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Senators head to Washington
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Posted on Jul 25 2000
At Issue: Senators head to Washington to lobby against anti-CNMI measures without confirmed schedules.
Our View: Good intention, however, a bit too late as election year activities pick-up speed.
It is a good idea to bring a delegation from the islands to work the offices of 100 senators and over 500 members of the US House of Representatives to stave off anti-CNMI legislation.
But it takes more than a hasten trip to gain the most mileage on Capitol Hill among members of Congress who hardly know of this American archipelago.
In fact, most members of Congress who supported approval of the Covenant Agreement have either retired or died.
We need to get our ducklings in order, so to speak.
Like farming, it involves a process such as a thoroughly thought-out plan, implementation and follow-up. You just don’t step into raw land and start planting your crops. It begins with clearing the land, plowing, emplacement of an irrigation system, preparing seed flats, seed germination, transplantation, among others.
It should have dawned on senators who headed to the jetways last weekend that while their intention is well and good, it’s a poorly organized trip and should have joined the Speaker Fitial and the CNMI delegation in their recent trip to Capitol Hill recently.
Right now, Congress is busy getting substantive legislation out of the way before heading home to the campaign trail. It’s election year and they certainly have little, if any, time to fiddle with people from some remote islands in the northwestern pacific.
In short, we would have knocked down two birds with a single stone at a recent delegation trip where schedules are made in advance before departure. A hasty trip such as the ongoing journey of senators would net hasty results. Only the senators gained a summer trip to Washington at local taxpayers expense.
Isn’t planning a part of your vocabulary gentlemen?
