to express my most sincere appreciation to our Speaker of the House, John Boehner; our majority leader, Eric Cantor; our Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi; our Democratic Whip, Steny Hoyer; the chairman of our Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Ranking Member Howard Berman of California; Chairman John Kline and Ranking Member George Miller of the Committee on Education and the Workforce; Chairman Lamar Smith and Ranking Member John Conyers of the Committee on the Judiciary; Chairman Doc Hastings and Ranking Member Ed Markey of the Committee on Natural Resources; and certainly Senator Jeff Bingaman and Senator Lisa Murkowski, who respectively served as chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for all that they have done on behalf of the insular areas. I cannot thank my colleagues enough for standing with me because I know the passage of this bill is only possible today due to their support.

I also thank the committee staff leadership for their working in close association with my office on the provision which will benefit the Associated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Territory of American Samoa.

Mr. Speaker, as my chairman had alluded to earlier about this section, it's very simple.

This atoll, Runit Atoll, is located in Enewetak. For the benefit and information of my colleagues, the Enewetak Atoll is located in the Marshall Islands. This is where we exploded 43 of our nuclear bombs out of the 67 nuclear bombs that we exploded during our testing program from 1943 to 1962; and in the process, this is where we exploded our mini-hydrogen bomb, which was called a Mike shot, which was only about 700 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb that we exploded in Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Only about a couple of hundred of miles away is also the atoll called Bikini Atoll, and in 1954 we exploded the most powerful and the first hydrogen bomb that was ever exploded on this planet. It was known as the Bravo shot, and it was 1,300 times more powerful than the bombs that we dropped in Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Just to give my colleagues a sense of understanding and appreciation, what we did in this specific atoll, Enewetak, we had to collect all the debris, all the nuclear waste materials as a result of the 43 bombs that we exploded in this atoll for purposes of preventing nuclear contamination from getting into the water and the ocean squall of that. Well, it started to leak, and there are some very serious problems of nuclear contamination seepage coming out of what we've done in burying, supposedly, the nuclear waste materials on this atoll called Runit Atoll.

This provision is just simply the Congress directs the Secretary of Energy to do a monitoring program and to see what is happening after some 40 years that we did all this tremendous damage, not only to property, but to the lives of these people in the Marshall Islands. This is what this provision provides. It very simply authorizes the Secretary of Energy to go over there and find out what's going on and monitor the underground water so that these people can survive properly.

In the process, and what's about good about this bill, Mr. Speaker, is it doesn't require any offsets. We don't have to worry about any financials. It will be funded by the Technical Assistance Program that is now provided by the Office of Insular Affairs.

The second provision in this bill, Mr. Speaker, it just simply amends the Compact of Free Association to authorize our judges to go there and serve temporarily in the courts of the Associated States of Micronesia. That's all it does. It doesn't require any more expense than it is but just to simply authorize them.

And the third provision that I want to share with my colleagues is simply to delay the increase of the minimum wage in my little Territory of American Samoa for the next 3 years. That's all that this bill provides.

As I said, Mr. Speaker, this is one of the most unusual bills. It has the support of four committee chairmen and senior ranking members. Now, you talk about bipartisanship: I don't know of any other bill that I've ever heard or known and the fact that we have something we can all work toward in solving some of the serious problems affecting the lives of our fellow Americans. And that's all I'm asking for.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 2009, the Insular Areas Act of 2011, which was passed by the Senate on December 16, 2011.

At this time, I would like to express my sincerest appreciation to Speaker of the House John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Ranking Member Howard Berman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Chairman John Kline and Ranking Member George Miller of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, Chairman Lamar Smith and Ranking Member John Conyers of the Committee on the Judiciary, Chairman Doc Hastings and Ranking Member Ed Markey of the Committee on Natural Resources, and Senators Jeff Bingaman and Lisa Murkowski who respectively serve as the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for all they have done for and on behalf of the people of American Samoa.

I cannot thank my colleagues enough for standing with me because I know that passage of this bill is only possible today due to their support. I also thank committee and leadership staff for working in close association with my office on provisions which will benefit our Associated States of Micronesia, Republic of Marshall Islands, and the U.S. Territory of American Samoa for years to come. Most of all, I thank the people of American Samoa, our tuna cannery workers, our Fono, and Governor for their support and prayers.

