Yokwe.net has a detailed article explaining the push among some US House Members to reinstate certain Federal benefits to citizens of the Freely Associated States (FAS). As the article explains, these states, including the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshalls, enjoy a specially relationship with the following characteristics:
• The Compact of Free Association established these nations as sovereign States responsible for their own foreign policies. However, the FAS remain dependent upon the United States for military protection and economic assistance.
• Under the Compact, the United States has the right to reject the strategic use of, or military access to, the FAS by other countries. This right is often referred to as the ``right of strategic denial.'' In addition, 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.'' The Compact also states that the United States has exclusive military base rights in the FAS.
• In exchange for these prerogatives, the U.S. is required to support the FAS economically, with the goal of producing self-sufficiency, and FAS citizens are allowed free entry into the United States as non-immigrants for the purposes of education, medical treatment, and employment. Because of this ability to travel within the United States as a non-immigrant, many FAS citizens have since migrated to the State of Hawaii.
Father Francis Hezel of the Micronesian Seminar editorializes about reform in Chuuk State
In Habele organization news, donors from Southern California continue to provide Head Start and Primary Schools on Falalop Ulithi with education toys and games. Another box is being mailed sometime this week.
Also, donors and volunteers are encourage to contact board members with comments and feedback they would like to be considered at the upcoming Habele Board of Directors meeting, set to convene in Columbia, South Carolina in mid-November.
Habele is a an all-volunteer not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting educational opportunities and accomplishment in the remote islands and atolls of the Central Caroline Islands, commonly known as Micronesia
