11777 proposes. Enactment of this bill, as amended, will be a recognition that the Virgin Islands have accumulated sufficient political maturity and practice in the art of self-government to warrant this step. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS Section 1 of the amended bill amends section 9 of the revised organic act by eliminating the provision for Presidential veto as a part of the lawmaking process and by providing that a gubernatorial veto may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of all the members of the legislature. Section 2 amends section 11 of the organic act to provide for the popular election of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor jointly for a 2-year term. The first election is to be held in November of this year. Section 2 also creates the office of Lieutenant Governor to replace the present office of government secretary. Section 3 provides the method for the removal from office of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor by impeachment. A resolution to impeach must first be passed by a yea-and-nay vote of the legislature, and three-fourths of all the members of the legislature must vote in favor of it. The charges will be tried by a special court of three judges appointed by the chief judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. A judgment, whether of acquittal or of conviction, by this special court will not be reviewable elsewhere. The provisions of this section are adapted from those of the constitution of Nebraska, the only State of the Union having a unicameral legislature. Section 4 deletes from the revised organic act a provision authorizing the Governor to appoint administrative assistants for St. John and St. Croix. This is in keeping with the view that such matters should hereafter be determined by the laws of the Virgin Islands. Section 5 creates a line of succession in the event of a vacancy, temporary or permanent, in the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor. Section 6 repeals a provision of existing law which bars the creation of new departments and agencies in the executive branch of the Virgin Islands government without the consent of the Secretary of the Interior. Section 7 provides that all salaries and expenses connected with the executive and legislative departments of the Virgin Islands shall be paid locally. Section 8 in effect extends to the Virgin Islands the provisions of article IV, section 2, paragraph 1, and amendment XIV, section 1, of the U.S. Constitution. These are the privileges and immunities clauses of article IV and amendment XIV and the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th amendment. Section 9 extends to the Virgin Islands the portion of the general military laws which authorizes the President to call upon Federal or local forces in case of insurrection or other similar emergency. Section 10 makes January 5, 1967, the effective date of the act except for its election provisions. The latter becomes effective immediately upon enactment. Section 11 states that the act shall be known as the Virgin Islands Elective Governor Act. COMMITTEE AMENDMENT The committee amendment strikes all below the enacting clause of the original bill and inserts new text in lieu thereof. The principal differences between the substitute and the original text are the provision for a 2-year, rather than a 4year, term of office for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor; the substitution of impeachment proceedings for the recall and Presidential removal proceedings contemplated by the original bill; and the amendment of the present law to delete provisions relating to Presidential approval and veto of acts of the Virgin Islands Legislature. COST No additional Federal expenditures are involved in the legislation. Actually, there will be a slight reduction since the territory of the Virgin Islands is assuming the salary and expenses of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION AND DEPARTMENTAL REPORT The executive communication from the Secretary of the Interior, dated October 20, 1965, is as follows: 61-023-66 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D.C., October 20, 1965. Hon. JOHN W. McCORMACK, DEAR MR. SPEAKER: Enclosed is a draft of a proposed bill to provide for the popular election of the Governor of the Virgin Islands, and for other purposes. We urge the enactment of this proposed legislation. This legislation represents an important forward step in the development of selfgovernment in the Virgin Islands and toward the fulfillment of the political aspirations of its people. In fact, the Federal power to appoint Governors of the territories presently is being used in the direction of encouraging local leadership and in providing Governors who are within the Federal limitations that will be observed by elected as well as appointed Governors-advocates of the territories' own best interests. The incumbent Governor of the Virgin Islands is a native and lifelong resident of the Virgin Islands. But even this larger recognition of the local desire for home rule that is presently in practice, as a matter of executive policy, is no substitute for home rule granted as a right. Furthermore, we encounter the possibility that an appointed Governor, no matter how wisely and carefully he may have been selected, would not be the choice of the people if they were given the opportunity to elect their Governor by popular vote. It is clear that an appointment policy which is presently dedicated to the practice of selecting Governors who are local residents and locally oriented does not fill the democratic desire of the people of the territories for self-government, nor does any appointment policy not required by law to give preference to local resident appointees give permanent assurance of local leadership in local affairs. The enclosed proposed legislation will permit the people of the Virgin Islands to elect their own Governor and Lieutenant Governor. The