I want to especially commend Senator Bingaman and Senator Murkowski for their leadership in getting S. 2009 passed by the Senate. S. 2009 includes a provision to delay minimum wage increases in American Samoa until 2015. The provision regarding minimum wage was worked out in advance with my office as well as the Senate HELP Committee, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Because S. 2009 included other provisions not related to minimum wage, the bill was referred to three different committees in the House, including Education and the Workforce, the Judiciary, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs which has primary jurisdiction for S. 2009. With three different committees sharing jurisdiction, the bill could not move to the House floor unless the committees agreed to be discharged from consideration of S. 2009.

At my request, each of the Chairmen and Ranking Members agreed to waive consideration in order to expedite the bill's consideration. Although S. 2009 was not referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources, I sought and received the support of Chairman Doc Hastings and Ranking Member Ed Markey, too.

While we were hopeful that the bill could be placed on the House calendar after Congress returned from the Christmas recess, in January 2012 the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) unwittingly halted the advancement of the bill due to concerns it raised about a provision related to the monitoring of Runit Island. After explaining how important delaying further minimum wage increases is to American Samoa's economy, we were able to resolve OIA's concerns and move forward. But given these setbacks, Speaker Boehner's office subsequently requested that we formalize, in writing, the commitment of the Chairmen of the committees of jurisdiction and, as of March 28, 2012, we completed this request.

On Tuesday, July 10, 2012, I personally met with Majority Leader Eric Cantor and presented our case, and he agreed that with the support of Speaker Boehner, Democratic Leader Pelosi and Democratic Whip Hoyer that he would schedule the bill for consideration. Once the bill was publicly placed on the House calendar for July 17, 2012, I announced the progress we had made. Given the sensitivities surrounding minimum wage, I felt like a public announcement any sooner could have jeopardized our efforts.

The matter of minimum wage is of utmost importance to American Samoa. Since 1956, until Congress enacted P.L. 110-28 which

automatically increases wage rates by $.50 per hour effective July 2007 and every year thereafter until 2014, wage rates for American Samoa were determined by Special Industry Committees in accordance with Sections 5, 6, and 8 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. Sections 205, 206, 208). While these Industry Committees were phased out in other U.S. Territories due to their more diversified economies, American Samoa continues to be a single industry economy, and automatic increases have only served to exacerbate an already difficult situation for the local economy.

For more than 50 years, American Samoa's private sector economy had been nearly 80% dependent, either directly or indirectly, on two canneries--StarKist and Chicken of the Sea--which until recently employed more than 74 percent of our private sector workforce. However, on September 30, 2009, one day after American Samoa was struck by a powerful 8.3 Richter Scale earthquake which set off a 20-foot wave tsunami that left untold damage and loss from which the Territory has not fully recovered, Chicken of the Sea closed its operations in American Samoa and outsourced more than 2,000 jobs to Thailand where fish cleaners are paid $0.75 and less per hour compared to wage rates of about $4.76 per hour in American Samoa.

As noted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), before minimum wage increases went into effect tuna canneries in American Samoa were operating at about a $7.5 million loss per year when compared to canneries, like Bumble Bee, and now Chicken of the Sea, which outsource fish cleaning jobs to low-wage rate countries. Outsourcing has adversely impacted American Samoa's economy in untold ways. Higher fish costs, higher shipping costs, higher fuel costs, better local tax incentives offered by competitors and the global economic recession have especially contributed to the weakening of the Territory's economy. Passage of S. 2009 will help resolve some of these problems by providing ASG with the time it needs to diversify the Territory's private-sector economy.

While I thank my colleagues for their support and urge them to vote in favor of S. 2009, it is my sincere hope that improvements on the territory's economy will be such that it will provide for fair wages for American Samoa's workers. So between now and 2015, it will be up to ASG and our corporate partners, including StarKist and Tri-Marine, to find new ways of succeeding without further compromising the wages of both our public and private sector workers or wage earners.

American Samoa's cannery workers have been the backbone of the U.S. tuna and fishing processing industries, and I salute them for stabilizing the Territory's economy. With heart-felt gratitude for the sacrifices they have made on our behalf, I am noting their service in the Congressional Record for historical purposes.

Once more, I thank my colleagues in the House and Senate for helping American Samoa in its time of need, and I urge passage of S. 2009.

