On the recordFebruary 16, 2011
I will not be offering my amendment No. 487 in the Congressional Record. It would restore funding to the Assistance to Territories Account under U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs to fiscal year 2008 levels. The 7 percent reduction in funding offered by the Republican majority would cut necessary assistance to the governments of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The U.S. territories are provided assistance through the Office of Insular Affairs, and the financial assistance provided by the account to be cut has allowed our governments to fund disaster mitigation programs, coral reef conservation initiatives, infrastructure repairs, and environmental preservation. In fact, Madam Chairman, the Constitution under article IV, section 3, clause 2 gives this Congress explicit authority: "The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States." While this impacts all territories, on Guam, in particular, funding from the OIA has been critical to the mitigation of invasive species, management of coral reef conservation programs, technical assistance to modernize and develop our port which provides direct economic benefit as well as assistance in modernizing our tax collection and our auditing systems.
