NEWS FROM CONGRESSWOMAN MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO

President Signs New Compacts
with Micronesia and the Marshalls into Law:
Compact-Impact for Guam Addressed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - December 17, 2003 - Washington, D.C. -- Today, the President signed into law House Joint Resolution 63, the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2003. Enactment of this legislation is the culmination of more than two years of negotiations between the United States Government and the Governments of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) to renew the expired 1986 Compact of Free Association. During the past year, Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo worked diligently as a member of the House Resources Committee to secure certain provisions in the implementing legislation to improve the means by which the Federal Government addresses the impact Freely Associated State migration has on Guam. Throughout the Congressional consideration process, she also advocated for the preservation of Freely Associated State eligibility for certain Federal programs, including Pell Grants, funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and public disaster assistance administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The new law extends the original Compact with the FSM and the RMI for another twenty years, and continues key U.S. economic assistance to facilitate capacity-building and self-sufficiency in the FSM and RMI with new accountability controls; strengthens immigration provisions and protects the right of FSM and RMI citizens to migrate freely to the U.S. for work, education, and residence; addresses the impact of migration on affected U.S. jurisdictions, including Guam, the CNMI and the State of Hawai'i; and provides a 50-year lease extension for U.S. access to Kwajalein Atoll in the RMI, home of the Ronald Reagan Missile Testing Facility.

"The President's signature today was the final U.S. step in the process and now we look forward to the years ahead in this renewed friendship. The implementation and execution of these Compacts and its provisions will be just as important as the work undertaken in renegotiating their terms and in renewing them. Guam is an important part of this friendship and I have taken every opportunity to remind my colleagues in Congress of the importance of the Compact relationship and its benefits to the United States," said Bordallo.

In addition to the Compact provisions for the Freely Associated States, H.J.Res. 63 includes a new Compact-impact section that contains several important provisions for Guam. In working with her colleagues in the House Resources Committee and with Hawaii's Congressional Delegation, Congresswoman Bordallo was successful in improving the Compact-impact assistance that the Administration had proposed. Congresswoman Bordallo had introduced two bills to propose new language for the Compact-impact section: H.R. 2522, the Compact-Impact Reconciliation Act, and H.R. 2716, the Compact-Impact Reimbursement Act.

The following provisions are included within the new law:

Compact-Impact Reimbursement
Authorizes and appropriates $600 million over the next 20 years to be shared between Guam, Hawaii and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) on a pro-rata basis determined by the numbers of immigrants from the Freely Associated States residing in these jurisdictions. Additional Compact-impact reimbursement is authorized if impact costs rise above the mandatory appropriation of $30 million per year. An estimated $12-$14 million in annual funding is expected for Guam, based on the estimates of the immigrant population. The Administration had proposed $15 million per year in mandatory funding, and Congress doubled that amount.

Compact-Impact Reconciliation
Authorizes the President, at the request of the Governor of Guam, to release, reduce, or waive, in whole or in part, any amounts owed by the Government of Guam to the United States Government as an offset for past un-reimbursed Compact-impact costs. These costs are estimated by Guam to total $187 million.

This process begins with the submission by the Governor of a report detailing unreimbursed compact-impact costs. This report is due 120 days after enactment (April 16, 2004). After the report is submitted to the Secretary of the Interior, the Governor may request the exercise of this authority by the President, who has until December 31, 2004 to notify Congress of his intent to exercise this authority. The legislative history of this provision included examples of possible debts to be reduced or forgiven, such as the $9 million owed by the Guam Waterworks Authority to the U.S. Navy, $3 million owed by the Guam Community College to the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE), $105 million owed by the Guam Telephone Authority to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and $40 million for obligations of the Government of Guam to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Congresswoman Bordallo also included the CNMI in the final version of this provision, thereby allowing for CNMI debt to be forgiven under the same procedures and for the same reasons as established for reconciling Guam's unreimbursed Compact-impact costs.

Health Care Reimbursements
Authorizes specific appropriations to reimburse Guam Memorial Hospital and the Community Health Centers for costs related to services provided to citizens of the RMI, the FSM, and the Republic of Palau.

Availability of DoD Medical Facilities
Restores obligation of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to make U.S. Naval Hospital available to citizens of the RMI and the FSM. The new law authorizes this on a space available reimbursable basis with proper referral from the Government of Guam. The Administration proposed eliminating this obligation.

Compact-Impact Reporting Provision
Retains the ability of the Governor of Guam to submit to the Secretary of the Interior an annual report outlining Compact-impact to the territory. The Secretary, in turn, is required to report to Congress on how to remedy adverse effects of the Compacts.

"I commend the leadership of Chairman Richard Pombo and Ranking Member Nick Rahall for their successful efforts to address the most important issues that Members of the Committee on Resources had raised throughout this challenging process. I thank Governor Felix Camacho and Speaker Ben Pangelinan for their testimony in July on H.R. 2522, the Compact-Impact Reconciliation Act. I also wish to acknowledge the work that former Congressman Robert Underwood and former Congressman Ben Blaz had done since the Compacts were first signed in 1986 which laid a foundation for my efforts on Compact-impact issues," Bordallo said.

"Overall, I am pleased that my colleagues and I in Congress were successful at improving the Compact implementation package that was sent to Congress by the Administration. I think we have made real strides forward in addressing Compact-impact for Guam for the foreseeable future. I will be working with Governor Camacho as we continue our efforts to resolve the amounts of monies owed to Guam for un-reimbursed Compact-impact costs realized under the previous Compact. Next year will be challenging as we undertake the process of urging the President to grant Guam debt relief," Bordallo said.

###

Contact: Neil Weare in Washington, D.C., at (202) 225-1188 or Joaquin Perez in Guam at (671) 477-4272.