American Samoa to vote; (5) noted with interest the signs of an economic recovery and urged the United States to supply a secure water supply system and a reliable electric power system; (6) reiterated its support for the dispatch of visiting missions to non-self-governing territories; and (7) urged the participation of representatives of American Samoa in the Subcommittee's discussion of the territory.

When the referendum was held on August 31, the voters decided by a majority of 70% in favor of having an elected governor and lieutenant governor. An Elective Governor Advisory Commission, made up of representatives of the U.S. Government and the American Samoan Government, began work to assist in the implementation of this decision.

GUAM

The Subcommittee on Small Territories considered Guam at seven meetings between July 16 and August 3. On July 16, the U.S. Representative, Mr. Kressler, reported on the devastation caused by typhoon Pamela, which struck Guam on May 20 with sustained winds of 170 miles per hour and gusts up to 215 miles per hour. Typhoon force winds had battered the island for 36 hours, killing 2 persons, seriously injuring 12, and inflicting minor injuries. on 800. Virtually all the foliage on Guam was destroyed, and 2,955 homes were destroyed, 2,891 sustained major damage, and some 5,200 suffered minor damage. Water and sewer systems were out of commission and the power distribution system suffered major damage. Damage costs were estimated at over $25 million to the Government of Guam and some $147 million to the private sector. The Red Cross had been active from the day after the typhoon, and President Ford had declared the island a major disaster area within 2 days, opening the way to various Federal assistance programs. It was expected to be several years before operations on Guam would be fully restored to their normal level.

With respect to political developments, the U.S. Representative said that the Guam Political Status Commission--a 13-member body consisting of members from the majority and minority ranks of the legislature, the executive branch, and the community--had developed a timetable leading to a political status referendum scheduled for September 1976. The purpose of the referendum was to determine the desires of the people of Guam concerning their future relationship with the U.S. Federal Government. Speaking for the United States on July 27, Anne E. Foreman gave further details on the status referendum. The people would be asked to choose

among remaining an unincorporated territory of the United States, remaining a territory with a separate constitution, becoming a state, declaring independence, or some other relationship with the United States. In a step toward authorizing the people of Guam to draft a local constitution, she said that the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate had approved separate bills containing such authorization. The bills were expected to be reconciled and sent to the President for signature in the near future.

On August 20 the Full Committee without objection adopted the report of the Subcommittee and endorsed its conclusions and recommendations. The Committee, inter alia, (1) reaffirmed the right of the people of Guam to self-determination and independence in conformity with the Colonialism Declaration; (2) noted the steps taken to hold a political status referendum and called on the United States to ensure that all the members of the Guam Political Status Commission were consulted prior to the drafting of a Guam constitution; (3) expressed its "concern over the continuing presence of the military bases of the administering Power on Guam and the hope that that presence will not be an inhibiting factor in permitting the people of the territory to exercise their right to self-determination in accordance with resolution 1514 (XV) as well as the principles and objectives of the Charter"; (4) expressed its "profound regret" over the effects of typhoon Pamela; and (5) stressed the need for UN participation in ascertaining the political status wishes of the people of Guam through the dispatch of a visiting mission to Guam and the participation of Guamanian representatives in the Committee's consideration of the territory.

After the Committee of 24 had completed its consideration of Guam, the United States transmitted the results of the September 4 referendum and informed the Committee that the U.S. Congress had enacted legislation authorizing the convening of a local constitutional convention. 17,600 voters participating in the referendum, 58% voted for "improvement of present status," which was defined to mean that Guam would "continue its close relationship with the United States" but under its own constitution; 24% voted for statehood; 9% supported the status quo; 6% selected independence; and 3% chose "other."

3/ Public Law 94-584.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY ACTION

The three U.S. territories and a number of other small territories were considered by the 31st General Assembly's Fourth Committee between October 26 and November 25 under the agenda item "Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples." (See also p. 333.) Draft resolutions on American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam were approved on November 18, 19, and 25, respectively; all three were adopted by the plenary Assembly on December 1. The first two were adopted without objection, with the United States making a statement in each case indicating its reservations; the resolution on Guam was adopted over strong U.S. opposition.

