Clinton staff, island leaders to hold economic meeting

Office of Insular Affairs Director Ferdinand Aranza met yesterday with Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio and other CNMI officials to sell the idea of a package of economic initiatives that a high-level group in the Clinton administration is mapping out in hopes to improve living standards in U.S. territories.

The meeting was in preparation for the forthcoming discussion between the group of senior White House officials and the governors of the CNMI, Guam, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa next month in what the OIA chief described as “historic.”

This scheduled discussion will be held during the National Governors Association convention in Washington D.C. in late February. “This is the very first time that U.S. territories are having the highest level of attention at the White House in this administration,” Mr. Aranza said.

President Clinton has formed an inter-agency working group on insular areas which will embark on major economic initiatives, including financial assistance, aimed at bringing the quality of life, such as per capita income and employment, on the islands at par with the national average, according to the OIA chief.

Mr. Aranza is currently visiting the four territories to draw up the plan. He left for Guam yesterday immediately after meeting with Mr. Tenorio, Lt. Gov. Jesus R. Sablan and Mike Sablan, the governor’s chief financial advisor.

The visit, he said, is intended to seek recommendations from each island government, while at the same time gathering information from federal agencies.

“We are going to mesh the two ideas — what the federal agencies do in the territories and what the insular governors want. We will marry these two ideas and hopefully come together with a major economic initiative for proposals in March,” Mr. Aranza told reporters in an interview.

Citing their discussion during his last visit to Saipan in October, the federal official said he wants to get an update on issues raised by the CNMI government, such as aviation, tourism, trade and other economic agenda laid down by Mr. Tenorio.

“What we want to do is to see if there’s things that we can do in March in terms of legislation, executive orders from the president or what federal agencies can do just on their level to achieve these things,” said Mr. Aranza.

He, however, indicated that the high-level meeting will not tackle issues on federal takeover proposals being waged by the Clinton administration, noting that OIA and the CNMI have agreed to disagree on these points in order to press other cooperative efforts.

CNMI officials and private sector leaders have maintained that the island’s economy is at risk in the attempt by the federal government to strip local control over its immigration, minimum wage and custom standards.

“If these two issues [on federal takeover and economic initiatives] get mixed together, it will be hard for us to move forward,” Mr. Aranza explained. “It will be better to separate the two and move forward on those things that we agree on.”

According to the OIA chief, the proposed group bringing together four other insular areas in a round-table discussion with senior officials will have “staying power” working closely with Mr. Clinton.

Noting that the president’s term ends this year, Mr. Aranza stressed they need to work out a specific plan in order to achieve its aims. “There is a new group in the White House that will really make our job a lot easier,” he added.