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OF TINIAN.

FURTHERMORE, THE U.S. MILITARY HAS ALREADY LEASE TWO-THIRDS AS THE STABILITY OF U.S. FORCES IN THE PHILIPPINES BECOMES QUESTIONABLE FOR THE FUTURE, WE IN THE NORTHERN MARIANAS STAND READY TO DO OUR PART FOR OUR MUTUAL DEFENSE AND SECURITY. WE, THEREFORE, WELCOME ANY DECISION BY THE MILITARY TO EXERCISE ITS LAND USE OPTION UNDER THE TERMS OF THE COVENANT AGREEMENT IN

THIS REGARD.

THE ISLAND OF ROTA IS NOT BLESSED WITH A NATURAL HARBOR LIKE

SAIPAN AND TINIAN. ROTA IS PRACTICALLY SURROUNDED BY A REEF WITH

A FEW NARROW CHANNEL ENTRANCES.

LARGE SHIPS CANNOT EVEN ENTER

THE PORT AREA. COMMERCE IS HAMPERED BY UNRELIABLE SHIPPING

SERVICE, AND THE COST OF CONSUMABLE ITEMS, EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES IS ABOUT 30% HIGHER IN ROTA THAN NEIGHBORING ISLANDS DUE TO HIGH

FREIGHT RATES AND RELATED TRANSSHIPMENT COSTS.

ROTA'S MAIN PORT AT WEST HARBOR WAS BUILT BY THE JAPANESE

BEFORE WORLD WAR TWO TO AUGMENT THE ISLAND'S SUGAR INDUSTRY AND

RELATED AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES. SUGAR AND OTHER RAW MATERIALS WERE LOADED ONTO LARGE VESSELS ANCHORED OFFSHORE SINCE THE HARBOR

WAS TOO SMALL FOR MOST SHIPS TO ENTER. NO IMPROVEMENTS WERE MADE AFTER THE WAR, OR DURING THE 40 YEAR TRUSTEESHIP, DESPITE NUMEROUS PUBLIC OUTCRIES.

FINALLY, IN 1984, IMPROVEMENTS WERE

MADE POSSIBLE BY THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS UNDER ITS

DISCRETIONARY FUNDING AUTHORITY WHICH WAS SUPPLEMENTED BY LOCAL

CNMI FUNDING. EVEN WITH THESE IMPROVEMENTS, HOWEVER, LARGE

OCEAN-GOING VESSELS STILL CANNOT BE ACCOMMODATED.

FUTURE PLANS FOR THE ROTA HARBOR INCLUDE WIDENING THE

ENTRANCE CHANNEL, CONSTRUCTION OF A BREAKWATER, DREDGING THE TURNING BASIN, EXPANDING THE PIER, AND OTHER RELATED FACILITIES. THIS FUNDING REQUIREMENT AMOUNTS TO ABOUT $4,000,000, WILL MAKE THE HARBOR NAVIGABLE FOR LARGER VESSELS, AND GREATLY IMPROVE COMMERCE BETWEEN THE ISLANDS. SUCH A REDUCTION IS THE PRESENT HIGH COST OF ESSENTIAL GOODS AND MATERIALS WILL GREATLY BENEFIT OUR PEOPLE, WHO NOW PAY THE HIGHEST CONSUMER PRICES IN THE COMMONWEALTH, AND FROM A LOWER PER CAPITA INCOME BASE.

WAR CLAIMS

THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTHERN MARIANAS WERE CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO

ARMIES DURING WORLD WAR TWO. MANY SUFFERED AND DIED FROM

ALL FOOD CROPS AND

BOMBARDMENT, HUNGER, AND MALNUTRITION.
PERSONAL BELONGINGS WERE DESTROYED. WHILE WE ARE THANKFUL FOR
THE BRAVE AMERICAN SOLDIERS, SAILORS, AND MARINES, WHO FOUGHT SO
COURAGEOUSLY TO LIBERATE US 44 YEARS AGO, FOR MANY YEARS WE WERE
DISMAYED BECAUSE NEITHER JAPAN OR THE U.S. WOULD ADMIT

RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR LOSSES AND SUFFERING.

FINALLY, IN 1971, AFTER NUMEROUS PETITIONS TO THE U.S. CONGRESS AND UNITED NATIONS, THE MICRONESIAN WAR CLAIMS COMMISSION WAS CREATED. OVER $34,300,000 WAS ADJUDICATED FOR THE ENTIRE TRUST TERRITORY UNDER TITLE I, AND $32,600,000 FOR TITLE II CLAIMS. WHILE PART OF THESE CLAIMS WERE PAID BY THE UNITED

ΤΟ

STATES, SOME $24,000,000 OF TITLE STILL REMAINS UNPAID, ALTHOUGH
HALF HAS ALREADY BEEN APPROPRIATED BY THE U.S. CONGRESS.
COMPLICATE MATTERS, WE WERE INFORMED BY INTERIOR DEPARTMENT
OFFICIALS IN MARCH THAT NO FUNDING WAS PROVIDED FOR

ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS TO DISTRIBUTE THESE FUNDS. DOI IS NOW IN
THE PROCESS OF DETERMINING FROM FORMER TRUST TERRITORY GOVERNMENT
RECORDS WHICH OF THE 19,000 RECIPIENTS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THE
CLAIMS, WHICH ARE STILL LIVING, AND IF NOT, THE DETERMINATION OF

THEIR HEIRS.