Virgin Islands became a U.S. territory in 1917, through purchase from Denmark, with the early governing function being carried out by a Naval Commander-Governor. Since 1954, the Government of the Virgin Islands has been organized pursuant to the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands, which substantially revised the organic act of 1936. Provision is made for a civilian administration and an elected legislature with statutory powers of local govern ment. A civilian Governor, appointed by the President, was a logical replacement of a Naval Commander-Governor and provided orderly transition between periods of military government and a civilian government with many newly established self-governing powers. The people of the Virgin Islands have elected legislators, have organized a party system, and have identified, discussed, and voted their opinions on matters of local concern. The elected members of the legislature, in turn, have debated the issues, and at times have disagreed with the Governor or with fellow members, in the manner of free legislatures everywhere. The elected legislators have enacted laws of local application, and have levied taxes and appropriated funds sufficient for the ordinary needs of the local government without resort to direct Federal appropriation. On the record, the people of the Virgin Islands have gained sufficient political maturity and practice in the art of self-government to eliminate from the revised organic act what may be viewed historically as a transition feature: the Federal appointment of the principal executive officers of the Virgin Islands. The people of the Virgin Islands now appear ready, willing, and able to elect their own. In a number of important respects, the enclosed draft differs from the draft transmitted in 1964 (introduced into the 88th Congress as H.R. 12420), which was based in large part on organic act provisions for the appointed Governor. The substantive revisions of this draft are aimed in the direction of more selfgovernment, with certain Federal controls over the office of Governor being eliminated, while local checks and balances over his office are correspondingly increased. The draft calls for the Lieutenant Governor to be an elected official, rather than an appointee of the Governor. The draft provides that the Governor shall be subject to recall by the people of the Virgin Islands, as well as providing for his removal by the President for cause. Some of the emergency powers of the appointed Governor that were authorized in the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands are inappropriate for an elected local official, not supervised by the President or his designee, and they have been eliminated or curtailed. Thus, the elected Governor will not be permitted to grant respites for offenses against the laws of the United States, nor to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. More apecifically: 1. Section 1 of the bill, by amendment to section 11 of the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands, provides for the popular election of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor in November 1966, and defines the scope of the Governor's authority. An elected Lieutenant Governor, in contrast to a Government Secretary appointed by the Governor, will insure administration of the Virgin Islands by an elected official in the event of temporary absence of its Governor or permanent vacancy of his office. An elected Lieutenant Governor has been suggested by the Virgin Islands Constitutional Convention. A majority vote is required to elect, and a runoff will be held in case a majority is not obtained in the first election. "Personality" factions may develop in a small community resulting in a proliferation of factional candidates, which would make possible the election of a Governor with little popular support if election by majority vote were not required. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor always will be members of the same party because under the terms of the bill voters are required to cast one vote for both offices, as in the State of New York (New York Constitution, Art. IV, sec. 1). The Governor will hold office for 4 years, but to coordinate the term of the Governor with the presidential election cycle the first elected Governor will serve for only 2 years. Election of a Governor in the Virgin Islands at the same time a President is elected in the United States will permit candidates in the Virgin Islands, if they choose to do so, to identify with the program and candidates of one of the national political parties. In this way, the Virgin Islands electorate will be better informed of the political philosophy of the candidates, and the policies each is likely to follow as Governor, than would be the case if only local issues were to be debated in an off year. The date of the general election is established in section 10 of the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands. To qualify for election as Governor or Lieutenant Governor, a candidate must have been a U.S. citizen and bona fide resident of the Virgin Islands for 5 years immediately preceding the election, must be able to read and write English, and must be at least 30 years old or have his 30th birthday on or before the beginning of his term. With one principal exception (pertaining to the writ of habeas corpus, and discussed below), the duties expressly assigned to the Governor do not depart significantly from the similar powers and duties of an appointed Governor in the Virgin Islands Revised Organic Act. An elected Governor will not be authorized to call out the militia to prevent or suppress violence whenever it becomes necessary unless the violence is "lawless" (cf. Hawaii, constitution, art. IV, sec. 5; Alaska, constitution, art III, sec. 19). However, martial law, which may be declared under the provisions of this draft, as under the revised organic act, "in case of rebellion or invasion or