US lawmakers to visit CNMI in August

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives with oversight on insular areas will be on Saipan for at least a day in August to meet with Gov. Eloy S. Inos and others in the CNMI. Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-Saipan) has also invited newly confirmed U.S. Interior Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Esther Kia’aina to visit the islands.

Audrey Rowe, the administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, is also expected to visit the CNMI this year, making her the highest USDA official to set foot on the islands.

U.S. House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs chair John Fleming of Louisiana announced the visit to Saipan during last week’s panel hearing.

Sablan, during the committee meeting, said he “look[s] forward to having Chairman Fleming join me on the small island of Saipan very soon.”

“But until all the plans are finalized, the Natural Resources Committee has asked that I refer press inquiries to them,” Sablan later told Saipan Tribune.

U.S. House Natural Resources Committee chair Doc Hastings of Washington is also believed to be among those visiting the CNMI next month.

The visit comes at a time when the CNMI is waiting for congressional action on immigration bills, including those of Sablan, relating to the proposed extension of the E2-C investor visa program beyond 2014, the extension of the CNMI’s exemption from accepting asylum applicants beyond 2014, and the extension of the CNMI and Guam’s exemption from the national H visa cap, among other things.

The U.S. lawmakers’ visit could also be timed for the unveiling of the permanent Garapan public market, funded partly by $200,000 U.S. congressional earmark that Sablan worked on in 2010.

Last week, Sablan met Interior assistant secretary Kia’aina, whom the U.S. Senate confirmed on June 26, 2014, to head the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs with oversight over the CNMI and other territories.

Sablan said they talked “most about what kind of a working relationship there should be between her office and the Congressional Subcommittee with overall responsibility for insular affairs, on which I am the lead Democrat.”

“We did talk about Northern Marianas issues, too, of course, especially the importance of my bill that extends the bar on asylum for five years to protect our growing tourism trade with China. And I did invite Assistant Secretary Kia’aina to visit the Northern Marianas as part of her ongoing refamiliarization with all of the areas she is now responsible for assisting,” Sablan said.

As for the visit of USDA’s Rowe, Sablan said, “Those plans are under discussion and will be announced when finalized.” Rowe is administrator for SNAP, WIC, school lunches, and all the feeding programs that USDA manages.

“Ms. Rowe’s responsibilities are national and a trip to the Marianas will be a major commitment of her time. So we will be very fortunate if this all works out,” