Pacific congressman

speaks at Hawaii

GUAM’S second term Congressman, Ben Bias, spoke on nuc lear free Pacific and related issues at an April 22 University of Hawaii forum, sponsored by the U.H.’s Insti tute of Peace. Also sitting on the panel were Faustina Rehuher, a Palauan representative at the 1983 Nuclear Free and Inde pendent Pacific conference in Vanuatu and who currently stu dies at the East-West Center, and Nelson Foster, anti-nuclear activist.

Congressman Bias had ex tremely harsh words for France, which he described as “a rascal, an obnoxious, arrogant neigh bor, whom I have no use for” because of the metropolitan power’s nuclear testing policy in French Polynesia and its colo nial policy in New Caledonia.

The Chamorro congressman went on to characterise his antipathy towards France as being so great, that he generally “refuses to eat in a French restaurant. France makes great bread and a lousy neighbor. . .

I don’t know if you spell it ‘the gall’ or ‘De Gaulle’,” the Pacific Island Representative to the United States Congress proc laimed. x De ' e 9 ate ®as we "‘ on , to t ur9 f Fran “ to sto P , nucl f ar testing at Mururoaatoll, and to ‘ est lts ™kes at DJon or Neva da',nstead; ,f * sso «*• The outra 9 ed t C ° n9 '\ ssma " reas ° n f d that lf * e ( U S c ° uld ‘™ te . th f, , t 0 , conduc

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should also ask France to do , e same ‘ Congressman Bias also advocated American respect for the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, and urged his govem ment to sign the Rarotonga Treaty. However, in a peculiar Pacific pas de deux of South Seas schizophrenia, the retired Marine Corps general endorsed “the use of a nuclear deterrent in the Western Pacific, where the U.S. has a defence re sponsibility. ” The Congress man also praised Micronesia’s Compacts of Free Association

and expressed criticism for Palau’s failure to ratify the treaty. He described the legal requirement that a 75% vote was necessary in order to over ride Palau’s constitutional pro hibition of hazardous wastes as being “minority rule.”

Ms Rehuher and Mr Foster both pointed out to their fellow panelist that the Palauan con stitution had been approved by 92% of the electorate, and two subsequent plebiscites aimed at revising the constitution by re moving the nuclear ban failed to do so by an overwhelming vote reaffirming Palau’s status as the world’s first national nuclear free zone. Much of the discussion centred on Palau, which Delegate Bias had just visited with other U.S. Con gressmen. According to the rep resentative, the congressional delegation informed his Palauan counterparts that a re negotiation of the Compact which is currently stuck in limbo is out of the question, and that Speaker of the House Santos Olikong, a Compact

opponent, found this inflexible position to be unacceptable.

General Bias’ comments on Palau revealed the mind set of a man who had worked on the Compact, had a superficial acquaintance with the complex society largely based on a top down perspective, and was pro foundly pro-American. Pro nouncing his pride in his Marine background and the fact that he is a veteran of World War 11, Korea and Vietnam, and the only person sitting in Congress to have served in all three wars and to be a general, Congress man Bias threatened at one point to walk out on the forum when a member of the audi ence expressed anti-American sentiments. “When it comes to defending America, I’m a full way guy,” the ex-Marine pro nounced in a huff, although he adds that he also is “a severe critic of the military. ” And in a reference to Soviet Pacific over tures, Mr Bias warned his audi ence to “watch out for ‘lvan’s’ smile. ”

The Guamanian made a number of interesting observa tions on the role of the Pacific Islands’ Congressmen at the U.S. House of Representatives.

Delegate Bias stated that de scribing this group as “non voting is misleading, because although we do not vote on the floor of the House, we vote in committee, and 90% of the bills passed on committee pass in the Congress.” Congressman Bias sits on a number of key committees, including the In terior, Asia and Pacific, and House Armed Services commit tees and sub-committees. He claimed that he has recently introduced three bills that were enacted as legislation, and pointed out that American Samoa’s Congressman Fofo Sunia is also “an influential force in Congress,” expressing the views of the Pacific with him. E. Rampell in Hawaii.

Congressman Ben Bias.

Congressman Fofo Sunia.