Symposium on fed grants moved to March

The planned symposium on federal programs in the CNMI, which is underway in the Legislature, was moved from August to March next year to allow organizers more time to prepare for the first-ever comprehensive discussion on U.S. financial aid.

The new schedule will coincide with the 23rd anniversary of the signing of Covenant that established the political relations between the CNMI and Washington in 1978, according to House Floor Leader Oscar M. Babauta.

A joint Senate-House panel comprised of all the members of the Federal Relations Committees from each chamber decided yesterday to postpone holding of the symposium initially slated this August.

Mr. Babauta, who is one of the spokesmen of the panel, said members felt that it would be better to move the event to March 2001 to give them enough time to prepare.

A brainchild of Tinian Sen. David M. Cing, who chairs the Senate Federal Relations and Independent Agencies Committee and heads the joint panel, the symposium will seek to enhance various federal programs being administered on the islands.

This will be the first time the local government has initiated such discussion. Lawmakers have been drawing up the plan since beginning of the year.

“The symposium will take into consideration a lot of the issues facing these federally-funded programs. A lot of people will be involved, not just from local agencies but also from all the federal agencies,” Mr. Babauta told in an interview.

The joint committee, he said, will soon begin sending letters to several federal officials to request for input and views concerning U.S. policies toward, and grants being provided to, the CNMI for the last 20 years or so.

“This will take a lot of time gathering their response and compiling the data that will be presented at the symposium,” added Mr. Babauta.

During yesterday’s meeting, the group agreed to include discussion on the applicability of federal appropriations by the Department of Defense in terms of upgrading seaports in the Commonwealth.

Several U.S. Navy ships have made port of calls on Saipan in the last two years , but they do not pay fees or charges to the Commonwealth Ports Authority as part of the agreement between Pentagon and the CNMI, according to Mr. Babauta. “The committee wants to look into that,” he said.

Aside from Mr. Cing, his counterpart in the lower house, Rep. Norman S. Palacios, is the vice chair of the joint committee. Vice Speaker Alejo M. Mendiola acts as secretary, and Sen. Ramon S. Guerrero serves as the other spokesman.

The Commonwealth receives around $40 million in federal funds each year, for capital improvement projects, enforcement program, health, education, housing and other independent agencies.

The symposium is expected to discuss various issues concerning implementation of these programs as well as their effectiveness in relation to the community, lawmakers said.