MR. CHAIRMAN, 1988 MARKS THE 44TH MEMORIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE INVASION OF SAIPAN BY U.S. FORCES. MANY OF OUR PEOPLE WITH

LEGITIMATE CLAIMS HAVE ALREADY DIED; THOSE WHO REMAIN HAVE ONLY A

SHORT LIFETIME STILL REMAINING. THE LONG OVERDUE WAR CLAIMS

COMPENSATION SET FORTH UNDER U.S. PUBLIC LAW 95-134 DESERVES YOUR

MOST SYMPATHETIC CONSIDERATION.

LAND GRAND ENDOWMENT

THE NORTHERN MARIANAS COLLEGE HAS EXPERIENCED IMPRESSIVE

GROWTH IN RECENT YEARS. LAST YEAR OUR FORMER HOSPITAL WAS

CONVERTED INTO A COLLEGE CAMPUS AND AWARDED LAND GRANT STATUS WHICH OPENS THE DOOR TO ORGANIZED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. WE ARE STILL WAITING, HOWEVER, FOR CONGRESS TO APPROPRIATE THE

LONG-AWAITED $3,000,000 FOR THIS EDUCATIONAL EFFORT. IF

APPROVED, OUR COLLEGE WILL SOON BE ABLE TO DIRECTLY ASSIST IN THE

EXPANSION OF OUR AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, AND HELP MEET THE DEMAND

FOR FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES FOR OUR FAST GROWING VISITORS

INDUSTRY AND LOCAL MARKET.

BROOKS AMENDMENT

OUR COMMONWEALTH ISLANDS ARE ABOUT THE SAME DISTANCE FROM WASHINGTON, D.C., AS CAIRO, EGYPT. BECAUSE OF THIS GREAT DISTANCE, LOGISTICAL COMPLICATIONS AND RELATED TRANSPORTATION COSTS, WE ARE VERY CONCERNED INDEED ABOUT THE POSSIBLE ADVERSE IMPACT OF THE BROOKS AMENDMENT'S "BUY AMERICAN" REQUIREMENT. IF APPLIED TO OUR ISLANDS, THE COST OF URGENTLY NEEDED CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS WOULD SKYROCKET AND HAVE A DRASTIC IMPACT ON PENDING INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS. HOWEVER, SINCE SUCH FUNDING UNDER THE COMMONWEALTH COVENANT IS CONSIDERED "LOCAL REVENUES", WE FEEL AN EXEMPTION SHOULD BE MADE FORM THE BROOKS AMENDMENT FOR THE CNMI.

MELON FY ERADICATION

OUR ISLANDS ARE FERTILE AND ARABLE, AND IF DEVELOPED CAN PROVIDE US WITH AN ABUNDANCE OF FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND FOOD CROPS FOR OUR RESIDENTIAL AND TOURIST POPULATION.

BUT THIS POTENTIAL

IS THREATENED BY THE SERIOUS INFESTATION OF THE HARMFUL MELON
FLY, WHICH HAS SPREAD FROM GUAM, NORTHWARD TO ROTA AND THE REST
OF THE NORTHERN MARIANAS. IN 19083, THE GOVERNMENTS OF GUAM AND
THE CNMI JOINTLY REQUESTED ASSISTANCE FROM EXPERTS OF ;USDA'S
PLANT PROTECTION OFFICES. THEY MADE AN INVESTIGATION AND

RECOMMENDATIONS WERE MADE. ON ROTA, FOR EXAMPLE, THEY FOUND THE
PROBLEM SO SERIOUS THAT A QUARANTINE WAS IMPOSED ON ALL OUR

EXPORTS FIVE YEAR AGO, WHICH, NEEDLESS TO SAY, HAS HAD A MOST
NEGATIVE EFFECT ON OUR FRAMERS.

THEY

USDA EXPERTS SAY THE SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM IS TO ATTACH THE MELON FLY SIMULTANEOUSLY THROUGHOUT THE COMMONWEALTH. HAVE RECOMMENDED SEVERAL ERADICATION METHODS AND ESTIMATED OVER A YEAR AGO THAT MORE THAN $4,000,000 WILL BE NEEDED TO ACCOMPLISH

THIS EFFORT IN A TWO TO THREE YEAR PERIOD.

HOWEVER, AS LONG AS THE MELON FLY EXISTS ON NEARBY GUAM, IT

WILL ALWAYS BE A THREAT TO ISLANDS TO THE NORTH. FOR THESE

REASONS, THEREFORE, WE WISH TO ASK YOUR SUBCOMMITTEE TO PROVIDE AN OVERCEILING APPROPRIATION FOR A SIMULTANEOUS ERADICATION

PROJECT FOR NOT ONLY THE CNMI BUT GUAM AS WELL. IN THIS MANNER, WE CAN BEGIN TO REBUILD OUR AGRICULTURE, AND AGAIN MAKE IT A

VIABLE INDUSTRY FOR OUR PEOPLE.

AMERICAN MEMORIAL PARK

ALL THE COURAGEOUS AMERICAN SOLDIERS, SAILORS, AND MARINES WHO FOUGHT SO VALIANTLY, AND THOSE WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE FOR FREEDOM DURING THE LIBERATION OF SAIPAN DESERVE OUR PRAISE AND HONOR. AS A CONSTANT REMINDER TO ALL OF US, U.S. PUBLIC LAW 95-348 AUTHORIZED $3,000,000 TO BE APPROPRIATED FOR THE DESIGN

AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE AMERICAN MEMORIAL PARK.

MANY YEARS AGO, JAPAN, KOREA, AND OKINAWA BUILT SUITABLE

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