The Enewetak People--Challenges Facing the only Population Ever

Resettled on a Nuclear Test Site

Introduction

Enewetak was the site of 43 of the 67 nuclear tests that

the U.S. conducted in the Marshall Islands and the Enewetak

people are the only people ever resettled on a nuclear test

site.

Enewetak Atoll as a Nuclear Test Site

Enewetak Atoll, was the site of forty-three of the sixty-

six nuclear tests conducted by the United States in the

Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958. One of the tests at

Enewetak was especially significant as it was the first test

of a hydrogen bomb. This test occurred on October 31, 1952

and was known as the ``Mike'' test. The test had a yield of

10.4 megatons (750 times greater than the Hiroshima bomb).

The destructive power of the Mike test was exceeded only by

the Bravo test (15 megatons) in all the nuclear tests

conducted by the United States anywhere. The Mike test

vaporized an island, leaving a crater a mile in diameter and

200 feet deep. The Mike test detonation and the detonation of

the other 42 nuclear devices on Enewetak resulted in the

vaporization of over 8% of the land and otherwise devastated

the atoll. The devastation is so severe that to this day,

fifty-four years after the last nuclear explosion, over half

of the land and all of the lagoon remain contaminated by

radiation. The damage is so pervasive that the Enewetak

people cannot live on over 50% of our land. In fact, they

can't live on Enewetak without the importation of food.

The U.S. Department of Energy described the devastating

effects of the 43 nuclear tests on Enewetak as follows:

``The immense ball of flame, cloud of dark dust, evaporated

steel tower, melted sand for a thousand feet, 10 million tons

of water rising out of the lagoon, waves subsiding from a

height of eighty feet to seven feet in three miles were all

repeated, in various degrees, 43 times on Enewetak Atoll.''

Removal of the Enewetak People from Enewetak Atoll to Ujelang Atoll

A few days before Christmas in 1947, the U.S. removed the

Enewetak people to the much smaller, resource poor, and

isolated atoll of Ujelang. They were told by the U.S. that

their removal would be for a short time. In fact, Captain

John P. W. Vest, the U.S. Military Governor for the Marshall

Islands, told them that their removal from Enewetak would be

temporary and last no more than three to five years.

Unfortunately, they were exiled on Ujelang for a period of

over thirty-three years.

Hardship on Ujelang

The exile on Ujelang was particularly difficult for the

Enewetak people leading to hopelessness and despair. During

the 33-year exile on Ujelang they endured the suffering of

near starvation. They tried to provide food for themselves

and their children, but one meal a day and constant hunger

was the norm. Malnutrition caused illness and disease.

Children and the elderly were particularly vulnerable. Health

care was woefully inadequate. In addition, children went

largely uneducated in the struggle for survival. They became

so desperate that in the late 1960's they took over a

visiting government field-trip ship, demanding that they be

taken off of Ujelang and returned to Enewetak.

After years of hardship, neglect and isolation the Enewetak

people became increasingly insistent that they be returned

home. Eventually, the U.S. said it would attempt to make

Enewetak Atoll habitable.

The suffering and hardship experienced by the Enewetak

people while on Ujelang, was eventually acknowledged by the

U.S. The U.S. Department of Interior in a letter to the

President of the U.S. Senate, dated January 14, 1978, said,

in relevant part:

``The people of Enewetak Atoll were removed from their home

atoll in 1947 by the U.S. Government in order that their

atoll could be used in the atomic testing program. The people

were promised that they would be able to return home once the

U.S. Government no longer had need for their islands.

During the thirty years that the Enewetak people have been

displaced from their home atoll they have suffered grave

privations, including periods of near starvation, in their

temporary home on Ujelang Atoll. The people have cooperated

willingly with the U.S. Government and have made many

sacrifices to permit the United States to use their home

islands for atomic testing purposes.''

Initial Cleanup Attempt of Enewetak Atoll

In 1972, the U.S. said that it would soon no longer require

the use of Enewetak. The U.S. recognized that the extensive

damage and residual radiation at Enewetak would require

radiological cleanup, soil rehabilitation, housing and basic

infrastructure before the people could resettle Enewetak. An

extensive cleanup, rehabilitation and resettlement effort was

undertaken between 1977 and 1980.

