Setting the record straight

Permit me to set the record straight, if I may, on the position of the Department of the Interior in regards to U.S. Public Law 110-229 (the Consolidated and Natural Resources Act of 2008), which provides for the establishment of federal immigration control in the CNMI starting next Nov. 28, as stated in the testimony of Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Nik Pula, before the house Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, last week in Washington, D.C.

A page one headline in the Marianas Variety (Thursday, May 21) said: “Guam, Interior Favor Federalization Delay.” The story then went on to refer to Mr. Pula’s testimony, stating, “Pula also supported a delay but hinted that the final decision lies with the Obama Administration.”

The headline and this statement are incorrect.

What was correct, were the two paragraphs that followed, which factually addressed what he said.

The first paragraph noted the requirement in the law for Interior to provide a report on the status of long-term guest workers to Congress, two years after the law’s enactment.

The second paragraph quoted Mr. Pula’s testimony requesting the deadline for the required report to be extended one year.

This extension request, as noted in the testimony, was made in order to have adequate time to collect the appropriate data for a satisfactory and thorough report, particularly as much of that information would be likely to be more accurate once the law–now delayed 180 days–takes effect later this year, with its impact better measured.

The incorrect assessment of Mr. Pula’s testimony in this May 21st story may have led to a repeated misinterpretation of what he said that appeared in the next day’s Variety, Friday (May 22), in which human rights advocate Wendy Doromal is quoted as finding “disturbing” the “request of Nikaolo Pula…for a delay in the implementation of the federalization law.”

Requesting a further delay in the implementation of the law, which Mr. Pula did NOT do; and requesting a delay in a required report–impacted by the 180-day delay from the original, envisioned date (June 1, 2009) of the law’s implementation–which Mr. Pula DID do; are two entirely different things.

Thank you for the opportunity to clarify the record.