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Representatives of the Compact states meeting in Kolonia, Micronesia in 2019. Left to right: American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Micronesian President David Panuelo, Marshallese President Hilda Heine, and Palauan Vice President Raynold Oilouch
The Compact of Free Association (COFA) is an international agreement establishing and governing the relationships of free association between the United States and the three Pacific Island sovereign states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Republic of Palau. As a result, these nations are sometimes known as the Freely Associated States.
These nations, together with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, formerly composed the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, a United Nations trusteeship administered by the United States Navy from 1947 to 1951 and by the US Department of the Interior from 1951 to 1986 (to 1994 for Palau).
The compact came into being as an extension of the US–UN territorial trusteeship agreement, which obliged the federal government of the United States
"to promote the development of the people of the Trust Territory toward
self-government or independence as appropriate to the particular
circumstances of the Trust Territory and its peoples and the freely
expressed wishes of the peoples concerned".
Under the compact, the US federal government provides guaranteed
financial assistance over a 15-year period administered through its Office of Insular Affairs in exchange for full international defense authority and responsibilities.
The Compact of Free Association was initialed by negotiators in 1980 and signed by the parties in the years 1982 and 1983. It was approved by the citizens of the Pacific states in plebiscites held in 1983. Legislation on the Compact was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1986 and signed into law on November 13, 1986.
Economic provisions
Each
of the associated states actively participate in all Office of Insular
Affairs technical assistance activities. The US gives only these
countries access to many US domestic programs, including disaster response and recovery and hazard mitigation programs under the Federal Emergency Management Agency, some US Department of Education programs including the Pell Grant, and services provided by the National Weather Service, the United States Postal Service, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Communications Commission, and US representation to the International Frequency Registration Board of the International Telecommunication Union. The Compact area, while outside the customs area of the United States, is mainly duty-free for imports.
Most citizens of the associated states may live and work in the
United States, and most U.S. citizens and their spouses may live and
work in the associated states. In 1996, the US Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act removed Medicaid benefits for resident foreigners from the states, even after the five-year waiting period that most other resident aliens have.
Military provisions
The
COFA allows the United States to operate armed forces in Compact areas
and to demand land for operating bases (subject to negotiation), and
excludes the militaries of other countries without US permission. The
US in turn becomes responsible for protecting its affiliate countries
and responsible for administering all international defense treaties and
affairs, though it may not declare war on their behalf. It is not
allowed to use nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons in Palauan
territory.
In the territories of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of
Micronesia it is not allowed to store such weapons except in times of
national emergency, state of war, or when necessary to defend against an
actual or impending attack on the US, the Marshall Islands, or the
Federated States of Micronesia.
Citizens of the associated states may serve in America's armed
forces, and there is a high level of military enlistment by Compact
citizens. For example, in 2008, the Federated States of Micronesia had a
higher per-capita enlistment rate than any US state, and had more than
five times the national per-capita average of casualties in Iraq and
Afghanistan (9 soldiers out of a population of 107,000).
21st century renewal and updates
In
2003, the compacts with the RMI and FSM were renewed for 20 years.
These new compacts provided US$3.5 billion in funding for both
countries. US$30 million will also be disbursed annually among American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands
in "Compact Impact" funding. This funding helps the governments of
these localities cope with the expense of providing services to
immigrants from the RMI, FSM, and Palau. The US usage of Kwajalein Atoll for missile testing was renewed for the same period.
The new compacts also changed certain immigration rules. RMI and FSM
citizens traveling to the US are now required to have passports. The US Postal Service
was given the option to apply international postage rates for mail
between the US and RMI/FSM (phased in over five years). The USPS began
implementing the change in January 2006, but decided to resume domestic
services and rates in November 2007.
The renewed compact (commonly called "Compact II") for FSM took effect on June 25, 2004, and for RMI on June 30, 2004.
Map of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (1961)
The economic provisions of the Compact for Palau which provided $18
million in annual subsidies and grants, expired on September 30, 2009,
and the renewal talk was concluded in late 2010. US financial support for Palau is based on a continuing resolution passed by the U.S. Congress. The Compact Trust Fund set up to replace US financial aid underperformed because of the Great Recession. The military and civil defense provisions remained until 2015.