Unfortunately, the cleanup left over half of the land mass

of the atoll contaminated by radiation confining the people

to the southern half of the atoll. This has prevented the

Enjebi island members of the Enewetak community from

resettling their home island in the northern part of the

atoll, and has prevented the people from making full and

unrestricted use of their atoll. In addition, the cleanup and

rehabilitation was not effective in rehabilitating the soil

and revegetating the islands. An extensive soil

rehabilitation and revegetation effort is still required to

permit the growing of food crops.

Runit Dome

The cleanup of Enewetak entailed removal and collection of

highly contaminated topsoil, vegetation, and debris (concrete

and metal) that was subsequently entombed within an unlined

crater produced by an 18 kilo ton surface test and capped

with a concrete dome. The site is now known as the Runit

Dome. Evidence indicates open hydraulic communication between

radioactive waste and intruding ocean water, with migration

pathways leading to local groundwater and circulating lagoon

waters.

Inside the Runit Dome lies over 110,000 cubic yards of

plutonium and other radioactive debris that is radioactive

for thousands of years. And, many areas of Runit Island have

dangerous levels of contamination. Consequently, the dome and

the surrounding area need to be monitored in the same manner

that they would be monitored in the US. The reason for such

monitoring is simple--the Enewetak people are entitled to the

same level of protection from US created radiation as the

people of the US.

Mr. President, I am pleased to be joined by my colleague from Alaska, and the ranking member of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Lisa Murkowski, in urging passage of the Insular Areas Act of 2011. This legislation would enact three time- sensitive provisions needed to improve the operation of certain Federal programs in the U.S. territory of American Samoa and in the freely associated states of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.

First, section 2 of the bill would amend the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2003 to direct the Secretary of Energy, as a part of

the Department's Marshall Islands radiation monitoring program, to also periodically monitor the containment structure on Runit Island where nuclear cleanup wastes are buried. This new monitoring would include a visual inspection of the containment structure and a radiochemical analysis of groundwater surrounding and in the structure. This section of the bill further requires the Secretary to submit a report to Congress with the results of the monitoring. Finally, the section requires that the Secretary of the Interior shall make available to DOE, from existing technical assistance funds, the funding needed to conduct the chemical analysis of groundwater.

This section was requested by the Government of the Marshall Islands because of continuing concerns about radiation contamination among the people living and fishing near Runit Island. Officials from the Department of Energy regularly visit the islands near Runit as a part of DOE's ongoing Marshall Islands monitoring activities, and it is reasonable to direct that those officials periodically monitor the Runit Island containment structure to assure the community that the surrounding waters are not being contaminated and do not pose a health risk to persons living and fishing nearby.

Second, section 3 of the bill would amend current law which authorizes U.S. judges to serve temporarily, on a reimbursable basis, on the courts of the freely associated states. These island nations were formerly administered by the United States under a U.N. trusteeship, and the practice of providing temporary judges on a reimbursable and time-available basis to assist local courts has existed for several decades. This section was requested by the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, which has few judges of its own and seeks to have additional U.S. judges available to assist, particularly when multijudge panels are needed to hear appeals. This authority is used by the Ninth Circuit Court only a few days per year when such temporary assignments do not interfere with the caseload of the assigned judges. The section would expand the pool of eligible judges from circuit and district judges, to include magistrate and territorial judges. On March 31, 2011, I received a letter from the Judicial Conference of the United States stating its support for this provision.

Finally, section 4 of this bill would amend the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 to delay the 50-cent increase in the minimum wage of American Samoa that is scheduled for September 30, 2011, until September 30, 2015. It would also delay future periodic minimum wage increases and the periodic GAO report on the impact of prior wage increases from a 2- year to a 3-year, cycle.

American Samoa is a small, remote, unincorporated and unorganized U.S. territory--the only U.S. territory in the Southern Hemisphere. Its economy more closely resembles that of the nearby island-nation of Samoa than it does the U.S. economy. It has a large subsistence sector, as indicated by a 30 percent unemployment rate, and an average per capita income of about $7,000 year--less than a quarter of the poorest State. The wage economy is concentrated in the government sector and fish processing. In recent years, however, trade globalization and rising costs have contributed to a severe economic downturn. GAO recently reported--GAO-11-427--that one of two tuna canneries closed in 2009 and the other cannery significantly reduced operations. Employment in this key sector fell by 55 percent from 2009 to 2010. The U.S. minimum wage was extended to American Samoa in 2007, with annual increases of 50 cents starting in 2008. But, because of the severe downturn, Congress delayed the 2010 wage increase until 2012. The Government of American Samoa is requesting this further delay because of the unique and continuing challenges it faces along with other South Pacific island economies.

