Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation with my friend and colleague from Hawaii, Senator Inouye, to provide certain federal public benefits for citizens of the Freely Associated States (FAS) who are residing in the United States. The bill would provide eligibility for non-emergency Medicaid, Food Stamps, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, and Supplemental Security Income to FAS citizens residing in the United States.
Citizens from the FAS are citizens from the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and Palau. The United States has a very unique relationship with the FSM, RMI, and Palau. The Compact of Free Association established these nations as sovereign states responsible for their own foreign policies. However, the Freely Associated States remain dependent upon the United States for military protection and economic assistance.
The Compact provides that the United States has the prerogative to reject the strategic use of, or military access to, the FAS by other countries, which is often referred to as the "right of strategic denial." The Compact also provides that the U.S. may block FAS government policies that it deems inconsistent with its duty to defend the FAS, which is referred to as the "defense veto." Under the Compact, the United States has exclusive military base rights in the FAS. In exchange, the U.S. is required to support the FAS economically, with the goal of producing self-sufficiency, and FAS citizens are allowed entry into the United States as non-immigrants for the purposes of education, medical treatment, and employment.
The Senate is considering S.J.Res. 16, the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2003, which was favorably reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources this morning. S.J.Res. 16 is the codification of Title II of the Compact pertaining to Economic Relations.
As FAS citizens are allowed free entry into the United States as part of the Compact, many FAS citizens reside in the State of Hawaii. Since 1997, when Hawaii began reporting its impact costs, the State has identified over $140 million in costs associated with FAS citizens. In 2002, the State of Hawaii expended over $32 million in assistance to FAS citizens. S.J.Res. 16 provides $30 million in annual funding for Compact impact assistance to be shared between the State of Hawaii, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. While this funding is a positive step forward, it does not begin to reimburse the affected jurisdictions for the costs associated with FAS citizens living in Hawaii.
The legislation we are introducing today would provide assistance to states and territories who have continued to shoulder the majority of the costs associated with the Compact. The federal government must provide appropriate resources to help states meet the needs of the FAS citizens - an obligation based on a federal commitment. It is unconscionable for a state or territory to shoulder the entire financial burden of providing necessary education, medical, and social services to individuals who are residing in that state or territory when the obligation is that of the federal government. For that reason, I am seeking to provide reimbursement of these costs. It is time for the federal government to take up some of the financial responsibility that until now has been carried by the State of Hawaii, CNMI, and Guam, by restoring public benefits to FAS citizens.
This bill would restore eligibility of FAS citizens for non-emergency Medicaid. FAS citizens lost many of their public benefits as a result of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity (PRWORA) Act of 1996, including Medicaid coverage. FAS citizens were previously eligible for Medicaid as aliens permanently residing under color of law in the United States.
After the enactment of welfare reform, the State of Hawaii could no longer claim federal matching funds for services rendered to FAS citizens. Since then, the State of Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have continued to meet the health care needs of FAS citizens. The State of Hawaii has used state resources to provide Medicaid services to FAS citizens. In 2002 alone, the State spent approximately $6.75 million to provide Medicaid services without receiving any federal matching funds.
There has been an increasing trend in the need for health care services among FAS citizens. During the current fiscal year, the number of individuals served in the State of Hawaii's Medicaid program has grown from 3,291 to 4,818 people based on the average monthly enrollment. This is an increase of 46 percent. For only the first half of the fiscal year, the State of Hawaii has spent $4.66 million for the Medicaid costs incurred for FAS citizens. These Medicaid costs do not reflect additional State expenditures on medical care contracts to care for the uninsured, for community health care services, and for the activities of the Department of Health's Communicable Disease Branch.
This bill would also provide eligibility for FAS citizens residing in the United States to participate in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Security Income programs. According to Hawaii's Attorney General, financial assistance in the form of the Temporary Assistance to Other Needy Families (TAONF) program, a State program, provided $4.5 million to FAS citizens in State Fiscal Year 2002. Of this total, $390,000 was provided through the General Assistance program, which supports individuals and couples with little or no income and who have a temporary, incapacitating medical condition; $532,000 supported aged, blind, and disabled FAS citizens with little or no income who are not eligible for federally-funded Supplemental Security Income; and $3.6 million was spent by the State's TAONF program that assists other needy families who are not eligible for federal-funding under the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program. The number of FAS citizens served by the Hawaii Department of Human Services has increased by almost 20 percent in the span of one year alone. The financial assistance that the State of Hawaii provides to FAS citizens in the form of TAONF is a great support to those families attempting to achieve economic stability, but it has a significant financial impact on the State's budget.
The bill would also provide eligibility for the Food Stamp Program. Mr. President, the Food Stamp Program serves as the first line of defense against hunger. It is the cornerstone of the federal food assistance program and provides crucial support to needy households and those making the transition from welfare to work. We have partially addressed the complicated issue of alien eligibility for public benefits such as Food Stamps, but again, I must say it is just partial. Not only should all legal immigrants receive these benefits, but so too citizens of the FAS. Exclusion of FAS citizens from federal, state, or local public benefits or programs is an unintended and misguided consequence of the welfare reform law.
Mr. President, we allow certain legal immigrants eligibility in the program. Yet FAS citizens, who are not considered immigrants, but who are required to sign up for the Selective Service if they are residing in the United States, are ineligible to receive Food Stamps. Mr. President, this bill corrects this inequity.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this measure which is of critical importance to my state of Hawaii, which has borne the costs of these benefits for FAS citizens living in Hawaii for the past 17 years.
Mr. President I ask that the bill and my statement be printed in the Record
