— —_—~- Under these ciramstances, the Administration 1 Geletion of section 104 as duplicative and unecessary, oaite apart_from the consideration; described above, we think the section as drafted contains inherent ambiguities. If the section is to le construed to mean that the leaal eligibility of the Trust Territcry for Federal programs shall net cease without congressional approval, then section 104 is a restatement of existing law and is unnecessary. rf, sens Other hand, this wording is construed to mean that Trust Territory participation in applicable, discretionary, Federal programs May not cease without the approval of Congress, then we strongly oppose the section. As of December 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 and expenses of the government comptroller of Guam are paid by this Department and currently the Northern Mariana Islands are umder his jurisdiction. We reconmend the specific inclusion 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 Commonwealth 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. 1681b): (1) strike the words “governuent of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands” wherever they appear and insert in lieu thereof the words "governrents of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands or the Northem 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 . way be,"; _ (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 Norther Mariana Islands, as the case may be". teem aot - oy tm at 1 ver ae. ‘i, ery a