HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A congressional delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources will be on island Thursday to conduct an official congressional field hearing.
This will be the third time a congressional delegation, or CODEL, has visited Guam within eight months, according to Guam Del. James Moylan, who is a member of the committee.
“The importance of this committee coming out now is because we’re looking at the (Compact of Free Association) agreement,” Moylan said Thursday.
The topic for the upcoming CODEL hearing will revolve around the Indo-Pacific theater and the state of defense in waters surrounding Guam and the freely associated states, Moylan’s office said in a news release.
“We have not had a congressional hearing on island for more than a decade. The fact that the House Natural Resources Committee has approved the request to conduct one is certainly significant, as it places Guam on the congressional map when it comes to priorities,” Moylan said in the release. “While the hearing will be focused on the state of our defense within this region, we will also take the time to schedule meetings with the governor and senators to discuss COFA issues.”
The U.S. holds international agreements with the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia, known as Compacts of Free Association, or COFA, agreements. The nations collectively are known as the freely associated states, or FAS.
The agreements with the FSM and the Marshall Islands will expire at the end of this fiscal year, while the Palau agreement will expire by the end of fiscal 2024. With deadlines looming, the U.S. and FAS nations have been working on negotiating new agreement terms.
A major driving force behind the effort is the desire to curb China’s influence in the Pacific and to maintain U.S. presence and its capacity to secure interest in the region.
The president’s administration has proposed amendments through the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2023, although the measure was incomplete when the House Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing on the proposal in mid-July.
The measure would include $7.1 billion in spending over 20 years for FAS economic assistance and the U.S. Postal Service, according to the committee hearing memo.
The amendments include placeholder language for the Marshall Islands because, at the time of the hearing, negotiations with the Marshalls were ongoing with apparent roadblocks over nuclear testing compensation issues. Near the end of July, the Marshall Islands government had decided to endorse an earlier disputed agreement outlined in a January memorandum of understanding, Radio New Zealand reported.
Impact concerns
For Guam and other U.S. jurisdictions that serve as hosts to COFA migrants, a significant issue is funding to support the impact these populations make.
For each of the last 20 years, Congress had provided $30 million in mandatory appropriations to American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and Hawaii to offset the cost of hosting compact migrants. Another $3 million to $6 million in discretionary funds were appropriated each year, beginning in 2012.
But the legal authority for the funds expires at the end of this fiscal year, and because of that the funds aren’t reflected in the fiscal 2024 budget justification from the Department of the Interior Office of Insular Affairs.
Moylan is working to get a one-year extension on compact impact funding in the federal budget. Moylan hopes it can be kept in the budget for subsequent years, he said Thursday.
Prior CODEL visits to the island involved House committees on appropriations and armed services, according to Moylan.
The more delegations that come to the island, the better it will be for the island’s interests, Moylan said.
“Federal funding comes from the House and the Senate, as well, so the more people you come to the island, … whether (the issue) be a firetruck, dogs for Customs, … COFA agreements, missile defense, whether it be for planting trees, whatever it is, each one of these folks in Congress will take a vote on whatever bill comes through,” Moylan said. “We have the opportunity because I’m on the House Armed Services and Natural Resources (committees), to specifically work with these two groups. But we’ve also invited members not on these committees to come and understand,” he added.
James Moylan
