I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 154

To provide for the self-determined political, social, and economic development

of the insular areas, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. DE LUGO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To provide for the self-determined political, social, and economic development of the insular areas, 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 TITLE I—FINDINGS, PURPOSES,

4 POLICY

5 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

6 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Insular Areas Policy

7 Act’’.

8 SEC. 102. FINDINGS.

9 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the United States does not have a clearly

2 defined policy regarding the United States insular

3 areas: the territories of American Samoa, Guam,

4 and the Virgin Islands and the Commonwealths of

5 the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico;

6 (2) the Federal Government has often failed to

7 consider the implications for, effects on, and poten8 tial of the insular areas in the formulation and con9 duct of domestic and foreign policy to the detriment

10 of both the insular areas and the attainment of the

11 objectives of Federal policy;

12 (3) Federal policies and programs are often in13 appropriately applied to the insular areas and should

14 be adapted to the unique circumstances of these

15 areas;

16 (4) the Americans of the United States insular

17 areas lack power in the Federal decision-making

18 process;

19 (5) the needy in the United States insular areas

20 are inequitably treated in some Federal programs

21 and public services for the residents of the insular

22 areas often compare unfavorably with services en23 joyed by the residents of the several States, yet the

24 areas face substantial social problems;
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1 (6) the economic development of the insular

2 areas has not attained its full potential due to limi3 tations imposed by such factors as location, natural

4 resources, infrastructure, population, availability of

5 capital, and unintentionally imposed Federal con6 straints and, in some cases, is precariously based;

7 (7) the present Federal organizational arrange8 ments for making policy with regards to, liaison

9 with, providing assistance to, and administering pro10 grams in the insular areas are not adequate for—

11 (A) developing and implementing policies

12 with respect to insular areas, including adapt13 ing policies to the special requirements of each

14 area and modifying the application of Federal

15 programs, laws, and regulations accordingly;

16 (B) coordinating the delivery of Federal

17 programs in and assistance to these areas;

18 (C) fostering the social, economic, and po19 litical development of the insular areas; and

20 (D) being responsive to the Congress in

21 the discharge of its constitutional responsibil22 ities with regard to the insular areas; and

23 (8) the objectives of the trusteeship agreement

24 for the Territory of the Pacific Islands have not

25 been fulfilled.
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1 SEC. 103. PURPOSES.

2 The purposes of this Act are to—

3 (1) provide for the development and implemen4 tation of Federal policy regarding the insular areas

5 of or associated with the United States; and

6 (2) establish a Federal executive organization to

7 serve as a liaison between the executive branch and

8 the governments of the insular areas; coordinate

9 Federal actions in a manner which recognizes the

10 special needs in and of the insular areas, provide the

11 assistance necessary in the insular areas to achieve

12 the objectives of Federal policy and foster the social,

13 economic, and political development of the areas;

14 and ensure that the Congress receives the informa15 tion necessary to discharge its constitutional respon16 sibilities regarding the insular areas.

17 SEC. 104. POLICY.

18 Pursuant to its authority and responsibility under the

19 Constitution regarding the insular areas, the Congress

20 states that it is the policy of the Federal Government to

21 promote, to the fullest extent possible, the self-determined

22 political, social, and economic development of the insular

23 areas, consistent with local cultural values and the status

24 of the areas, to the levels enjoyed by the several States

25 and to recognize the areas’ unique character in the exten26 sion of Federal laws, programs, and regulations.
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1 TITLE II—COUNCIL ON INSULAR

2 AFFAIRS

3 SEC. 201. COUNCIL.

4 (a) There is hereby established a Council on Insular

5 Affairs composed of (1) an official designated by the heads

6 of all executive departments and agencies, the Director of

7 the Office of Management and Budget, and the United

8 States Trade Representative; and (2) the President’s prin9 cipal assistants for National Security Affairs and Domes10 tic Policy, who shall serve as co-chairmen.

11 (b) The Council shall meet at such times as either

12 of the co-chairmen may request, but not less often than

13 once a year, to oversee the development and implementa14 tion of the policy set forth in title I of this Act, its coordi15 nation with other aspects of the foreign and domestic pol16 icy of the United States, make such recommendations to

17 the President, executive departments and agencies, or the

18 Congress as may be necessary for these purposes, and con19 sider the annual report to the Congress required by section

20 205 of this Act.

