Clarification on leaked letter

I write to clarify the issue concerning yesterday’s reports in both the Saipan Tribune and Marianas Variety concerning a letter that was supposedly sent to Mr. James Connaughton, chairman of President Bush’s Council on Environmental Quality.

It is true that I, Speaker Palacios, and Governor Fitial signed the letter that was to have been delivered to Mr. Connaughton during our meeting with him and the other visiting officials in the Governor’s Office on Wednesday.

The letter represented our position regarding the present status of the monument issue, which, in essence, stated that if the administration was attempting to rush a designation on the people of the CNMI without meaningful discussion of our concerns, and attention paid to our submerged lands issues, we would like to have no part in the designation and would prefer that the designation not occur.

My position in that regard has not changed, and will not change.

The letter was printed and circulated to Mr. Connaughtin and the other attendees at the meeting. I do not believe Mr. Connaughton ever read the letter, however, because Governor Fitial decided to withdraw the letter.

I believe this was done in the spirit of cooperation that was forged at our very productive meeting on Wednesday. To my knowledge, most of the copies were collected, to be destroyed. I myself collected a number of them.

I do not know why or how it was released to the media, and it was unfortunate that it was because my understanding is that the letter was voided by Governor Fitial’s decision.

I would also like to highlight the fact (not reported by either paper) that the position letter did contain the following:

“In closing, we are AGAINST the designation at this time, because there is nothing for us to support. There has been no concrete proposal; in fact, the only thing that exists is a notion that some sort or designation, in some form, might be a good idea. We are willing to discuss these important issues, and are willing to make them a priority. We hope we can find common ground.”

I felt the meeting ended on a positive note. My impression was the Mr. Connaughton heard and understood our position, and he promised to consider them all fully. I expect he and the Governor will be in close communication regarding this issue soon.