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Under these ciramstances, the Administration strong
urges
Geletion of section 104 as duplicative and amecesst’, te
a@part, from the consideration; described above, we think the section
as drafted contains inherent ambiguities.
If the section is to he
construed to mean that the legal eligibility of the Trust Territtry
for Federal programs shall net cease without congressional approval,
then section 104 is a restatement of existing law and is unnecessary.
if, aoe other hand, this re construed to mean that Trust
Territory participation in appli
e, discretionary,
Federal programs
may not cease without the approval of Congress, then we strongly oppose
the section. As of Decenber 30, 1977, the Trust Territory was legally
eligible for 482 Federal programs; it participated in 166. We think
the Trust Territory Government and this Department ought to retain the
authority to decide which discretionary programs should be implemented
in the Trust Territory, amd which ones should not.
Section 201
Section 201 provides that the Department of the Interior shall pay
the salary and expenses of the government comptroller of the Northern
Mariana Islands. The Administration supports this section.
The salary ard expenses of the governmént comptroller of Gia are
paid by this Department and currently the Northern Mariana Islands
are under his jurisdiction. We reconmend the specific inclusicn
of the Northern Mariana Islands in the statute that extended the
authority of the comptroller to the Trust Territory of the Pacific
Islands (48 U.S.C. 168lb). Present application of existing law
would not change, but an amendment would insure continued application
of the statute to the Northern Mariana Islands (which will become a
part of the United States when it assumes fully the status of the
Conmorwealth of the Northern Marianas) at such time as the trusteeship
over Micronesia is terminated. We recommend the following amendment
to the Act of June 30, 1954, as amended by the Act of September 21,
1973 (48 U.S.C. 168kb):
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+ “TA
ame
(1) strike the words. "government of the Trust-Territory
of the Pacific Islands” wherever they appear and insert
in lieu thereof the words “governments of the Trust
Territory of the Pacific Islands ar the Northern
Mariana Islands,";
(2) after the words “High Conmissioner of the Trust
Territory of the Pacific Islands” insert the words “or .
Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, as the case
may be, "3
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we
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ie
(3) wherever the words "High Commissioner" appear and are
“not followed by the words “of the Trust Territory of the
Pacific Islands" insert the words "or Governor as the
case may be,"; and
(4) after the words "District Court of Guam” insert the words
"or District Court of the Northern Mariana Islands, as the case
may be*.
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