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PACIFIC ISLANDS DISASTER RELIE?

[No. 87-221

HEARING

BEFORE THE

'LI COMMITTEE ON FLOOD CONTROL

rn

OF THE

MITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS

USE OF REPRESENTATIVES

< EIGHTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

S. 1742, H.R. 7269, and related bills

TO AUTHORIZE FEDERAL ASSISTANCE TO GUAM, AMERICAN

SAMOA, AND THE TRUST TERRITORY OF THE

PACIFIC ISLANDS IN MAJOR DISASTERS

MAY 9, 1962

Printed for the use of the Committee on Public Works

•

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

55701 WASHINGTON : 1962
COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS

CHARLES A.

GEORGE H. FALLON, Maryland

CLIFFORD DAVIS, Tennessee

JOHN A. BLATNIK, Minnesota

ROBERT E. JONES, Alabama

FRANK E. SMITH, Mississippi

JOHN C. KLUCZYNSKI, Illinois

T. A. THOMPSON, Louisiana

IRIS FAIRCLOTH BLITCH, Georgia

JIM WRIGHT, Texas

W. R. HULL, JR., Missouri

KENNETH J. GRAY, Illinois

FRANK M. CLARK, Pennsylvania

ED EDMONDSON, Oklahoma

JOHN J. McFALL, California

GRACIE PFOST, Idaho

JOHN YOUNG, Texas

FRANK W. BURKE, Kentucky

HAROLD T. JOHNSON, California

ROBERT E. COOK, Ohio

BUCKLEY, New York, Chairman

JAMES C. AUCHINCLOSS, New Jersey

GORDON H. SCHERER, Ohio

WILLIAM C. CRAMER, Florida

JOHN F. BALDWIN, JR., California

FRED SCHWENGEL, Iowa

EDWIN B. DOOLEY, New York

HOWARD W. ROBISON, New York

PERKWS BASS, New Hampshire

WALTER L. McVEY, Kansas

CARLETON J. KING, New York

WILLIAM H. HARSHA, JR., Ohio

JAMES HARVEY, Michigan

JOHN C. KUNKEL, Pennsylvania

LOUISE G. REECE, Tennessee

MARGARET R. BEITER, Chief Clerk

RICHARD J. SULLIVAN, Chief Counsel

JOSEPH R. BRENN AN , Engineer-Consultant

CLIFTON W. ENFIELD, Minority Counsel

SUBCOMMITTEE ON FLOOD CONTROL

CLIFFORD DAVIS, Tennessee, Chairman

FRANK E. SMITH, Mississippi

ROBERT E. JONES, Alabama

T. A. TIIOMPSON, Louisiana

JIM WRIGHT, Texas

W. R. HULL, JR., Missouri

KENNETH J. GRAY, Illinois

FRANK M. CLARK, Pennsylvania

GRACIE PFOST, Idaho

HAROLD T. JOHNSON, California

JOHN F. BALDWIN, JR., California

FRED SCHWENGEL, Iowa

HOWARD W. ROBISON, New York

CARLETON J. KING, New York

WILLIAM H. HARSHA, JR., Ohio

JOHN C. KUNKEL, Pennsylvania

LOUISE G. REECE, Tennessee

(
CONTENTS

Page

H.R. 7269 1

Statement of—

Aspinall, Hon. Wayne N., a Representative in Congress from the State

of Colorado 5

Taitano, Richard F., Director, Office of Territories. Department of

the Interior 1

in

PACIFIC ISLANDS DISASTER RELIEF

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 1962

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON FLOOD CONTROL,

Washington, D. C.

The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., in room 1302, New House Office

Building, Hon. Clifford Davis (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Mr. DAVIS. The committee will be in order.

We will take up H.R. 7269, by Mr. Buckley, chairman of the House

Committee on Public Works, and a similar bill, S. 1742, by Mr. Jackson, a U.S. Senator from the State of Washington.

(H.R. 7269 follows:)

[H.R. 7269, 87th Cong., 1st sess.1

A BILL To authorize Federal assistance to Guam, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory of the

Pacific Islands in major disasters

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of

America in Congress assembled, That subsections (b) and (c) of section 2 of the

Act entitled "An Act to authorize Federal assistance to States and local governments in major disasters, and for other purposes," approved September 30, 1950

(64 Stat. 1109), as amended, are amended to read as follows:

"(b) 'United States' includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin

Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

"(c) 'State' means any State in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin

Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands."

