by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - The governor and other government officials are hoping to set the record straight when it comes to Guam submitting the necessary reports to the Department of the Interior to outline the impacts of the Compacts of Free Association on the territory.

"I continue to be disappointed," noted Minority Leader Frank Blas, Jr. He's been pushing for the federal government to make good on the true cost of what Guam spends each year to provide services to citizens from the Freely Associated States under the Compacts of Free Association and added, "It's important because this report provides to Congress the information necessary to take action on ways to be able to mitigate and deal with the costs that is related to the Compacts of Free Association."

Public law requires the interior to submit a report to Congress no later than May 1 of each year outlining the impacts of the Compacts and the Administration's analysis of such impact and recommendations for corrective action. Blas recently sent a letter to DOI Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs Tony Babauta, asking if the report had been submitted. Babauta responded saying it hasn't because the Interior had not received any comments or reports from affected jurisdiction governors, including Guam.

But Bureau of Statistics & Plans director Tommy Morrison says the report was, in fact, submitted this past January 31. Blas stated, "So for DOI to say that because the governor didn't submit a report, of which we know they did, they didn't submit a report to the Congress, that's not what the law says. The law says you submit a report to Congress.

"They should be able to stay on top of this and obviously they're not. This is obviously not a priority to them. It's priority to us."

Blas has been working with the Calvo Administration on ways to get the federal government to repay the more than $500 million that Guam has spent to provide services under the Compacts of Free Association. Governor Eddie Calvo meanwhile says he'll resend the report if necessary. He told KUAM News, "I do know that other territories that have been affected have been providing reports, but I do believe that Guam has been the most diligent since we've been the most heavily impacted. For Fiscal Year 2011 we did provide a report, a very substantial report, that pegged the costs at almost $100 million."

The island's chief executive says the Interior should stop blaming governors, stating, "There is no guilt pointed to us because we were never the framers of these treaties, but we are feeling those terrific impacts that are just weighing so heavily of all our members of the community."