Mr. President, there are no authorizations in the bill, and any additional costs associated with its enactment would be funded from existing sources. These are time-sensitive provisions of interest to these remote U.S.-affiliated island communities, and I urge the support of my colleagues in passing this bill.

Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday July 17 and Wednesday July 18, 2012, I was not present for recorded votes and was with my constituents in my district preparing for and attending tornado recovery related events with the First Lady of the United States.

If I were present, I would have voted in the following way:

Tuesday July 17

H.R. 6018--To authorize appropriations for the Department of State for fiscal year 2013, and for other purposes--voted ``yes.''

S. 2009--Insular Areas Act of 2011--voted ``yes.''

Wednesday July 18

H.R. 5872--Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012--voted ``yes.''

McCollum Amendment to H.R. 5856--Reduces Military Retirement Funds (for military bands) by $187,770,000 and applies the savings to the spending reduction account--voted ``no.''

Kingston/McCollum Amendment to H.R. 5856--Reduces the amount of Defense Department funding for professional sports sponsorships by $72,300,000 and applies the savings to the spending reduction account-- voted ``yes.''

Quigley Amendment to H.R. 5856--Reduces the Navy Shipbuilding and Conversion account by $988 million (funding for one DDG-51 Destroyer) and applies the savings to the spending reduction account--voted ``no.''

Cohen Amendment (#1) to H.R. 5856--Reduces the Navy Cruiser Modernization account by $506,660,000 and increases the Defense Health Program (for cancer research) account by $470 million--voted ``no.''

Pompeo Amendment to H.R. 5856--Strikes the $250 million Rapid Innovation Fund from the bill and applies the savings to the spending reduction account--voted ``no.''

Markey Amendment (#1) to H.R. 5856--Reduces the funding for ground based missile defense by $75 million and applies the savings to the spending reduction account--voted ``no.''

Amash Amendment to H.R. 5856--Allows outsourcing of Defense-related work and strikes the requirement that such outsourcing be done on a competitive and cost-beneficial basis--voted ``no.''

Cohen Amendment (#2) to H.R. 5856--Reduces the Afghanistan Infrastructure Fund by $175 million and applies the savings to the spending reduction account--voted ``no.''

Cicilline Amendment to H.R. 5856--Strikes the $375 million in funding for the Afghanistan Infrastructure Fund and applies the savings to the spending reduction account--voted ``no.''

Woolsey Amendment (#1) to H.R. 5856--Reduces total defense funding by $181 million--the same amount that the FY13 Transportation/HUD bill cut the Federal Transit Administration--voted ``no.''

Markey Amendment (#2) to H.R. 5856--Prohibits the use of funds to operate or maintain more than 300 land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)--voted ``no.''

Woolsey Amendment (#2) to H.R. 5856--Reduces funding in the bill by $293,900,000--the same amount as was cut in the proposed FY13 Labor/HHS appropriations bill for Title X Family Planning (zeroing out the account)--voted ``no.''

Woolsey Amendment (#3) to H.R. 5856--Reduces funding in the bill by $1,700,000,000--the same amount as the Republican budget cut the Social Services Block Grant program (zeroing out the account)--voted ``no.''

Lee Amendment to H.R. 5856--Reduces funding for the Overseas Contingency Operation (OCO) by $21 billion, excluding: the Defense Health Program; Defense Drug Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities; the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Fund; and the Office of the IG--voted ``no.''

King (IA) Amendment to H.R. 5856--Prohibits the use of funds to be used to implement, administer, or enforce the requirements in the Davis-Bacon Act--voted ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2009) to improve the administration of programs in the insular areas, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill, S. 2009.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill, S. 2009 the Insular Areas Act, a brief bill that passed the Senate unanimously in December before being transmitted to the House and referred to multiple committees.