The resolutions on American Samoa4/ and the U.S. Virgin Islands5/each (1) approved the respective chapters of the Committee of 24 report; (2) reaffirmed the right of the local people to self-determination and independence in accordance with the Colonialism Declaration; (3) reaffirmed that questions of territorial size, geographical location, and limited resources should in no way delay implementa tion of the Declaration; (4) called on the United States to work with the elected representatives of the people to ensure the full and speedy attainment of the goals of the Declaration; (5) called for the diversification of the economy and concrete programs of assistance and economic development; (6) requested the United States to consider favorably inviting visiting missions to observe conditions in the territories; (7) urged the United States, with the cooperation of the local governments, to safeguard the right of the people of the territories to the enjoy ment of their natural resources; (8) requested the United States to continue enlisting the assistance of UN specialized agencies and organizations in accelerating progress in all sectors of the life of the territories; and (9) requested the Committee of 24 to continue seeking the best ways to implement the Colonialism Declaration with respect to the territories and to report to the General Assembly at its next session.

While participating in the consensus approval of the draft resolutions, the United States stated its concern that they did not refer to political status alternatives other than independence, which was only one possible outcome of an act of selfdetermination, and emphasized that the question of

4/ Resolution 31/55.

5/ Resolution 31/57.

visiting missions was to be resolved on a voluntary basis and was fully at the discretion of the administering authority.

The resolution on Guam was similar to those on American Samoa and the Virgin Islands, except that it contained a preambular paragraph "deploring the policy of the administering power in continuing to maintain military installations on Guam, in contravention of the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly," and an operative paragraph in which the General Assembly "strongly deprecates the establishment of military installations on Guam as being incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and of resolution 1514 (XV)."

The resolution was approved in committee by a recorded vote of 60 to 21 (U.S.), with 42 abstentions, and adopted by the plenary Assembly by a recorded yote of 61 to 22 (U.S.), with 42 abstentions.6/ Ambassador Scranton said in the Fourth Committee that the United States did not recognize the right of the Committee of 24 to question the legitimacy of the military bases on Guam and found it inappropriate that it should express concern over the maintenance of the bases. Even more inappropriate was the Fourth Committee's resolution which went beyond the language of the Committee of 24 by deploring and deprecating the bases, which were an important element in the defense of the United States, contributed to the security of the Pacific region, and were consistent with the UN Charter. Ambassador Scranton also expressed U.S. opposition to another preambular paragraph of the resolution. which said that there was a need to "accelerate" progress toward full implementation of the Colonialism Declaration since that implied that the rate of progress was unsatisfactory. Finally, he reaffirmed that independence was only one possible outcome of an act of self-determination.

In reaffirming the U.S. position before the vote in plenary, Senator Howard H. Baker, Jr., recalled that Guam was a territory of the United States and the people of Guam were American citizens. Under the UN Charter and international law, the United States had an unquestionable right to defend its territory and establish such bases there as were necessary to the defense of the United States and to the collective defense of the United States and its allies.

6/ Resolution 31/58.

NAMIBIA

The question of Namibia (or South-West Africa) has been on the agenda of every session of the General Assembly since 1946, when it arose at the second part of the first session. At its 21st session, in 1966, the Assembly terminated South Africa's mandate over the territory. At its fifth special session, in the spring of 1967, it established a UN Council to administer the territory until indepen77t dence and created a UN Commissioner/ to whom the Council could entrust such executive and administrative tasks as it deemed necessary. The Assembly also established, in 1971, a UN Fund for Namibia to put into effect a comprehensive program of assistance to Namibians. The Fund, in turn, established a UN Institute for Namibia in Lusaka, Zambia which was formally inaugurated on August 26, 1976.

In addition, the Security Council has considered the situation in Namibia and has adopted resolutions on the territory every year since 1968.

SECURITY COUNCIL

Following the June 21, 1971, opinion of the International Court of Justice that concluded that South Africa's continued occupation of Namibia was illegal and that it was bound to withdraw, the Council met on the average of twice a year to consider steps to bring the territory to independence. In June 1975 the United States, United Kingdom, and France had joined in vetoing a draft resolution which would have found that the situation in Namibia constituted a threat to international peace and security under Article 39 (Chapter VII) of the UN

7/ Members of the UN Council for Namibia in 1976 were Algeria, Australia, Bangladesh, Botswana, Burundi, Chile, China, Colombia, Egypt, Finland, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Liberia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Turkey, U.S.S.R., Yugoslavia, and Zambia.

8/ In 1976 the UN Commissioner for Namibia was Sean MacBride (Ireland). On Dec. 22 the 31st General Assembly approved without objection the Secretary General's appointment of Martti Ahtisaari (Finland) as Commissioner for a 1-year term beginning Jan. 1, 1977.