Fitial: Hopes high for CNMI’s stateless kids

House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial brought the issue of CNMI’s “stateless” children to the US Department of Justice and came away encouraged by the response.

After an hour-long meeting with top officials, Mr. Fitial said, “I am very hopeful. I believe today’s meeting laid the groundwork for resolving this issue.”

Continued Mr. Fitial, “This is a matter of simple justice. Roughly 350 CNMI residents were allowed to slip through the cracks on the road to US citizenship. It was a mistake that has been ignored for too long, and I wanted to make clear to our friends in the new Justice Department that I would not allow it to be ignored any longer.”

Mr. Fitial said the feedback from the official he spoke to in the Department’s Intergovernmental Affairs division was encouraging. “I am hopeful. I think they will find after researching this issue a little more that the right thing to do is grant citizenship to all of our “stateless” children.”

He spent the rest of his third day in Washington back on Capitol Hill. Specifically, the speaker pushed for federal education reform that would provide the CNMI more flexibility to improve educational opportunities for all children.

He met with members of the education committees in the US House and Senate, including Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-CO) and Senator Tim Hutchinson (R-AK). The speaker said he wanted to stress local flexibility with the lawmakers.

Mr. Fitial said the meeting with Rep. Schaffer was very productive. We discussed the positive labor reform efforts that have occurred in the CNMI and the need for better educational opportunities for CNMI citizens, especially our youth.

Representative Schaffer also agreed to introduce legislation granting the CNMI representation in the US Congress, a privilege I have been aggressive seeking for our citizens for many years. I believe that our friends in the U.S. Congress are determined to work to ensure that the proud US citizens in the Marianas have elected representation in Washington, DC.

Currently, the Northern Marianas is the only US territory without such privileges.

He also visited with the House Majority Leader, Representative Dick Armey (R-TX). Armey praised Fitial for introducing the flat tax proposal in the CNMI.

Mr. Armey is the author and lead sponsor of the flat tax in the U.S. Congress. Fitial also used the meeting to thank the Majority Leader for his steadfast opposition to federal takeover efforts.

To press the case against federal takeover further, Speaker Fitial also met with Representative Butch Otter (R-UT), a new Members of the House Resources Committee. Fitial said that it was important to educate new members of the committee who are not familiar with the CNMI’s issues.