SIGRAH -5~ Just as its past actions and recommendations regarding sea transportation have gone unheeded, the same situation exists with respect to air transportation. During the last session the Congress adopted Senate Joint resolution No. 538 which requests the Administering Authority to grant Air Micronesia the Saipan-Japan route, Adoption of the measure was not done to frustrate the desires of the Mariana It was done because the Congress felt Islands District. support of this airline would produce the most good for the However a recent ruling by a Civil Aeronautics most people. Board examiner was in favor of another airline. One of the reasons for his ruling; was because granting of this route would financially help the other airline, which has been losing money in the past. Thus it would appear here, as in many other cases, it is not Micronesia's interests which are considered first, but rather those of the Administering Authority, This. predicament of whose interests are to be served is also illustrated in the veto directed by the Administering Authority regarding Admiralty and Maritime Law, The manner in which this measure was vetoed raises serious questions about the manner of the veto, and also the intent of the Administering Authority, Furthermore, the killing of this enacted bill must;Viewed as a setback for those who saw it as a vehicle for economic development in a. nation surrounded by the ocean, Indeed, as-I mentioned earlier, Micronesia is suffering from being locked into the larger systems of the Administering Authority, The budgetary cycles contain certain variables that, like sunspots create havoc and disruption at great distances, It appears clear to us it is time to consider trying to modify the system as it applies to Micronesia or divorce ourselves from it, Consequently, our Joint Committee on Programs and Budget Planning has proposed certain changes to the U.S. Congress. Tnese changes are threefold. One, the Congress of Micronesia would receive a direct appropriation from the U.S. Congress. me appropriation would be on a matching basis: 90 percent xom the U.S,.and 10 percent from the Congress. Such a scheme L£ adopted, would give Micronesians full control over development priorities, A second aspect is better management of funds and projects at the district level. The District Administrator would have the authority to handle contracts up to $75,000, The third aspect is to pot ARCHIVES