[House Report 106-267]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 106-267
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BIKINI RESETTLEMENT AND RELOCATION ACT OF 1999
_______
July 27, 1999.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2368]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 2368) to assist in the resettlement and relocation of the
people of Bikini Atoll by amending the terms of the trust fund
established during the United States administration of the
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, having considered the
same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend
that the bill do pass.
purpose of the bill
The purpose of H.R. 2368, the ``Bikini Resettlement and
Relocation Act of 1999'', is to assist in the resettlement and
relocation of the people of Bikini Atoll by amending the terms
of the trust fund established during the United States
administration of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
background and need for legislation
The odyssey of the people of Bikini remains as an example
of the protracted complexity of resettlement of the island
communities dislocated during the United States' nuclear
testing program in the Marshall Islands. The United States
moved the islanders off Bikini Atoll in 1946, and 23 atomic and
hydrogen bomb tests were conducted there between 1946 and 1958.
Following President Lyndon Johnson's announcement in 1968 that
the atoll was once again safe for human habitation, the
Bikinians began to move back. They were removed again in 1979
when radiation levels at the atoll were found to be well in
excess of acceptable federal standards. They are still waiting
to return to their homeland 53 years after they were first
removed. Of the 167 Bikinians who were removed in 1946, 9 are
still alive.
Although the exact cost of a radiological cleanup and
resettlement of Bikini Atoll with various remediation options
has yet to be established, it is estimated that the cleanup and
resettlement process will take approximately ten years. As a
result, it is likely that most of the remaining Bikini elders
will not be able to return to their home islands, but will live
out their years on Kili Island, some 400 miles south of Bikini,
which has been their ``temporary'' home for more than half a
century.
In order to recognize the hardships suffered by the people
of Bikini, H.R. 2368 provides for a one-time 3 percent
distribution from the Resettlement Trust Fund for the people of
Bikini. The trust fund was first established by Congress in
1982 pursuant to Public Law 97-257, which appropriated $20
million for the fund. Congress subsequently appropriated an
additional $90 million in 1988 pursuant to Public Law 100-446.
The Bikini people have ensured the fiscal integrity of this
trust fund by selecting reputable trustees and money managers
and providing full transparency to the community and the U.S.
Interior Department with monthly financial statements and
annual audits. Independent federal oversight of the fund has
consistently found the trust to be properly managed.
As sound investment decisions have earned the trust almost
14 percent annually since 1982, a 3 percent distribution will
not require an appropriation of funds by Congress, nor will it
diminish the total original corpus of the trust of $110
million. The market value of the trust today is approximately
$126 million, so a 3 percent distribution, or approximately
$3,780,000, will reduce the market value to $122.2 million,
which remains well above the total original corpus.
The Bikini people, consistent with their culture and
traditions, will make this distribution to the heads of
household, with the understanding that the Bikini elders will
be the primary beneficiaries, and such distribution shall be
deducted from any further additional ex gratia appropriations
made by Congress into the Resettlement Trust Fund. This
authorization is consistent with past Congressional efforts to
assist the people of Bikini. Without any additional costs to
U.S. taxpayers, this bill will aid in the resettlement and
relocation of the remaining Bikini elders.
committee action
H.R. 2368 was introduced on June 29, 1999, by Congressmen
Don Young (R-AK) and George Miller (D-CA). The bill was
referred to the Committee on Resources. On May 10 and 11, 1999,
the Committee held a briefing and a hearing and considered the
March 12, 1999, Kili/Bikini/Ejit Resolution No. 2 by the Local
Government Council and heard requests by the representatives of
the Council and Republic of the Marshall Islands to authorize a
one-time distribution from the Resettlement Trust Fund for the
People of Bikini. The Administration testified in support of
this concept now embodied in H.R. 2368.
On July 21, 1999, the Full Resources Committee met to
consider the bill. No amendments were offered and the bill was
ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by
voice vote.
committee oversight findings and recommendations
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations
are reflected in the body of this report.
constitutional authority statement
Article IV, section 3 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.
compliance with house rule xiii
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
3. Government Reform Oversight Findings. Under clause
3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee has received no report of
oversight findings and recommendations from the Committee on
Government Reform on this bill.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, July 23, 1999.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2368, the Bikini
Resettlement and Relocation Act of 1999.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is John R.
Righter.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 2368--Bikini Resettlement and Relocation Act of 1999
H.R. 2368 would amend the terms of the Resettlement Trust
Fund for the People of Bikini to authorize a one-time
distribution to the people of Bikini. The amount of the
distribution would be limited to the greater of 3 percent of
the fund's market value or the amount that exceeds the fund's
principal. The federal government established the trust fund in
1982 to assist in relocating and resettling the people of the
Bikini Atoll, who were moved off of their islands by the United
States to facilitate the government's testing of nuclear
weapons during the 1940s and 1950s.
Although the federal government has imposed restrictions on
how monies appropriated into the Resettlement Trust Fund (which
have already been counted as outlays) can be used, the funds
belong to the people of Bikini and thus are nonfederal.
Consequently, enacting the bill would have no impact on the
federal budget. Because the bill would not affect direct
spending or receipts, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply.
H.R. 2368 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would have no significant impact on the budgets of state,
local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact is John R. Righter. This estimate was
approved by Paul N. Van de Water, Assistant Director for Budget
Analysis.
compliance with public law 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
preemption of state, local or tribal law
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local, or
tribal law.
changes in existing law
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.