21 SEC. 202. STAFF.

22 (a)(1) The Council shall be assisted by a staff located

23 within the Executive Office of the President, which shall

24 advise the President and the Council on the development

25 and implementation of the policy set forth in title I of this
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1 Act and its coordination with other aspects of the domestic

2 and foreign policy of the United States; serve as a liaison

3 between the governments of the insular areas and the ex4 ecutive branch; coordinate Federal actions in a manner

5 which recognizes the special needs in and of the insular

6 areas and, provide the assistance necessary to achieve the

7 objectives of Federal policy; and ensure that the Congress

8 receives the information necessary to discharge its respon9 sibilities regarding the insular areas.

10 (2) The location of the Council’s staff in the Execu11 tive Office of the President shall not be construed as af12 fecting access by the Congress or committees of either

13 House to information, documents, and studies in the pos14 session of, conducted by, or at the direction of personnel

15 involved in carrying out the provisions of this Act.

16 (b) The staff shall be headed by a Director who shall

17 be a person who is familiar with and sensitive to the politi18 cal, social, cultural and economic needs and aspirations

19 of the insular areas. The Director shall be appointed by

20 the President to serve at his pleasure and shall be com21 pensated at the rate now or hereafter provided for Level

22 III of the Executive Schedule by section 5314 of title 5,

23 United States Code.

24 (c) The Director shall be assisted by two Assistant

25 Directors, one of whom shall assist the Director with re-
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1 gard to matters affecting Puerto Rico and the other of

2 whom shall assist the Director with regard to matters af3 fecting American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Is4 lands, the Territory of the Pacific Islands, and the Virgin

5 Islands. The Assistant Directors shall be appointed by and

6 serve at the pleasure of the President upon the rec7 ommendation of the Director and shall be compensated

8 at the rate now or hereafter provided for Level IV of the

9 Executive Schedule by section 5315 of title 5, United

10 States Code.

11 (d) The Director shall also be assisted, in administer12 ing the responsibilities of the Council, by a Deputy Direc13 tor and, in reviewing the applicability of laws, rules, regu14 lations, and proposals to the insular areas, by a Counsel.

15 The Deputy Director and the Counsel shall be appointed

16 by and serve at the pleasure of the President upon the

17 recommendation of the Director and shall be compensated

18 at the rate now or hereafter provided for Level V of the

19 Executive Schedule by section 5316 of title 5, United

20 States Code.

21 (e) The total employment of the Council shall include

22 not more than 25 persons in addition to the persons serv23 ing pursuant to subsections (b), (c), and (d).
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1 SEC. 203. AUTHORITY.

2 The Council, directly or through its Director, shall

3 exercise on behalf of the President—

4 (1) the responsibilities of the Assistant Sec5 retary of the Interior, Territorial and International

6 Affairs under Orders of the Secretary of the Interior

7 3046 (February 14, 1980) and 3142 (October 15,

8 1990), and all statutory or other authority for ad9 ministration of insular affairs, except that the Sec10 retary of the Interior shall, subject to policy guid11 ance provided by the Council, continue to be respon12 sible for the administration of grants to territorial

13 governments through the Office of Insular Assist14 ance established pursuant to section 208 of this Act

15 and the audit responsibility regarding Federal funds

16 transferred to the Office of the Inspector General,

17 Department of the Interior pursuant to Public Law

18 97–357 (96 Stat. 1705) shall continue to be exer19 cised by the Inspector General; except that, if the

20 President deems it advisable, the audit responsibility

21 of the Inspector General regarding insular receipts

22 and expenditures shall be further transferred to

23 auditors in the insular areas if the Director deter24 mines that the insular government concerned has es25 tablished an independent and adequately funded

26 local audit capability;
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1 (2) the responsibility for American Samoa pres2 ently exercised by the Secretary of the Interior pur3 suant to Executive Order No. 10264 of June 29,

4 1951;

5 (3) the responsibility for Guam presently exer6 cised by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to

7 the Organic Act of Guam, as amended (64 Stat.

