Daniel Akaka: “I rise to introduce the Guam Omnibus Opportunities Act, which seeks to address important issues to the people of Guam…”

“I rise to introduce the Guam Omnibus Opportunities Act, which seeks to address important issues to the people of Guam dealing with land, economic development and social issues. On July 25, the House passed similar legislation, H.R. 2462, which was introduced by Congressman Robert Underwood, the Delegate from Guam. During the 105th Congress, the Senate passed similar provisions of H.R. 2462 as part of S. 210, an omnibus territories bill. There are several provisions of the Guam Omnibus Opportunities Act. First, Section 2 of the bill provides a process for the Government of Guam to receive lands from the U.S. government for specified public purposes by giving Guam the right of first refusal for declared federal excess lands by the General Services Administration prior to it being made available to any other federal agency. It also provides for a process for the Government of Guam and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to engage in negotiations on the future ownership and management of declared federal excess lands within the Guam National Wildlife Refuge. Section 3 provides the Government of Guam with the authority to tax foreign investors at the same rates as states under U.S. tax treaties with foreign countries since Guam cannot change the withholding tax rate on its own under current law.”