Blas request DOI reports
Frank Blas, Jr. has since only received a report from 2010 and questions how Congress will know what the issues are regarding impacts if DOI isn't doing its jobs.
By KUAM NewsGuam - Minority Leader Frank Blas, Jr. recently wrote a letter to the Department of Interior inquiring on the status of past requests for remaining reports on the Administration's position on the impacts of the Compacts of Free Association. Blas has waited many years for reports, some dating back decades.
He says when governors of the jurisdiction such as Guam submit the impacts of the Compacts, the secretary of DOI is required to submit a report to Congress of that year detailing what the concerns are. He has since only received a report from 2010 and questions how Congress will know what the issues are regarding impacts if DOI isn't doing its jobs.
He said, "There's a number of issues we have to deal with and a number of them are imposed on by federal mandates, so you've imposed this on us with federal mandates yet you don't address or deal with the issues of those things that you told us that we need to provide on behalf of the federal government."
Blas says as of 2010, he estimates $501 million in Compact impact funds that aren't being addressed. He hopes his letter will call out DOI on their responsibility and move forward developing a strategy to address the issues regarding reimbursements and possibly look at legal action.