Date: 1984-09-14
Speaker: WON PAT (democrat)
Chamber: H

If the gentleman will yield. yes. they are. The amendments to the Senate have the support of all the representatives of the territories and we believe they will be acceptable to the other body. This will. we hope. conclude action on the 1984 omnibus territories bill as far as the House is concerned. On behalf of all of the Delegates representing the U.S. territories. I want to thank the Members of the House for their help and contributions to progress for the peoples of our island communities. I particularly want to thank my good friend. BOB IAGOMARSINO. who is always so helpful and constructive and with whom it is always a pleasure to work. Mr. Speaker. H.R. 5561 is a bill to fa.. cilitate. the economic development of the U.S. territories by providing necessary assistance for and removing unnecessary impediment% to growth. It received broad bipartisan support in the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. which has broad jurisdiction over matters affecting the territories. Further. upon passage of the House it had been amended to reflect concerns of the Committees on the Budget. Merchant Marine and Fisheries. and Ways and Means. Of course. the gentleman from California and I also worked closely with territorial leaders and consulted with the administration on this legislation. which is so central to the longstanding national policy goal of territorial development. In passing the bill just prior to the last recess. the Senate amended it in a number of respects. The most important of these changes dropped refinancing of the Guam Power Authoritys Federal debt. increased the fiscal year 1986 authorization for essential Guam water projects. included the Northern Mariana Islands and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and the Energy Extension Service Act. dropped the authorization for sewer collector system grants. and substituted provisions of the legislation to improve the judicial relationship between the United States and Guam. the Virgin Islands. and the Northern Mariana Islands for the more limited judicial provisions in our bill. We regarded the Senate additions to the bill as welcome. but the deletions as disappointing. In explaining their reasons for having the two provisions I noted dropped from the bill. our Senate counterparts indicated a willingness to reconsider them if certain changes were made. This led to informal discussions of compromises. They centered 6n reflecting the concerns of the Senate but preserving the most important aspects of the assistance the House had approved. Those discussions led to the amendments before the House. As I said. we believe that they are acceptable to Senate leaders on territorial issues. Thus. we expect that if the House makes the amendments I am proposing. the Senate will concur in final congressional approval this 1984 omnibus insular areas assistance bill. I must. in particular. express my appreciation to Senators WEICKER. JOHNSTON. McCLURL. and MATSUNAGA for the leadership that would make this possible. It is also our hope that the administration will approve the bill. as we- propose to amend it. Although they opposed many of the provisions in their initial form. we have worked closely with the Department of the Interior. the agency responsible for the territories. as well as other agencies on administration converns. The legislation I am asking the House to approve now has been amended substantially in a sincere effort to reach a reasonable compromise with the administration. The help that it would provide the territories in their efforts to expand economic activity is imperative and substantial. As the gentleman suggests. it also represents the most careful congressional consensus developed on any annual omnibus insular areas bill within memory. The gentleman knows that this would not have been possible without the sensitivity and diligence of the leaders of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. Chairman Monnis UDALL. and banking minority member. MANUAL LUJAN. Ja.. and other members such as SALA BURTON. Neither would it have been possible without the inspired.. good work of my fellow territorial representatives. Ron Ds Luoo. BALTASAR CORRADA. and FOFO SUNTA. Nor would it have been possible without the understanding and cooperation of leaders of other committees including the chairman of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. WALTER JONES. the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means. DAN RosTENKowsKI. the chairman of the Committee on Government Operations. JACK BROOKs:. the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary. PETER RODINO. and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration. Refugees. and International Law. RoMANo MAZZOLI. Let me now explain the changes our amendments propose to the bill as amended by the Senate. Our first amendment would restore refinancing of Gutam Power Authority as section 203. This may be the most controverslaland criticalelement of this bill. It is needed to prevent a financial collapse by a utility that has already defaulted on Federal and private obligations. This collapse might very well result in costs possibly greater than those involved in the refinancing. And the utility is relied upon by some of our most strategic Pacific military installations as well as the people and businesses of the territory. The language we now propose is the result of compromises between all concerned. Most important. I believe. is that it would accomplish our primary goal of enabling OPA to continue to operate. meeting its obligations with stable finances and reasonable rates. This is also the objective of Guams visionary Governor. Ricardo Bordallo. and responsible legislature majority. They have agreed with us to substantial concessions to obtain financing terms that give GPA a new fiscal lease on life. They recognize the wisdom of the independent ratemaking insisted on by my Senate counterpart. LOWELL WEICKER. who has been so helpful on this issue as he is with all territorial issues. They also recognize that the standby authority demanded by the Reagan administration to ensure that GPA adheres to refinancing stipulations must be accommodated. We propose to meet the Department of the Interior part way on this. We would agree to their basic point: that they be authorized to step In and provided management if. and only if. Guam violates the requirements of the refinancing. However. we do not intend to anthorize Interior to sell the utility if Gulam violates the requirements of the refinancing in this legislation. as they would like. This is not because we are opposed to private operation of the utility. Indeed. eventually that may make sense for this essential public service. Further. Congress would have to consider private operation if GPA is confronted with more overwhelming financial troubles as a result of noncompliance with the stipulations of this refinancing. We have not included the authority to sell the utility that the administration wants because that is a judgment Congress should make only in the event that it is necessary. Additionally. it is a measure that should be taken only with the opportunity for the people of Guam to debate the question and make their views known to Congress. Granting such authority before there is a necessity for such a drastic step would be excessive. It would not ensure the careful consideration that should be taken. Frankly. neither does it express the confidence in the GPA board and management that should be expressed. As Senator WEICKER has understood. GPAs financial problems have not been of their making. We think that this amendment gives them the chanceand independencethey need to get GPA back on its feet. This amendment also contains a new section 204 which would provide temporary authority for the Governors of the territories to allocate the authority to issue taxexempt mortgage subsidy bonds among governmental units. The Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 [Public Law 983691 extended until the end of 1987 the authority of State and local governments to issue mortgage subsidy bonds. It subjected such bonds issued by the territories to the same limitations that apply to such issuance in the case of each State and the District of Columbia. When limitations on the annual amount of mortgag( subsidy bonds that can be issued in each State were enacted in 1980. each Governor was given temporary authority to allocate the ceiling among issuing authorities. This section would give similar temporary authority to the Governors of the territories that have the authority to issue such bonds. Under the provision. the Governor may for calendar years 1984 and 1985 proclaim a formula. different from that provided by section 103A(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. for allocating the mortgage subsidy bond ceiling. This authority would not apply after the effective date of any allocation formula enacted by the territorial legislatureafter the date of enactment of this act. The changes we would make to title III are essentially minor in nature. But this title itself is of major significance to the Pacific territories. Title III would provide exemptions to vessel documentation and manning laws that have impeded the development of local fishing industries capable of tapping the tremendous ocean resources of the American Pacific islands. We are indebted to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries for their sensitivity in this area. These provisions are a product of compromises between our committees. The compromises are a noteworthy step in the rational adaptition of Pederal maritime laws to the unique circumstances of the Pacific territories. They are accompanied by a welcome willingness to examine other related Issues not addressed by this bill. At the same time that they enable Pacific island Americans to take advantage of the natural opportunity around them. they compromise no other domestic interests. A letter from Chairman JONES to Chairman UDALL. who has also been most understanding on this issue. explains better than could I the changes in sections 301 and 302 of the Senate amendment. It reads: