Date: 1981-07-13
Speaker: WON PAT (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. before us today Is the annual omnibus insular areas bill. This bill. which is a very modest one because of budget constraints. provides a few needed authorizations and changes in current law for insular areas of American Samoa. Guam. the Northern Mariana Islands. the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. and the Virgin Islands. Important additional provisions were left out of this bill this year in order to assure Its acceptance by the Congress. Those provisions retained in the bill are either very low in monetary value or will cost nothing at all. Among the provisions are the followIng. For Guam. there Is first of all. provision to establish a process for recalling either the Lieutenant Governor or members of the legislature. Many of my constituents have requested that I provide such a method by amending the Guam Organic Act and I am hereby complying with their request. The Organic Act already provides for the recall of the Governor. hence that office Is not Included In this provision. Guams current capital improvements authorization runs out at the end of fiscal 1982. And since there is always a need for rehabilitating and constructing public facilities Impaired by age or damaged by typhoons. It Is necessary to Include In this bill an authorizatioli beginning with fiscal 1983. Eight million dollars for each of 4 fiscal years Is what we are seeking. For the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. which conmes under the Jurisdiction of my friend and colleague. JOHN~ SEIBERLING. we have added a provision that changes the October 1. 1982. date In current law (Public Law 96597) for the transfer of excess personal property in the Trust Territory from the U.S. Government to the governments of the Federated States of Micronesia. Palau. the Marshalls and the Northern Mariana Islands. The date would Become that date on which the trusteeship Is terminated. We are making this change because we understand there are a number of things that cannot be transferred before the termination of the trusteeship.. For the Virgin Islands. we are authorizing $8 million for each of 4 fiscal years to take care of the construction of water and power generation and distribution facilities In the Virgin Islands. The water and power situation In the Virgin Islands Is critical and in need of immediate attention. Water shortages and power outages are becoming a way of life In the Virgin Islands and it is our responsibility to help alleviate these problems. I am sure that all of you who have constituents who vacation in the Virgin Islands or who do business down there have heard complaints about the lack of water and power. The economic viability of the Virgin Islands Is dependent on an adequate water and power supply and we hope that this will help solve their dilemma. American Samoa has been experiencing a power generation crisis for sometime now. The government of American Samoa owns 10 generators. only 4 of which are operating. There are 6 units on loan from the Corps of Engineers. and only 4 of these are working. Their current total production Is at 15 megawatts. With American Samoas peak demand load at 12.9 megawatts. any further loss of generating capacity would seriously Incapacitate them. Furthermore. If an emergency situation were to to occur. they would need 100 percent over what their total operating capacity Is in order to cope with it and as you can see from the figures. they have only half of what they need. To help them to improve their power situation. the bill authorizes up to $15 million in federally guaranteed loans for the American Samoa Power Authority. Additionally. the bill changes current law (Public Law 96597) to provide that the Secretary of Interior. rather than the Secietary of Energy. should be responsible for developing the comprehensive energy plans on renewable sources of energy for each of the Insular areas. While the Department of Energy has been working on developing these plans. It was only able to come up with about $200.000 In funds which run out just about now. and there Is no money in their budget for either the rest of the year or for fiscal 1982. We believe that if the program Were switched to the Department of Interior. wdhich Is where the House wanted it to begin with. the Department might be able to better control the project and the pace of it could be picked up considerably. No department Is more conscious of the urgent need for finding alternative sources of energy for the insular areas than Interior. Another provision of H.R. 3659 stipulates that none of the governments of the Insular areas will be required to meet any matching requirements for capital improvement projects that anyone may propose. The impact of the budget cuts will be severe enough on these areas without adding any additional burdens. And lastly for American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. the bill authorizes $2 million a year for each of these governments for 4 fiscal years for capital Improvement projects. I tVrge my colleagues to support this measure designed to meet the most Immediate needs of the insular areas.