I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 854 

To amend the Compact of Free Association of 1985 to provide for adequate 

Compact-impact aid to affected States and territories, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2015 

Mr. TAKAI (for himself, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. GABBARD, and Ms. BORDALLO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Compact of Free Association of 1985 to provide for adequate Compact-impact aid to affected States 

and territories, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Compact-Impact Aid 

5 Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) In approving the Compact of Free Associa2 tion it was not the intent of Congress to cause ad3 verse consequences for States, territories, and other 

4 jurisdictions of the United States. 

5 (2) Congress declared that if any adverse con6 sequences to States, territories, and other jurisdic7 tions of the United States resulted from implementa8 tion of the Compact of Free Association, Congress 

9 would act sympathetically and expeditiously to re10 dress those adverse consequences. 

11 (3) The Government Accountability Office has 

12 reported that migration from the Freely Associated 

13 States has had a significant impact on Guam, the 

14 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 

15 and the State of Hawaii and some areas of the con16 tinental United States. 

17 (4) By placing demands on local governments 

18 for health, educational, and other social services, mi19 gration under the Compact has adversely affected 

20 the budgetary resources of several States and terri21 tories. 

22 (5) Insufficient sums have been appropriated to 

23 cover the costs incurred by Guam, the Common24 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the 

25 State of Hawaii, resulting from increased demands 


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1 placed on health, educational, and other social serv2 ices by individuals from the Federated States of Mi3 cronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and 

4 the Republic of Palau. 

5 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to ad6 dress the unfunded mandate and adverse financial con7 sequences resulting from the Compact by meeting the obli8 gations set forth in the Compact. 

9 SEC. 3. ENSURING MANDATORY APPROPRIATIONS AND 

10 HEALTH SERVICES REIMBURSEMENT AS 

11 PART OF COMPACT-IMPACT AID. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 104(e)(6) of the Compact 

13 of Free Association Act of 1985 (48 U.S.C. 1904(e)(6)) 

14 is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(6) IMPACT COSTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION AND CONTINUING

17 APPROPRIATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby 

19 authorized and appropriated to the Sec20 retary of the Interior, for fiscal year 2015, 

21 $185,000,000 with subsequent increases as 

22 needed to address significant increases in 

23 migration for grants to any local govern24 ment of the United States that dem25 onstrates financial strain due to demands 


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1 on public services by significant immigra2 tion of individuals from the Federated 

3 States of Micronesia, the Republic of the 

4 Marshall Islands, and the Republic of 

5 Palau, and to aid in defraying costs in6 curred by their governments as a result of 

7 increased demands placed on health, edu8 cational, social, or public safety services, or 

9 infrastructure related to such services due 

10 to the residence of qualified non11 immigrants. 

12 ‘‘(ii) AWARDING.—The grants under 

13 clause (i) shall be— 

14 ‘‘(I) awarded and administered 

15 by the Department of the Interior, Of16 fice of Insular Affairs, or any suc17 cessor thereto, in accordance with reg18 ulations, policies and procedures ap19 plicable to grants so awarded and ad20 ministered; and 

21 ‘‘(II) used only for health, edu22 cational, social, or public safety serv23 ices, or infrastructure related to such 

24 services, specially affected by qualified 

25 nonimmigrants. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) ENUMERATION.—For purposes 

2 of carrying out this subparagraph, the Sec3 retary of the Interior shall provide for peri4 odic enumerations of qualified non5 immigrants in the States and territories of 

6 the United States. The enumerations— 

7 ‘‘(I) shall be conducted at such 

8 intervals as the Secretary of the Inte9 rior shall determine; and 

10 ‘‘(II) shall be supervised by the 

11 United States Bureau of the Census 

12 or any other organization that the 

13 Secretary of the Interior selects. 

14 ‘‘(iv) ALLOCATION.—The Secretary of 

15 the Interior shall allocate to each of the 

16 governments of qualified affected areas, 

17 grants under clause (i) for a fiscal year on 

18 the basis of the ratio of the number of 

19 qualified immigrants (as most recently 

20 enumerated under clause (iii)) in the re21 spective jurisdiction to the total of such 

22 numbers for all the jurisdictions. 

23 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN HEALTH

24 CARE IMPACT COSTS.—Notwithstanding any 

25 other provision of law, for purposes of providing 


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1 medical assistance for qualified nonimmigrants 

2 under title XIX of the Social Security Act in 

3 the case of a State or territory referred to in 

4 subparagraph (A)(i)— 

5 ‘‘(i) such individuals shall be treated 

6 in the same manner as an individual de7 scribed in section 402(a)(2)(G) of Public 

8 Law 104–193, as amended; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the Federal medical assistance 

10 percentage shall be the same percentage as 

11 is applied to medical assistance for services 

12 which are received through an Indian 

13 Health Service Facility; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) payments under such title for 

15 medical assistance for such individuals 

16 shall not be taken into account in applying 

17 any limitations under section 1108 of the 

18 Social Security Act. 

19 ‘‘(C) QUALIFIED NONIMMIGRANT DE20 FINED.—In this paragraph, term ‘qualified non21 immigrant’ means a person admitted to the 

22 United States pursuant to— 

23 ‘‘(i) section 141 of the Compact of 

24 Free Association set forth in title II; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) section 141 of the Compact of 

2 Free Association between the United 

3 States and the Government of Palau.’’. 

4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 104(e)(6)(B) of the 

5 Compact of Free Association Act of 1985, as amended by 

6 subsection (a), shall apply to medical assistance for items 

7 and services furnished during or after fiscal year 2015. 

Æ 


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