Senate Bill S.343, which would enact the results of the 15-year review, died in the 2011–12 Congress. Another bill, S.1268 in the 2013–14 Congress, also was not passed.
Other potential CFA states
The former government of the United States unincorporated territory of Guam, led by Governor Eddie Calvo,
campaigned for a plebiscite on Guam's future political status, with
free association following the model of the Marshall Islands,
Micronesia, and Palau as one of the possible options.
US fulfillment of commitments
The
United States' administration of the former trust territories now
covered under the Compacts of Free Association has been subject to
ongoing criticism over the past several decades. A 1961 United Nations
mission report initially noted deficiencies in "American administration
in almost every area: poor transportation, failure to settle war damage
claims; failure to adequately compensate for land taken for military
purposes; poor living conditions[;] inadequate economic development;
inadequate education programs; and almost nonexistent medical care." In 1971, congresswoman Patsy Mink
further noted that "[A]fter winning the right to control Micronesia,
[the US] proceeded to allow the islands to stagnate and decay through
indifference and lack of assistance. . . . [T]he people are still
largely impoverished and lacking in all of the basic amenities which we
consider essential – adequate education, housing, good health standards,
modern sanitation facilities."
After the compacts, criticism was also received by the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
regarding the unfulfilled commitments of the United States to address
the impacts of US nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands, which were
included as part of the Pacific Proving Grounds.
Speakers noted that while section 177 of the Compact of Free
Association recognized the United States' responsibility "to address
past, present and future consequences of the nuclear testing claims,"
less than $4 million was awarded out of a $2.2 billion judgement
rendered by a Nuclear Claims Tribunal created under the RMI Compact, and the United States Court of Claims had dismissed two lawsuits to enforce the judgement.
With respect to these unaddressed claims, medical practitioners also
noted the potential widespread impacts of nuclear testing within the
Pacific Proving Grounds, indicated by the prevalence of both radiogenic
diseases, as well as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity associated
with "[a] forced changed in dietary patterns and lifestyle" resulting
from US administration after the testing.
In 2011, lawmakers further noted that the US Congress had continuously
failed to cover the costs of promised medical care and services to
displaced compact citizens who migrate to the United States for health
care, education, and employment opportunities, particularly since the
passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act.
Questions regarding US responsibility have also been raised
regarding the issue of numerous derelict war ships and oil tankers
abandoned or destroyed by the US military in atolls and islands
throughout the compact area.
Health care issues
In 2009, the State of Hawaii, under the administration of then-Governor Linda Lingle,
attempted to restrict health care access for Compact citizens by
eliminating all Compact residents of Hawaii from Med-QUEST, the state’s
comprehensive Medicaid coverage plan.
COFA residents were instead subject to Basic Health Hawaii, a limited
health care plan under which "transportation services are excluded and
patients can receive no more than ten days of medically necessary
inpatient hospital care per year, twelve outpatient visits per year, and
a maximum of four medication prescriptions per calendar month. . . .
BHH covers dialysis treatments as an emergency medical service only, and
the approximate ten to twelve prescription medications dialysis
patients take per month are not fully covered. BHH . . . caus[es] cancer
patients to exhaust their allotted doctors' visits within two to three
months".
Noting that such a policy likely constituted unlawful discrimination in violation of the Equal Protection Clause, federal District Court Judge John Michael Seabright issued a preliminary injunction against the implementation of Basic Health Hawaii.
In finding a high likelihood of irreparable harm, Judge Seabright took
note of the "compelling evidence that BHH's limited coverage . . . is
causing COFA Residents to forego much needed treatment because they
cannot otherwise afford it". Lingle's successor, Governor Neil Abercrombie continued the state's appeal of the injunction to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit,
which ruled in favor of the state. When the United States Supreme Court
refused to hear the case, the Abercrombie administration removed most
COFA residents from Med-QUEST and transferred them onto Affordable Care
Act plans.
In other states, notably Arkansas, which has a significant population
of Marshallese, COFA residents have not been eligible for Medicaid.