8 384);

9 (4) the responsibility for the Northern Mariana

10 Islands presently exercised by the Secretary of the

11 Interior pursuant to Executive Order No. 12572 of

12 November 3, 1986;

13 (5) the responsibility for Puerto Rico assigned

14 to the Office of the President pursuant to the

15 Memorandum of the President concerning the Com16 monwealth of Puerto Rico of November 30, 1992;

17 (6) the responsibility for the Territory of the

18 Pacific Islands presently exercised by the Secretary

19 of the Interior pursuant to Executive Order 11021

20 of May 8, 1962; and

21 (7) the responsibility for the Virgin Islands

22 presently exercised by the Secretary of the Interior

23 pursuant to the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin

24 Islands, as amended (69 Stat. 497).
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1 SEC. 204. RESPONSIBILITIES.

2 The Director shall have the responsibility to—

3 (1) provide the Congress, the President, the

4 Council, and Federal agencies with such information

5 and advice as may be necessary to structure Federal

6 programs, laws, or regulations affecting any of the

7 insular areas to the political, social, cultural, and

8 economic conditions of such areas so as to further

9 the objectives of such programs, laws, or regulations

10 and the policy set forth in title I of this Act and to

11 prevent or reduce any adverse effect upon such area;

12 (2) inform the local governments of the insular

13 areas of Federal actions which would affect such

14 area and solicit the comments and recommendations

15 of such local governments and provide those com16 ments and recommendations together with his analy17 sis and advice to the head of the department or

18 agency proposing such action or the Council or the

19 President, as may be appropriate;

20 (3) in consultation with the local governments

21 of the insular areas, prepare such information and

22 justification as may be necessary to—

23 (A) assist the President in the preparation

24 of his program, including the annual submission

25 on the budget concerning the allocation of
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1 funds to and among the various agencies with

2 responsibilities in any of the insular areas;

3 (B) advise agencies on the appropriateness

4 of activities by such agencies in or concerning

5 the insular areas; and

6 (C) propose and support recommendations

7 for such extensions of, exemptions from, and

8 modifications to such laws, rules and regula9 tions as may facilitate the political, social, and

10 economic development of each insular area, con11 sistent with the policy set forth in title I of this

12 Act;

13 (4) coordinate the provision of such technical

14 and other assistance and advice as the local govern15 ments of the insular areas may require; and

16 (5) perform such specific activities as may be

17 authorized in the insular areas and such other ac18 tivities as may be necessary to carry out responsibil19 ities of the Council.

20 SEC. 205. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

21 (a) The Council shall transmit a report on the state

22 of the insular areas to the Committee on Natural Re23 sources of the House of Representatives and the Commit24 tee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate not

25 later than February 15 of each year. The report shall indi-
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1 cate the social, economic, and political conditions of the

2 insular areas through the preceding fiscal year. The report

3 shall detail changes in those conditions which occurred

4 during the fiscal year as well as foreseeable future develop5 ments and recommended actions to address those condi6 tions and developments.

7 (b) Matters on which the report shall provide infor8 mation for each insular area shall include, but not be

9 limited to—

10 (1) the insular area’s Federal relationship;

11 (2) the applicability or inapplicability of Federal

12 statutory and administrative actions and their im13 pacts;

14 (3) the effectiveness and delivery of Federal

15 programs;

16 (4) differences between the treatment of the in17 sular areas and their citizens under any Federal pol18 icy or program relative to the treatment of the

19 States and their citizens;

20 (5) the activities and accomplishments of agen21 cies pertaining to the insular areas;

22 (6) the adequacy of essential public infrastruc23 ture;

24 (7) general economic conditions;
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1 (8) private sector activities and development

2 and investment potential;

3 (9) existing employment and job opportunities

4 and training;

5 (10) the fiscal positions of the insular areas;

6 (11) Federal fiscal and economic policies as

7 they impact the insular areas;

8 (12) amounts and uses of Federal direct and

9 indirect assistance;

10 (13) the capability of the local governments to

11 administer and manage various programs and meet

12 needs and the efforts of Federal agencies to improve

13 that capability;

14 (14) international obligations or undertakings

15 regarding the insular areas; and

16 (15) compliance with legislative mandates.

