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7336424
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President Signs H.R. 11559, submerged lands: Guam, Virgin Islands, and American Samoa [Signing Statements and Announcements]
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doc
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1
Source metadata
id
7336424
sourceUrl
contentType
document
title
President Signs H.R. 11559, submerged lands: Guam, Virgin Islands, and American Samoa [Signing Statements and Announcements]
citationUrl
collections
White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
Press Releases
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U.S. House of Representatives. (03/04/1789 - )
Legislation
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7336424
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day
5
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1974-10-05
month
10
year
1974
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nara-archive
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1
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6989f58db1864253
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Digitized from Box 3 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
October 5, 1974
Office of the White House Press Secretary
NOTICE TO THE PRESS
The President has signed H.R. 11559 -- submerged lands: Guam, Virgin
Islands, and American Samoa which transfers title to certain submerged
lands and uplands from the Federal Government to the jurisdiction of the
territorial governments of Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.
Under provisions of a 1963 Act, the Secretary of the Interior was given limited
authority to convey title to certain submerged lands to the governments of Guam,
the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. However, this authority has seen
scant use and for the most part the submerged lands of these territories are
presently owned by the Federal Government and administered by Interior.
H. R. 11559 will convey to the governments of Guam, the Virgin Islands and
American Samoa title to the submerged lands beneath the three-mile territorial
sea adjacent to their respective coastlines. The conveyance will be subject
(a) to valid existing rights and (b) to eleven specific exemptions which taken
together mean that little more than bare title to the submerged land S plus
coral, sand, and gravel will initially pass to the territories. However, most
of the conveyance exemptions will be overridden by the Secretary with the
concurrence of the Federal agency having jurisdiction over the area after
providing the Congressional Interior Committees with 60-days notice of the
proposed conveyance action.
H.R. 11559 also will transfer income and trespass action rights associated
with the conveyed submerged lands to the local government under whose
jurisdiction the land will be placed. The estimated annual income to all three
territories from sales of resources in the submerged lands will be only about
$300, 000 according to Interior staff.
The enrolled bill will fully protect the United States' interests in national
defense, commerce navigation, flood control, production of power, and
international affairs in each of the three territories. Section 2 of the bill
specifically preserves the right of the President to establish naval defensive
sea areas and naval airspace reservations around and over the islands of
Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa when deemed necessary for
national defense.
Finally, the enrolled bill will convey full title to the Virgin Islands
government of Federal properties which were placed under its control by
the 1937 Virgin Islands Organic Act, if such properties are not otherwise
reserved by the Secretary of the Interior within 120-days after enactment;
however, this will not be applicable to National Park Service properties.
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