SEC. 2. Section 3 of the said Act is amended by inserting in clause (d), after

the words "replacements of public facilities of" the words "States and".

(Identical bills were introduced: H.R. 7641 by Mr. Aspinall,

H.R. 7642 by Mr. O'Brien of New York, H.R. 7643 by Mr. Saylor,

H.R. 7644 by Mr. Westland, and H.R. 7645 by Mr. Kyl.)

Mr. DAVIS. Now we will ask Mr. Taitano, Director of the Office

of Territories of the Department of Interior, to speak on this.

This has been introduced by department request by the chairman

of the Public Works Committee. It is H.R. 7269. This is to include

Guam, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific

Islands under the Federal Disaster Relief Act.

Have a seat, please, sir.

STATEMENT OF RICHARD F. TAITANO, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF

TERRITORIES, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. TAITANO. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. DAVIS. This was requested by the Department of the Interior.

This bill, introduced by Senator Jackson, carrying the number

S. 1742, was passed last August 21 by the Senate.

1
2 PACIFIC ISLANDS DISASTER RELIEF

Now, then, it has passed the Senate already, and Interior has been

insisting on its passage by the House.

Will you please make a short statement as to the reason for the

Interior Department desiring this bill?

Mr. TAITANO. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

I have a written statement but, as you ask, I will just make a very

short verbal statement.

(The statement of Mr. Taitano follows:)

STATEMENT OF RICHARD F. TAITANO, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF TERRITORIES, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, AT A HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC

WORKS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, IN CONNECTION WITH H.R. 7641

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to be able to appear here today to testify with

respect to H.R. 7641, which, if enacted, would extend the provisions of the National Disaster Relief Act to the territories of Guam and American Samoa and to

the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

S. 1742, which, as it has been noted, has been passed by the Senate, and is

identical to H.R. 7641, was initiated by the Department of the Interior on the

basis of the existing need for Federal disaster relief in all of the territories of the

United States and in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The legislation,

which we now seek to amend, extended Federal disaster relief to the several

States, Hawaii, Alaska, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Whatever reason

may have existed originally for excluding Guam and American Samoa is in my

opinion no longer valid, assuming for the moment that validity ever existed.

Additionally, in the 12 years since the enactment of the original legislation, our

responsibility in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands has increased and been

clarified to the extent that Federal disaster relief there is both justified and badly

needed. I therefore respectfully ask favorable consideration of this bill by the

committee.

We are seeking the extension of Federal disaster relief to the named areas not

because we think there may someday be a disaster and we want to be prepared,

but rather because in the past few years there have been natural disasters and

because Federal disaster relief has been needed and has not been immediately

available. As has been pointed out, relief has been furnished through direct

appropriations for the relief of the specific area damaged, but this relief is necessarily delayed by the legislative processes which are a part of relief in such form.

We know that there have been serious disasters in all three of the named areas,

and we know also that the odds are overwhelmingly in favor of further similar

disasters. Just as the Caribbean is the spawning ground for the devastating

hurricanes that plague the Gulf States and the east coast of the United States

each year, an area of the Pacific in the heart of the trust territory is the spawning

ground of the typhoons which so frequently wreck havoc among the Pacific

islands as they move toward Japan. Guam and areas of the trust territory have

been hit before and will almost unquestionably be hit again. When it happens,

as we are sure it will, we hope to see Federal disaster relief immediately available

to the people of the stricken areas.

