Out of three Pacific countries in Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands has yet to reach an agreement with the United States in renegotiating a decades-old treaty.
The Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau share treaties with the U.S. called the Compacts of Free Association. Micronesians can migrate visa-free to the U.S. and its territories for education, work, healthcare and more.
In turn, the U.S. has strategic denial rights over the waters and airspace. Also in the agreement is that the U.S. provides economic assistance for the three Pacific Island nations.
Compacts with the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia will expire in September. It will expire next year for Palau.
The holdup is the outstanding issue relating to lingering nuclear effects in the Marshall Islands after the U.S. conducted atomic testing in the 1940s and 1950s.
The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resource Indo-Pacific Task Force on Tuesday questioned key negotiatorsif the Pacific nation needs more time past the Sept. 30 deadline.
Phillip Muller, a chief negotiator for the Marshall Islands, attended the hearing in Washington, D.C. He said the Pacific nation is working toward an agreement soon.
"It's not all about the money. It's about past obligations of the U.S. government," Muller said. "I'm talking about the awards made by our nuclear claims tribunal that awarded personal injury money and awarded money for land damage, money for rehabilitation for cleanup."
The negotiations are critical as China seeks to strengthen its ties with Pacific communities.
"At this time of genuine competition from the People's Republic of China, we certainly should not take the historic friendship of our FAS friends for granted," said U.S. Ambassador Joseph Yun, the lead negotiator for the U.S.
Congress will need to approve funding for the COFA nations.
The proposal will provide $7.1 billion in aid over the next 20 years.
The Federated States of Micronesia would receive $3.3 billion, Palau would receive $890 million, the Marshall Islands would receive $2.3 billion and the U.S. Postal Service would receive $634 million.
The costs would fund local services like healthcare and education.
Task Force Chair Amata Radewagen of American Samoa said she's disappointed in President Joe Biden's administration about the proposal.
"The proposal includes $7.1 billion funds marked as mandatory spending, but no suggested offsets have been provided to Congress," she said at the hearing.
About 94,000 freely associated states individuals live in the U.S. in nearly every state and territory, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office in 2019.
"To put it into perspective, 94,000 is roughly equivalent to about half the population of the three nations. Moreover, roughly half of that population are now U.S. citizens," Keone Nakoa, the deputy assistant secretary for the DOI's insular and international affairs, said.
He added that Micronesians serve among the highest per capita rates in the U.S. military.
"They live, work and pay taxes throughout the U.S. and for the past 35 years," Nakoa said.
