Date: 1981-09-28
Speaker: WON PAT (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I wonder if the President really understands how great a burden he Is asking many Americans to bear when he calls for an additional 12 percent In Federal spending cuts. While I cannot speak for residents of the 50 States. J can and must speak out on behalf of the thousands of Americans who live in the various U.S. territories. They are heavily dependent on Federal spending. If Congress approves the new spending reductions these people are going to suffer far greater than anyone yet realizes. It Is one thing to call for a general belt tightening to restore commonsense to our Federal budget. The people of Guam and other territories. like the people of the various States of the Union. support this concept in every way. It is another matter. however. to expect them to sit still while major programs they depend on for their livelihood are slashed to thle bone or killed outright when no alternatives are being proposed. The Reagan administration has been in office nowv for 9 months. It has not as yet formally nominated an Assistant Secretary of Interior -for Territorial and International Affairs. who Is responsible for Federal policy and programs for the territories. How much longer must we wait for them to tell us what their policy toward the territories is going to be? I am certainly not content to sit by and watch the Government slash programs that needy people depend oin for their living and in some cases for the food they eat. As the chairman of the Subcommlittee on Insular Affairs. I am deeply concerned about the impact of the last round of budget cuts on territorial Americans. Now. we see the Reagan administration calling for even greater cutsat a time when we still do not know the full Impact of the last round of reductions in spending. I have the distinct feeling that this administration Is becoming. singleminded. The only issue seems to be balancing the budgetregardless of how it affects the disadvantaged. the elderly people. the middleincome people and people In the territories. Speaker ONEILL told us that he will not stand by and see the budget balanced on the backs of the elderly or the poor. I agree. I will stand by him for the record in behalf of the territorial Americans. Let me assure my colleagues here today that I am not overstating the case. Americans in the territories are far more dependent on Federal spendingnot because they want to bebut because Federal law and Federal policies give us no choice. The Reagan administration has made a great deal about selfsufficiency. But all I have seen so far are proposals that would take away the livelihood for Americans in the territories and their means to become selfreliant. To make matters worse. residents of Guam and the Virgin Islands are being asked to bear the cost of the recent Federql tax cut. This will mean a loss of at least $35 million to Guam and the Virgin Islands In the next year. And this is on top of the other Federal program reductions. I believe that the people of this country want their Government to be responsible. They expect us to use their tax dollars wisely. But they do not expect to see valuable social programs slashed and killed while we spend billions in foreign aid for countries who are anything but our friends. If this administration is really serious about reducing needless spending there are better solutions to the fiscal problems of this country and it Is up to the Congress to find these solutions. I also hope that this Congress will take special notice of the Americans in the territories. We have a special commitment to these people and they are depending on us to see that this promise of support toward economic and constitutional developments Is not broken. Thank you.