US Senate staff on fact-finding mission in CNMI

At least two U.S. Senate committee staff will arrive in the CNMI a week from now to conduct a fact-finding mission on various issues, local officials said.

They include Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources staff members Alan Stayman and Josh Johnson.

Gov. Juan N. Babauta confirmed yesterday that Stayman and Johnson will be arriving on Saipan next week.

“They are here on a fact-finding mission and consultation with the local leaders and the private sector,” said Babauta.

Stayman, a former Office of Insular Affairs director, reportedly had a bitter dispute with then-CNMI governor Froilan C. Tenorio over federal issues during his stint at OIA.

Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Alex Sablan said in a letter to the Legislature last week that the two congressional staff will be meeting with local business people on the same week.

Babauta said the staffers will look at a wide range of issues, which includes the administration of Capital Improvement Projects.

“They will assess and determine our infrastructure needs and future needs. These cover water, education, health,” he said.

He said the congressional staff will look at the ongoing construction of the Public Health and Hemodialysis Center, solid waste management, wastewater project, and the Kagman watershed and wastewater project.

The government had just recently resolved the funding shortage facing the hemodialysis center. Last week, the Legislature also approved a bill allowing the reprogramming of funds for the federally required upgrading of the Agingan wastewater treatment facility. The government tapped the funds allotted to the pending Kagman wastewater project for the two projects.

Babauta said he welcomes the visit and that “there is nothing to be concerned about.”

“I welcome this visit because it has been several years since Congress, especially the Senate, sent people here. A congressional staff visit has not taken place for a number of years now,” he said.

Babauta said he does not think that the congressional staff’s trip was triggered by any particular issue. “It’s a general visit,” he said.

The staffers will stay in the CNMI for about two days.

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is chaired by New Mexico Sen. Pete V. Domenici, a Republican. Among its ranking members are senators Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Richard Burr of North Carolina.