The bill consists of three short sections:

The first section, which shifts to the Department of Energy the responsibility for Department of the Interior-funded radiological monitoring at former U.S. nuclear test sites, has long been overseen by the Committee on Natural Resources.

The second section, which confirms the continuing eligibility of U.S. magistrates to participate in long-standing judicial exchange programs, is primarily overseen by the Committee on the Judiciary.

And the third section, involving a domestic workforce issue, is overseen by the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

All of these committees have reviewed the bill, waived additional action, and consented to today's suspension consideration of the bill. I want to thank those committees for their consideration and their input.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Committee on Education and the Workforce, House of

Representatives,

Washington, DC, March 20, 2012.

Hon. John A. Boehner,

Speaker, House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Speaker: I am writing to convey the consent of the

Committee on Education and the Workforce to be discharged

from consideration of S. 2009, Insular Areas Act of 2011, in

order to expedite its consideration on the House floor.

Although a formal request has not yet been prepared by the

Congressional Budget Office (CBO), CBO staff informally

estimates that the bill should not have any direct spending

or revenue effects and should have an annual discretionary

cost under CBO's de minimis threshold ($500,000).

While agreeing to waive consideration of S. 2009, the

Committee on Education and the Workforce does not waive any

jurisdiction that it has over provisions in the bill, nor

does it waive the right to seek appointment as conferees in

the event of a House-Senate conference on this or similar

legislation, should such a conference be convened.

Thank you again for your consideration.

Sincerely,

John Kline,

Chairman.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate Mr. Faleomavaega for the warm way in which he works with every member of our committee, and that is why it is a pleasure for all of us on the Committee on Foreign Affairs to do everything that we can to help the gentleman, because we know how important these bills are to him, as we can see, as we have heard. What we may consider to be a suspension bill that will not impact our daily lives, it impacts the many thousands of people whom he is so proud to represent in a very real and meaningful way.

So I thank him for his gentle manners. I thank him for his graciousness. I thank him for the important bills that he brings to our attention. And I want to tell him what an honor it is for

all of us on our committee to work with him in a bipartisan way.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of S. 2009. This legislation includes provisions adjusting the federal minimum wage schedule for American Samoa in light of GAO's findings on its unique labor market conditions. Mr. Faleomavaega of American Samoa has asked the Congress to make these adjustments for American Samoa and pass this bill.

Current law requires that the minimum wage increase in American Samoa annually until it reaches the Mainland's federal minimum wage level.

Current law also requires the GAO to regularly report to Congress on economic conditions in American Samoa over the course of these minimum wage adjustments. These GAO reports are intended to give Congress information so that, if necessary, Congress can adjust the minimum wage schedule for the territory.

Precisely because American Samoa has a unique, isolated, and relatively undiversified economy and because the path to the full federal minimum wage for this territory is a necessarily long one, Congress must be flexible over time with the minimum wage schedule in response to changing economic conditions. Congress must also maintain the clear requirement that the minimum wage in American Samoa be on a schedule to reach Mainland levels. In decades past, the use of a special industry committee to periodically review and set the minimum wage in American Samoa proved ineffective, unfairly depressing wage levels below what was economically feasible.

The minimum wage provision in S. 2009 meets these standards. The adjustment proposed by S. 2009 is the result of the GAO's latest report, which lays out certain economic difficulties confronting American Samoa. These difficulties arise from a variety of factors, including recent global economic conditions and a specific set of challenges facing American Samoa's tuna canning industry.

In response to the GAO report, this bill adjusts the schedule by delaying any minimum wage increases in American Samoa until 2015. Importantly, it maintains a clear minimum wage schedule for the territory, with new increases made triennially.

This is not the first adjustment in the schedule since the increases began in 2007. Adjustments were also enacted in 2010.

Congress must continue to monitor conditions in American Samoa. Future adjustments to either accelerate or delay the minimum wage schedule may be necessary and warranted. Workers in American Samoa deserve a fair minimum wage as soon as possible, which not only improves their standard of living but generates new economic activity for everyone's benefit. To achieve that end and to be sensitive to other economic pressures on the island that may affect employment levels, it is our ongoing responsibility to calibrate the minimum wage schedule as conditions warrant.

I look forward to continuing to work with Mr. Faleomavaega and other colleagues in the House and Senate to ensure workers in American Samoa receive a just wage.