17 (c) The report shall clearly state the program of the

18 President with regard to the matters specified in sub19 section (b) together with such specific proposals to accom20 plish the program as the Council deems appropriate.

21 (d) To facilitate the preparation of the report—

22 (1) each Federal agency with programs operat23 ing in or affecting the insular areas shall report to

24 the Director on such activities not later than No25 vember 15 of each year; and
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1 (2) the Director shall submit a draft of the re2 port, developed after full consultation with the gov3 ernments of the insular areas, to the Council for re4 view not later than January 15 of each year.

5 SEC. 206. USE OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.

6 To the maximum extent practicable, the Director

7 shall use the personnel and services of other Federal agen8 cies in carrying out the responsibilities transferred to the

9 Council by this title and such responsibilities as may be

10 assigned to him. The head of each Federal agency is di11 rected to cooperate with the Director and to make such

12 personnel and services available as the Director may

13 request.

14 SEC. 207. DELEGATION.

15 The Council may from time to time make such provi16 sions as it deems appropriate authorizing the performance

17 of any of the functions transferred to it by the provisions

18 of this title by any of its staff, or, with the concurrence

19 of the head of any executive branch department or agency,

20 may assign specific functions to such department or agen21 cy subject to the supervision of the Director. The Director

22 shall notify the Committee on Natural Resources of the

23 House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy

24 and Natural Resources of the Senate not less than 60 days

25 prior to an assignment of responsibility to another depart-
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1 ment or agency. Such notice shall indicate the reasons for

2 such assignment, the scope of such assignment, the dura3 tion of the assignment, the concurrence of the head of the

4 department or agency to which the function is assigned

5 in the assignment, and the continued supervision and re6 sponsibility of the Director.

7 SEC. 208. OFFICE OF INSULAR ASSISTANCE.

8 (a) The Office of Territorial and International Affairs

9 established pursuant to the Order of the Secretary of the

10 Interior 3046 is hereby abolished.

11 (b)(1) There is hereby established an Office of Insu12 lar Assistance within the Department of the Interior under

13 the direct supervision of the Deputy Secretary of the

14 Interior.

15 (2) The Office shall assume the responsibilities of the

16 Office of Territorial and International Affairs regarding

17 the administration of grants to territorial governments.

18 SEC. 209. TRANSFERS.

19 (a) The personnel employed in connection with, and

20 the assets, liabilities, contracts, property, facilities,

21 records, and unexpended balance of appropriations, and

22 other funds employed, held, used, arising from, available

23 to, or to be made available in connection with the func24 tions and offices, or portions thereof, referenced in by this

25 title, including all senior executive service positions, shall
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1 be transferred to the Council for appropriate allocation by

2 the Director in accordance with any applicable laws and

3 regulations relating to transfer of functions. Unexpended

4 funds transferred pursuant to this section shall be used

5 only for the purposes for which the funds were originally

6 authorized and appropriated, except that such funds may

7 be used for the expenses associated with the transfer pur8 suant to this title.

9 (b) In order to facilitate the transfers effected by this

10 title, the Director of the Office of Management and Budg11 et, in consultation with the Director and the Committee

12 on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and

13 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the

14 Senate, is authorized and directed to make such deter15 minations as may be necessary with regard to functions,

16 offices, or portions thereof, dispositions of personnel, as17 sets, liabilities, grants, contracts, property, records, and

18 unexpended balances of appropriations, authorizations,

19 apportionments, allocations, and other funds held, used,

20 arising from, available to, or to be made available in con21 nection with such functions, offices, or portions thereof,

22 as may be necessary to resolve disputes between the Direc23 tor and the heads of the department or agency from which

24 the transfer was made which may arise in connection with

25 the transfers. This section does not vest in the Director
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1 of the Office of Management and Budget any of the func2 tions, power of duties of the Council or its Director or

3 the department or agency. The authority and direction

4 given by this section to the Director of the Office of

5 Management and Budget shall terminate 60 days after

6 enactment.

7 SEC. 210. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

9 as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

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