From data contained in our files, and on the basis of recent inquiries, the

following information is submitted which we believe is indicative of the probability

of future natural disasters. During each of the calendar years 1960 and 1961,

14 storms were generated in the Micronesia-Guam area. These storms produced

winds of varying velocities as follows:

1960: Knots 1961: Knots

1 storm 175 2 storms 190

Do 150 1 storm 145

2 storms 135 Do 135

Do 120 2 storms 120

Do 115 3 storms 80

Do 105 1 storm 75

1 storm 80 Do 70

2 storms 75 3 storms 65

1 storm 70
PACIFIC ISLANDS DISASTER RELIEF 3

Since a measurement in knots represents a velocity greater than an equal

number of miles per hour (a knot equals 6080.2 feet per hour), the potential danger

and destructive force in storms of this nature can well be imagined. Fortunately,

populated areas in the trust territory, and the territory of Guam, have not been

struck frequently. However, areas of the trust territory sustained relatively

serious damage from Typhoon Lola in 1957, with such damage estimated at

$284,552, and Typhoon Ophelia in 1958. After the latter, which followed closely

after Lola, the government of the trust territory estimated that $1,425,000

would be required for replacement and rehabilitation. In 1960, another typhoon,

also designated Ophelia, struck in the trust territory, and in 1961 a further storm

did approximately $10,000 damage to two populated islands. During the past

6 years 63 typhoons have been officially recorded as having originated or having

passed through the trust territory. During that same period 20 tropical storms,

not of typhoon intensity, occurred in the area.

Guam, which is immediately adjacent to the trust territory and potentially

subject to the foregoing storms, has reported six damage-inflicting typhoons

which passed over or close to Guam, one each in 1949, 1953, 1954, and 1957, and

two in 1961. Typhoon Lola, in 1957, inflicted damages to civilian, local government, and military property in Guam estimated at over $5 million.

American Samoa reported hurricane damage in 1959 totaling approximately

$110,000 and hurricane damage in 1961 of approximately $84,000. In addition,

American Samoa reported one instance of tidal wave damage in 1960 of approximately $15,000.

As noted previously, aid has been given in most instances by various Federal

agencies and the military, to the extent that they were able to do so, and the

Congress through direct appropriation, and for this we and the people of the

territories are thankful, but even so we believe it is most desirable to put disaster

relief in Guam, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

on the same basis as the States, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, and therefore

we urge the enactment of the legislation now before the committee.

Thank you.

Mr. DAVIS. All right, sir.

Mr. TAITANO. The Department of Interior, as you know, has the

Office of Territories which has jurisdiction of offshore territories of

the United States.

This includes, in the Caribbean, the Virgin Islands, and in the

Pacific we have American Samoa, we have Guam, and we have the

trust territories.

Now, the present law covers the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico,

and the District of Columbia, but it does not include in its coverage

our Pacific islands namely, Samoa and Guam and the trust territories.

What we are asking here is to extend the coverage of the law to

these islands so that whenever we have a disaster we can immediately

move in and help the people and the governments there.

In my statement on page 2, there is a record for the last 2 calendar

years of storms which have originated out in the area, the trust area.

This is the so-called Micronesia-Guam area.

For each year we had a total of 14 typhoons in this area, and we

call them "typhoons" rather than "hurricanes," and, as you can see

from the tabulation, most of the typhoons are up in the velocities of

over 100 knots.

This is during those years. So that, fortunately, however, we have

not been having every storm hit the islands which are populated, but

when they do hit the islands they do great damage.

In Guam alone, in 1957, the damage from one typhoon was about $5

million. In the trust territory we have had over $280,000 in damage.

In 1958 the typhoon damage in the trust territories was over $1

million.

Now, these figures, of course, are very conservative and primarily

relate to public facilities.
4 PACIFIC ISLANDS DISASTER REIAIEF

That summarizes it.

Mr. DAVIS. In other words, under the existing law, the Relief

Disaster Act, our Government can go in and give relief under that

act in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico 

Mr. TAITANO. That is correct.

Mr. DAVIS (continuing). But you do not have the authority to

extend the disaster relief to Guam, American Samoa, and the trust

territories?

Mr. TAITANO. That is correct, sir.

Mr. DAVIS. And you have shown that they have had a great

number of typhoons with substantial damage, and you want to be

enabled to go in and extend disaster relief, as you have under the

existing law to these other 

Mr. TAITANO. Yes, sir. That is right, sir.

Mr. DAVIS. Any questions?

Mr. BALDWIN. I have a question, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Taitano, as I understand it—because I remember at the time

that it was applicable in my area, when we had a serious flood a few

years ago—this Diseaster Relief Act would mean that if any public

building or public road was damaged the Federal Government will

come in and provide certain matching funds for the rebuilding of

that road or building it back to its former level.

