Posted on: Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Akaka seeks more money for migration costs
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Sen. Daniel Akaka told Bush administration officials yesterday they are not offering enough money to handle the costs of migration from the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
Akaka, D-Hawai'i, said he would work for an increase in the $15 million the administration has promised annually during the next 20 years to cover migration costs in Hawai'i, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa.
"We'll do our best to try to raise that as high as we can," Akaka said.
The senator also said he would propose language in a new compact between the United States and Micronesia and the Marshall Islands to help Hawai'i recover migrant-related medical costs.
The provision would authorize money for Micronesia and the Marshall Islands to repay Hawai'i for the costs of treating migrants referred to Hawai'i hospitals before the compact agreement. A similar provision was included when the first compact was approved in 1986.
Migrants from Micronesia and the Marshall Islands are able to travel freely within the United States, and many have moved to Hawai'i and Guam seeking better job, health and educational opportunities.
Hawai'i has estimated that migrants cost the state $32 million last year, mostly in education and healthcare costs.
Delegate Madeleine Z. Bordallo, D-Guam, proposed a bill Monday that would increase the government's annual payment from $15 million to $35 million.
The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i; Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawai'i; and Delegate Eni Faleomavaega, D-American Samoa.
Administration officials told members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee yesterday that the $15 million figure was not meant to fully cover all migration costs but represents a guaranteed source of revenue and is more money than has ever been offered.
"We don't know what's going to happen in the future," said David Cohen, deputy assistant secretary for insular affairs at the Department of Interior. "But this is an amount that will be there no matter what."
Committee members questioned provisions in the new compact that could tighten migration and leave Micronesia and the Marshall Islands ineligible for disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Micronesia and the Marshall Islands would have to develop machine-readable passports for migrants under the compact, a requirement the administration believes is necessary to improve security since the Sept. 11 attacks.
The islands would also have disaster aid switched from FEMA to the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, which does not provide matching money to help with cleanup and rehabilitation costs after a disaster.
The United States has agreed to give Micronesia and the Marshall Islands $200,000 a year for disaster relief, but island officials worry the money will not be enough in the event of a typhoon or major storm.
