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DeLay on island labor benefits (Rebuttal) A reprint from the May 25th edition of the Houston Chronicle.
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Posted on May 28 1999
The Chronicle’s vast generalizations and misinformed characterizations of the American territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands were a disservice to readers (May 18 Editorial page, “Made in the U.S.A.; Extend humane conditions to U.S. Pacific territory”). I made the 27-hour trip to the islands and witnessed first-hand the positive economic changes that have improved the lives of thousands of workers and native islanders over the past 20 years.
The Chronicle claims that the CNMI “is exempt from many U.S. laws governing wages, working conditions and immigration.” This is not true. In fact, all federal labor, health and safety laws already apply in the CNMI. The Labor Department or other federal officials could have told you this.
For years, the Marianas lived off of the public dole, but the familiar trend of dependency on welfare policies wrought disaster. For the last two decades, the changes in the Marianas are a free-market success story and the standard of living of its residents is rising because of reforms there. Aside from the fact that there are no sales, property or inheritance taxes on the islands, they have also eliminated import duties, cut excise taxes, chopped down the capital gains tax to half of the U.S. rate and reduced the income tax by a remarkable 90 percent.
Many of the workers on the island are from the Far East. Saipan offers these workers a taste of freedom and free markets not available in places like Vietnam, Bangladesh and China. One woman I spoke to said she planned to work on the islands for three years and in that time could save enough money to buy a house in China for her family. She earned more in one month in the Marianas than her relatives made in one year back in China. Her time spent working on the island is a chance for her family to get ahead.
On average, immigrant workers make up to six times what they would in their home countries. The Chronicle advocates imposing red tape and bureaucracy from 12,000 miles away in Washington, D.C. This would destroy thousands of people’s hopes and dreams of giving their families a better quality of life.
U.S. Rep. Tom Delay,
R-Sugar Land
