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Territorial reps ask Congress for their share in stimulus package
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Posted on Jan 25 2009
[B]WASHINGTON, D.C[/B]. —Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, has joined with territorial delegates in asking the U.S. Senate and House to include separate funding for territories in the stimulus package now being drafted in Congress, according to American Samoa Delegate Eni Faleomavaega.
In letters dated Jan. 22, 2008, to House Committee on Appropriations chair Dave Obey and ranking member Jerry Lewis, and also to Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Sen. Thad Cochran, chairman and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Rahall joined territorial delegates in expressing their concern that no separate funding has been provided for the Office of Insular Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior to address the needs of the territories.
“While we are appreciative that the appropriators have provided for a 20 percent increase in Medicaid caps, we are disappointed that there is no appropriation for the [OIA] to provide for infrastructure projects in the territories. In working with the Obama transition team, we had hoped that specific infrastructure funding for the territories would be included since the transition team requested a list of “shovel-ready” projects which would be most beneficial in providing economic opportunities for those living in the territories of the United States. While these proposals were submitted, regrettably none were included in the bill that was marked-up by the Committee on Appropriations,” the letter states.
The delegate are asking for specific funding to be provided to the OIA for infrastructure projects in the territories, “just as specific funding has been provided in the bill for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and other agencies within the Department of the Interior.”
Rahall and the territorial delegates are now working to resolve this issue before the bill goes to the House floor for a vote, and before the Senate considers the bill next week, according to Faleomavaega.
The letter to Obey and Lewis was signed by Rahall, Faleomavaega, Guam Delegate Madeleine Z. Bordallo, U.S. Virgin Islands Delegate Donna Christensen, and CNMI Delegate Gregorio Sablan. It was also copied to Rep. Jose Serrano, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, who spoke out in support of the territories during the Committee’s mark-up session. [B][I](PR)[/I][/B]