imminent danger thereof, when the public safety requires it" may be revoked by the legislature, meeting forthwith on its own initiative, and not by the President of the United States (cf. Puerto Rico, constitution, art. IV, sec. 4). It is more in keeping with the pattern of local selfgovernment to provide local checks and balances over the actions of an elected Governor. It should be noted, however, that an improper exertion of military power by the Governor would be subject to judicial inquiry and may be enjoined, if deemed to invade rights secured by the revised organic act or by any portions of the Constitution of the United States now or hereafter made applicable in the Virgin Islands (Sterling v. Constantin, 287 U.S. 378 (1932); Balzac v. Porto Rico, 258 U.S. 298 (1922); Mora v. Mejias, 206 F. 2d 377 (1st Cir. 1953); sec. 6 of the enclosed draft). The elected Governor will not be granted the power, which was granted to the appointed Governor under the revised organic act, to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, even in cases of invasion or rebellion when martial law may be declared. Presently in the Virgin Islands, as in the United States, the writ of habeas corpus may be suspended in such emergencies, when the public safety requires it (revised organic act, sec. 11, U.S. Constitution, art. 1, sec. 9). The power to suspend this most fundamental right is generally viewed as a legislative and not an executive power, except in those instances when the President acts as Commander in Chief, and then only in the area, and during the period of, actual military operations (25 Am. Jur. Habeas Corpus, sec. 8; Corwin, "The Constitution and What It Means Today," 1951, p. 70; Ex parte Milligan, 4 Wall. 2 (1866)). The declaration of martial law may be viewed as an ipso facto suspension of the writ, or at least of the requirement to comply with the writ; on grounds of necessity, a military commander has an unquestioned power "simply to arrest and detain civilians interfering with a necessary military function at a time of turbulence and danger from insurrection or war" (Ďuncan v. Kahanamoku, 327 U.S. 304, 314 (1946)). In declaring martial law, the elected Governor will be authorizing his own militia to act vigorously in case of actual or threatened rebellion or invasion, but not to supplant civilian courts with military tribunals, if conditions permit civilian courts to function (Duncan v. Kahanamoku, op cit., Ex parte Milligan, op. cit.). The federally appointed Governor has been given extraordinary power under the Virgin Islands Organic Act to call upon the U.S. Armed Forces, which, with reference to the Army and the Air Force, is a power expressly prohibited, without special authorization, to local officials, such as elected Governors, by the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 1385. This authority is continued by the enclosed draft. The bill permits the elected Governor to request assistance from the local military commanders in emergencies, and the Governor's request may be made directly, as 18 U.S.C. 1385 might otherwise forbid, without prior clearance through Washington. The draft bill makes it clear that the local military commander will not be required to respond to the Governor's request, but may give such assistance if it is not disruptive of his military commitments or inconsistent with his Federal responsibilities, including policy directives from the President as his Commander in Chief. The Commander's decision not to render such assistance will be entirely at his discretion. Although the Governor of the Virgin Islands will no longer be able to call for the use of the armed services as a matter of right, the President will be authorized to use the U.S. Armed Forces to enforce Federal laws or to suppress rebellion in the Virgin Islands exactly as he is authorized to use such forces for such purposes in any State of the United States, either on his own initiatve or at the request of the legislature or the Governor. Section 7 of the proposed bill therefore provides, by appropriate amendment of Federal military law, that for the purposes of chapter 15 (insurrection) of title 10 of the United States Code, "State" shall include the Virgin Islands. As technical amendments, the draft bill authorizes the elected Governor to issue executive orders, as well as regulations, not inconsistent with any applicable law. He is also authorized to give expression to his views as well as to make legislative proposals to the legislature. The Secretary of the Interior no longer will have supervisory authority over the Governor's exercise of his powers, nor will the Secretary or the President delegate functions to the elected Governor, except as may be authorized by other acts of Congress (see, for example, 44 U.S.C. 82). Relations between the Virgin Islands and the Federal Government, however, will remain "under the general administrative supervision" of the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to section 30 of the revised organic act (48 U.S.C. 1544). The elected Governor, as is presently the case with the appointed Governor, will be required to report annually to the Congress on the transactions of the government of the Virgin Islands. For administrative convenience, the annual report as well as any other reports required to be made to Federal agencies will be channeled through the Department of the Interior. The draft bill establishes the office of Lieutenant Governor and eliminates the appointed government secretary. The person elected as Lieutenant Governor should be, after the pattern of the draft, a person fully qualified to act as Governor or to assume the office of Governor in the eventualities set forth in section 3. Accordingly, the duties of the elected Lieutenant Governor are not specified, and he may be assigned whatever duties the elected Governor or the Virgin Islands Legislature provides, and he has been relieved of the ministerial duties of the appointed government secretary. 