LEGISLATORS TO U.S. CONGRESS Feds can help enforce laws

Legislative leaders underscored the need for active participation by federal agencies in the enforcement of U.S. laws in the Northern Marianas, saying this will help local authorities enforce labor and immigration reforms on the island.

Testifying before the U.S. House Resources Committee in a hearing held Thursday in Washington D.C. (Friday local time), House Speaker Diego T. Benavente and Senate President Paul A. Manglona said the legislation put in place by CNMI are enough to help improve conditions here.

They also took the opportunity to appeal to Congress to reimburse the island government close to $29 million in expenditures incurred from hosting thousands of Micronesians under the Compact of Free Association forged by Washington with neighboring islands in the region.

“The Commonwealth has earnestly begun to reform itself. We believe that a necessary ‘part of the equation’ in our enforcement effort is the active participation of federal agencies in the enforcement of federal laws,” said Benavente and Manglona.

The presiding officers of the Legislature appeared before the committee, which has oversight of the CNMI and other U.S. insular areas, during the hearing tackling enforcement of federal labor laws as well as use of federal funds by the island government.

The hearing came two days after the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee conducted a separate hearing on the legislation that will extend the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act to the Commonwealth.

In their testimony submitted to House Resources Committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska), Benavente and Manglona reiterated the island’s opposition against the federal takeover proposal in an effort to drum up support in the lower house to block the Senate measure.

“We believe that the INA should not apply to the Commonwealth,” they explained. “We believe that the Commonwealth should be allowed to continue to enact and enforce laws that would eliminate guest worker abuse and address the criticisms that have earlier been made against” the island.

Reform legislation to continue: Their 11-page joint testimony, one of several position papers presented by Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio and representatives from the business sector to the committee, outlined legislation which they said have helped the CNMI deal with Washington’s concerns on alleged labor abuses and uncontrolled entry of alien workers here.

At least seven measures passed since Tenorio assumed office in January 1998 have allowed the Commonwealth to stem labor abuses against guest workers and improve local handling of its immigration system.

The Legislature vowed to continue these reform legislation to fend off criticisms leveled by White House against the CNMI and to implement much-needed changes in local labor and immigration.

“We are committed to rectifying the abuses of the past so that we do not repeat them again, and so that we will regain our credibility and reputation in the eyes of those around us,” they said.

But they stressed federal agencies, like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Occupational Safety and Health Administration, must establish permanent office on the island to assist the CNMI in these efforts.

A separate U.S. Attorney for the CNMI needs to be created to enhance enforcement of federal laws on the island.

On the failure by Washington to defray the costs of open migration by FAS citizens to the CNMI, Benavente and Manglona said these expenditures totaling $28.8 million between 1997 and 1998 must be settled immediately to prevent hampering delivery of services to the general public.

“We ask the Congress to take a closer look at the issue and consider the substantial expenses that have been or are being incurred by the Commonwealth on behalf of FAS citizens,” they pointed out.