cited
Interior's
inability
to forcefully represent Guam's case
in Treasury decisions on arbitrage bonds and other tax policies.
Some territory officials believe Interior is no longer well
suited to meet their needs, especially economic development
needs.
They cite Interior's main areas of interest--land management, parks, and minerals as inappropriate for the territories.
Others said Interior represents the "colonial" past when
the federal government was in direct control of the territories.
They believe a new organization is needed to erase this past
image and to establish a more forward-looking approach to the
territories.
Interior trying to develop
a partnership relationship
with the territories
Interior officials recognize that their authority is some-
what limited in dealing with other federal agencies.
Nonethe-
less, they believe they can keep lines of communication open
between the territories and the federal establishment and facilitate territorial needs through technical assistance, economic
development initiatives, and advocating the removal of legislative and program constraints.
They believe that Interior is the
best agency to deal with overall territorial matters because of
its record of experience and expertise built up over the years.
OVERSIGHT ROLE:
A REFLECTION
OF UNCERTAINTY IN THE FEDERAL-—
TERRITORIAL RELATIONSHIP
Interior, through its Office of Inspector General, performs
an audit function for all the territories except Puerto Rico.
This role in relation to Interior's overall administrative re-
sponsibility has
led
to questions about
the appropriate degree
of federal oversight in light of increased territorial autonomy.
Officials
from the Office of
Inspector General
believe
Interi-
or's
responsibility for financial
and program
oversight
is
not well defined.
At issue is Interior's authority to enforce
actions by the territorial governments in response to audits, to
ensure that the governments spend monies according to federal
guidelines, and to improve management of local and federal programs.
These officials believe that OTIA is not exercising an
effective oversight role due in part to an inability to enforce
compliance with audit recommendations by the territories.
Interior
Inspector General officials believe a
confiict
exists
between exercising oversight versus supporting greater autonomy
for the territorial governments.
Interior officials
believe
that
the
level
sight is a policy question which should be
Congress and that more definitive guidance is
5000233
46
of
federal
over-
addressed by the
needed to specify