Aranza eyes meeting with Legislature • OIA director says he's ready to respond to allegations in Young's report
Office of Insular Affairs Director Ferdinand Aranza vowed yesterday to meet with members of the Legislature to personally respond to allegations leveled against the federal agency over its treatment of the CNMI.
At the same time, he reiterated his support for OIA’s field representative here, Jeffrey Schorr, who has come under fire in both chambers after being implicated in the alleged improper political activities and smear campaign against the Commonwealth.
Local senators last week adopted a resolution that called for his ouster, describing him as a “spy” based on the evidence uncovered by U.S. House Resources Committee Chair Don Young (R-Alaska) on its investigation into OIA’s activities.
The House of Representatives, on the other hand, has pending resolution declaring Mr. Schorr persona non grata for his alleged role in providing confidential information about CNMI and its lobbyists from Preston Gates to his superiors in Washington.
Mr. Young has disclosed that these unlawful on-the-job political campaign is part of the attempt by Democrats to unseat Republican members of Congress sympathetic to the CNMI’s bid against federal takeover of local labor and immigration.
Mr. Schorr has repeatedly declined comment on the charges, but the OIA chief has defended his liaison officer in the CNMI as he cited his years of work helping the island government get its message across to federal bureaucrats.
“I believe that our field representative has done excellent job in the CNMI. I think he’s been a great friend of the CNMI for many, many years. He is doing his job in providing information to headquarters in Washington D.C. We fully support him,” Mr. Aranza told reporters yesterday.
“To the extent that there may be questions about activities that the office has had, I am planning to meet with the Legislature and talk to them face to face and try to answer their questions,” he added.
He did not say when the meeting will take place, although he indicated that it may occur during his next visit to the island. Mr. Aranza was here on a day trip to discuss with Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio a range of federal issues affecting the Commonwealth.
Aside from Mr. Young’s probe, two separate investigations are ongoing regarding the allegations. The CNMI House has also announced plans to hold its own oversight hearing.
“We are complying fully with the investigations, including those in Congress,” Mr. Aranza explained. “How will those investigations come up or the way they’ll end up, we’ll cooperate.”
