Senate Hearing on U.S. Relations with the Freely Associated States

The U.S. provides national defense and financial aid to these nations in exchange for strategic military access, but current funding agreements are set to expire in 2023 and 2024, creating uncertainty about future U.S. influence in the Pacific.

• •Financial assistance to the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia is scheduled to expire at the end of Fiscal Year 2023.
• •Financial assistance to the Republic of Palau is scheduled to expire at the end of Fiscal Year 2024.
• •Under the Compacts of Free Association, the U.S. provides national defense for these nations.
• •Citizens of these nations have the right to live, work, and attend school in the U.S. without a visa.
• •The U.S. maintains strategic access to the lands and waters of these nations and the right to deny access to other countries.
• •The U.S. conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958.
• •The Department of the Interior serves as the primary pipeline for U.S. financial assistance to these nations.

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.