[House Hearing, 112 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
TO APPROVE THE AGREEMENT PROVIDING TERMS
FOR A CONTINUATION OF THE FREE
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND
PALAU, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
=======================================================================
MARKUP
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON
H.R. 6040
__________
JULY 18, 2012
__________
Serial No. 112-154
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/
or
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
75-160 PDF WASHINGTON : 2012
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Washington, DC 20402-0001
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
DAN BURTON, Indiana GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
ELTON GALLEGLY, California ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
DANA ROHRABACHER, California Samoa
DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey--
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California deceased 3/6/12 deg.
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio BRAD SHERMAN, California
RON PAUL, Texas ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
MIKE PENCE, Indiana GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
JOE WILSON, South Carolina RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri
CONNIE MACK, Florida ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TED POE, Texas DENNIS CARDOZA, California
GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky
JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
BILL JOHNSON, Ohio ALLYSON SCHWARTZ, Pennsylvania
DAVID RIVERA, Florida CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut
MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania FREDERICA WILSON, Florida
TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas KAREN BASS, California
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York
RENEE ELLMERS, North Carolina
ROBERT TURNER, New York
Yleem D.S. Poblete, Staff Director
Richard J. Kessler, Democratic Staff Director
------
Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois, Chairman
RON PAUL, Texas ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
BILL JOHNSON, Ohio Samoa
DAN BURTON, Indiana FREDERICA WILSON, Florida
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio BRAD SHERMAN, California
MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
DUNCAN, South Carolina DENNIS CARDOZA, California
BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
MARKUP OF
H.R. 6040, To approve the Agreement providing terms for a
continuation of the free association between the United States
and Palau, and for other purposes.............................. 2
Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 6040 offered by
the Honorable Donald A. Manzullo, a Representative in
Congress from the State of Illinois, and chairman,
Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific......................... 13
APPENDIX
Markup notice.................................................... 26
Markup minutes................................................... 27
The Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, a Representative in Congress
from American Samoa: Prepared statement........................ 28
TO APPROVE THE AGREEMENT PROVIDING TERMS FOR A CONTINUATION OF THE FREE
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND PALAU, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
----------
WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 2012
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 p.m., in
room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Donald A.
Manzullo (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. Manzullo. The subcommittee will come to order. Pursuant
to notice, and for purposes of a markup, I call up H.R. 6040,
the Continued Free Association with Palau Act of 2012.
The clerk will designate the bill.
Ms. Santana. H.R. 6040, to approve the agreement providing
terms for continuation of the free association between the
United States and Palau, and for other purposes. Be it
enacted----
Mr. Manzullo. Without objection, the measure is considered
read and open for amendment.
[H.R. 6040 follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Manzullo. I have a bipartisan amendment in the nature
of a substitute that makes a few changes to the underlying
legislation. The amendment, which was sent to the members'
offices yesterday, was carefully considered and improves the
underlying legislation by fully offsetting the costs.
The clerk will report the amendment.
Ms. Santana. Amendment in the nature of a substitute to
H.R. 6040 offered by Mr. Manzullo of Illinois. Strike all after
the enacting clause----
Mr. Manzullo. Without objection, the amendment in the
nature of a substitute is considered read.
[The amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Mr.
Manzullo follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Manzullo. The amendment in the nature of a substitute
replaces section 3 of the underlying legislation with a
mandatory spending offset that fully covers the $183 million
cost of the bill. This provision titled ``Denial and Revocation
of Passports'' amends the Passport Act of 1926 to provide the
Secretary of State the authority to deny or revoke the
passports of anyone who owes $50,000 or more in Federal back
taxes and is seriously delinquent in payment.
There is legal precedence for the State Department to
withhold the issuance of passports for a number of reasons,
including parents owing more than $2,500 in back childcare
payments. The Supreme Court specifically held that that law is
constitutional. The offset in the amendment is modeled after
this highly successful program and has several built-in safety
nets to ensure that only those who are seriously delinquent are
affected.
The Government Accountability Office released a report last
year that studied the feasibility of using passport issuance as
a tool for collecting billions of dollars in unpaid taxes.
According to GAO, over 1 percent of total passport issuances in
Fiscal Year 2008 were to people who owed over $5.8 billion in
unpaid Federal taxes. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates
that the U.S. Government stands to generate over $400 million
over 10 years if even a small fraction of the back taxes were
collected as a result of this provision. In fact, a similar
provision passed the Senate as part of the Senate's
transportation bill, S. 1813, with a bipartisan margin of 74 to
22.
I urge my colleagues to support the amendment in the nature
of a substitute and the underlying legislation. The compact
renewal with the Republic of Palau preserves an important
relationship that is vital to our national security. Palau is a
strong supporter of Israel at the U.N., votes consistently to
condemn Communist Cuba, and even supports Taiwan over China.
Citizens from Palau serve in the U.S. Armed Forces and have
paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of this Nation. With
China's rapid rise in the South China Sea, is it is critical
that we secure America's vital interests in the Western
Pacific.
I now recognize the ranking member, Mr. Faleomavaega.
Mr. Faleomavaega. Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling this
markup, as it is very important. And I want to ask unanimous
consent that the full text of my statement be made part of the
record.
Mr. Manzullo. Without objection, the complete statement
will be made a part of the record.
Mr. Faleomavaega. Thank you.
And I kind of wanted to gloss over it a little bit. I want
to say how deeply I appreciate not only your leadership, but
your commitment and being helpful to this piece of legislation,
which is very important not only to the people of Palau, but
certainly to the interests of our own Government.
I can give you all the historical overview of this issue
and the problems in terms of our investment in the Pacific--
especially the Micronesia entities--immediately following World
War II.
I do want to say, Mr. Chairman, that the U.S. interests
relating to Palau are being preserved because of your
leadership, Mr. Chairman, finding alternative offsets and those
that are in the bill now. The offset is in the substitute that
I joined you in developing.
The law that will come from this legislation and the
preservation of U.S. strategic and economic interests for the
next dozen years will be a major issue to the legacy you have
given to our Nation, and especially to the good people and the
leaders of Palau.
And with that, Mr. Chairman, I fully support the substitute
that you have introduced, and I ask my colleagues to support
and endorse this.
Mr. Manzullo. Thank you.
Are there any other members who wish to strike the last
word and speak briefly on the measure?
Hearing no further amendments, the question is on agreeing
to the bipartisan amendment in the nature of a substitute.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
All those opposed, no.
In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and the
amendment in the nature of a substitute is agreed to.
The question now occurs on adopting the legislation as
amended.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
All those opposed, no.
In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and the
amended legislation is agreed to.
Without objection, H.R. 6040, as amended, is reported
favorably to the full Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the
staff is authorized to make any technical and conforming
changes.
That concludes our business. Without objection, the
subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 2:07 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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Material Submitted for the Hearing Record
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
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