2. Section 2 of the proposed bill makes an important revision in the organic act. The appointed Governor and Government Secretary now serve for 4 years but may be removed by the President (cf. S. Rept. 2109, 81st Cong., 2d sess., p. 5). In the enclosed draft the elected Governor is made subject to removal by the President for cause and also by his own electrocate by the recall process. The recall provision provides that the Governor may be recalled by a 75-percent vote in a special referendum, which may be initiated either on petition of 25 percent of the registered voters of the Virgin Islands or by a two-thirds vote of the legislature in favor of referendum. In part, the provision parallels section 8 of article III of the Constitution of Michigan, which permits recall upon petition of 25 percent of the voters; however, the voters in a Virgin Islands referendum may include all persons registered to vote and not merely, as in the case of Michigan, persons who voted in a prior election. In part, the provision parallels a provision recommended by the Constitutional Convention of the Virgin Islands. As the convention recommended, the referendum may be initiated by a two-thirds vote of the legislature as well as by voters' petition to the legislature. This provision protects a Governor elected by a slim majority, since he cannot be recalled by any slight shift in the winds of public opinion, but only by a very substantial 75-percent vote against him. A recall would be a controversial subject, with a high percentage of voters registering an opinion on the important issue, however, if apathy among the Governor's erstwhile supporters leaves decision in the referendum mainly to opposition voters, the nonsupport of the former plus the registered opposition of the latter also will justify his recall. It may be noted that the recall procedure does not necessarily, in the manner of impeachment, impugn the character of the Governor, nor is it limited to cases of nonfeasance, misfeasance, or malfeasance in office (Wallace v. Tripp, 101 N.W. 2d 312 (S.C. Mich. 1960)). The details of the recall procedure, such as the minimum period before a recall based on conduct in office will be in order, or the content of a recall petition, are matters properly left to local legislation. Removal of a Governor by an impeachment procedure patterned after provisions of the U.S. Constitution (art. I, secs. 2 and 3) or the Constitution of Puerto Rico (art. III, sec. 21) is not deemed suitable for the Virgin Islands, which has a unicameral legislature and no convenient alternative institution independent of the executive which might initiate impeachment proceedings to be tried by its legislature, sitting on oath or affirmation, in the role of an upper house. A Governor accused of a crime would be subject to a recall action by the people. 3. Section 3 of the proposed bill covers temporary or permanent vacancy in the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor, or both. In case of a temporary disability or absence of the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor exercises the powers of the Governor, but does not assume his office. In the event the office were to become permanently vacant by reason of the death, resignation, or permanent disability of a Governor (or Governor-elect) recall of a Governor, the Lieutenant Governor (or Lieutenant Governor-elect) will succeed to the office of Governor for the unexpired term. In case of temporary disability or absence of a Lieutenant Governor, the Governor will appoint a government employee to act as Lieutenant Governor, but if the Office of Lieutenant Governor is permanently vacant, the Governor may appoint any qualified person to be the new Lieutenant Governor, subject to approval of the legislature. The temporary administrator, in case of temporary disability or absence of both Governor and Lieutenant Governor, as well as their successors in case of permanent vacancy in both offices, will be determined under local law. Territorial legislation could be enacted to deal with the possibility of controversy as to the permanent disability of any Governor or the fitness of any temporarily disabled Governor to resume the duties of his office. 4. Section 4 repeals the provision of existing law which bars the creation of new departments and agencies in the executive branch of the Virgin Islands government unless the prior consent of the Secretary of the Interior is obtained. The continuation of that power in the Secretary seems wholly inconsistent with the increased measure of self-government which the bill confers upon the people of the Virgin Islands. The section also terminates the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to appoint an Acting Governor, if either of the top two executives are unable to serve. 5. Section 5 of the proposed bill provides for payment from local funds of the salaries of all executive, legislative, and judicial officials who are employees of the government of the Virgin Islands, at rates prescribed by the laws of the Virgin Islands. Payment of the salaries of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor from local, instead of Federal funds, at rates established under local, not Federal, law is a logical consequence of the proposed alteration in the Governor's status. Federal payment of salaries of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands was eliminated by Public Law 89-98, signed July 30, 1965. The U.S. district court judge, U.S. attorney, and marshal will continue to be federally appointed officials, paid from Federal funds. 6. Section 6 of the proposed bill will guarantee to U.S. citizens not resident in the Virgin Islands the privileges and immunities of U.S. citizens resident in the Virgin Islands (U.S. Constitution, art. IV, sec. 2) and will further guarantee to all U.S. citizens in or entering the Virgin Islands-including the corporations of any of the United States-rights of national citizenship, "such as the right to |