It would not apply to any damage to any private property.

Is that correct?

Mr. TAITANO. As I understand it, sir, at the present time the law

authorizes "with or without compensation." I do not know that it

provides for any matching formula.

It does provide that the Federal agencies after the President has

directed that this is a disaster area, the Federal agencies may lend

personnel, materials, equipment, and other facilities with or without

compensation, depending, I understand, on these titles of the agencies

involved, as to how much materials they have and how much money

do they they have at the time.

Mr. BALDWIN. Yes; but it is to be lent for the purposes of restoring

the public facilities and not private property?

Mr. TAITANO. The law, I understand, sir, authorizes private help

to this extent, that, for instance, if the Department of Agriculture has

food or the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare has

medicine, they can provide that for distribution directly or through

the American Red Cross, as I understand it.

Mr. BALDWIN. They can also provide loans to business firms if

the business firms suffer damages, loans from the Small Business

Administration, but basically what I am driving at is there would be

no gifts of funds to private individuals who lost a house or something

like that 

Mr. TAITANO. No, sir.

Mr. BALDWIN (continuing). Under the terms of the act?

Mr. TAITANO. No, sir; not money. I understand that not money

except loans from the Small Business Administration, which can

declare an area a disaster area and lend money, but not give it.

Mr. BALDWIN. Right.

Mr. DAVIS. I think you have cleared it up for the record, Mr.

Baldwin.

Are there any other questions?
PACIFIC ISLANDS DISASTER RELIEF 5

Thank you very, very much for coming up today.

Mr. TAITANO. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. DAVIS. Thank you, sir.

(The following was furnished for insertion:)

STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE WAYNE N. ASPINALL, CHAIRMAN, INTERIOR

AND INSULAR AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, ON H.R. 7641 AND RELATED BILLS BEFORE

THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS ON MAY 9, 1962

Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to be present today to endorse the legislation

now before the Committee on Public Works on my own behalf and on behalf of

the members of my committee who have introduced identical or very similar

legislation, including Congressman O'Brien, chairman of the Subcommittee on

Territorial and Insular Affairs, and Congressmen Saylor, Westland, and Kyl.

As you are aware, S. 1742, which is identical to H.R. 7641, has already passed

the Senate. It is my sincere hope that H.R. 7641 or its Senate counterpart will

receive favorable consideration by this committee and will soon be acted on

affirmatively by the House of Representatives in order that the extension of

disaster relief to the specified territories of the United States and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands proposed in the legislation can become a reality.

Since the United States has accepted the responsibility for the welfare of the

Pacific territories of Guam and American Samoa, and under the existing trusteeship agreement with the United Nations has assumed similar responsibilities with

respect to the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, it seems logical that we should

extend to them the protection and assistance already available to the several

States and to the Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico through

the National Disaster Relief Act. As a practical matter, extention of the National

Disaster Relief Act to Guam, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory of the

Pacific Islands will represent an offer of real assistance to areas which, more than

many other areas already covered, need that assistance in view of their remoteness,

the general inability of the local governments to cope with serious natural disasters,

either financially or with respect to available material and supplies, and the probability of such serious natural disasters in the form of hurricanes, typhoons, or

tidal waves.

I would also bring to the attention of committee members the fact that this

proposed legislation does not involve the prospects of additional expenditures

since the Congress heretofore has generally seen fit, and rightfully so, to provide

assistance to these territories in the case of past disasters. The legislation before

you today would merely facilitate making such assistance immediately available

to a stricken island or community. While admittedly any assistance is better

than none at all, timely assistance is by far the most useful and is, I believe, a

very real part of our responsibility to the inhabitants of the Pacific islands.

I understand that Mr. Richard F. Taitano, Director of the Office of Territories,

is present today and will testify on this bill and I will therefore not comment

with respect to past disasters in the areas proposed for inclusion in the National

Disaster Relief Act or the probability of future disasters.

I introduced H.R. 7641 because I believed that there existed a real need for

such legislation and because I believed that meeting that need is a responsibility

of the Congress which must be discharged. I therefore urge that my colleagues

on this committee report favorably on this legislation.

(Whereupon, at 10:45 p.m., the committee proceeded into executive

session.)

.