SIGRAY -3- It is these factors which we believe have a great and sometimes necessarily adverse impact upon the education, eco- nomic, and social growth of our country. With each session of our Congress we have become more and more aware of these problems. -It is our fervent hope that the limitations of our authority can soon be lifted so that we can begin to address ourselves to what we see as stumbling blocks in these areas and assume for ourselves a greater degree to self-government as a step towards the final resolution of the future status question. Much information was contained in the report of the 1973 U.N. Visiting Mission to the Trust Territory. The many observations and recommendations made by the Mission will be studied and seriously considered for implementation and guidelines. I would like, however, merely to comment and highlight some of the points the Mission's report so carefully documented and commended to our attention in the area of economic development. We agree with the 1973 U.N. Visiting Mission that, while tourism has its place in the development of Micronesia, a continueéc developmental effort should still be directed to development in agriculture and fisheries. Efforts to find Ways and means to process copra within Micronesia should be pursued more vigorously to lessen the Micronesian dependency on world market and the vagaries of world prices on this important source of income capital for our people. We are pleased that the Visiting Mission was happy with the report on Marine Resources Development submitted during the past session. Rightly, the Congress has considered this resource of primary importance for some time and has acted accordingly. In 1972 Public Law 4C~38 appropriated $500,090 to be used for this purpose within the Economic Development Loan Fund. During the First Regular Session of the Fifth Congress, four major laws were enacted in this area. It is hoped that Public Laws 5-21, 5-22, 5-23 and 5-24 will allow further development of this resource. Like Marine resources development, agricultural development has constantly received a parsimonious budget. This area deserves greater attention by the Congress, and we welcone the conclusions of the Mission's report regarding it. We also endorse the conclusion and recommendation made by the Visiting Mission relative to the elimination of tariff barriers for products of Micronesia and a more favorable interpretation of Article 8 of the Trusteeship Agreemnt as prerequisites to further development of Ticronesia's economy. We are thus in complete agreement with the report of the Visiting Mission. It is my own opinion shared with my other colleagues in the Congress of Micronesia that without the liberalization on the interpretation of Arcicle 8 of the Trusteeship Agreement, it is useless to talk about economic development with maximum involvement of the people and their effective involvement and participation in economic development and programs. Here I should add that it is not an uncommon feeling among my colleagues, that strict interpretation of Article 8 reflects not only an over-all policy designed to limit our future options in the area of political development, but ~more-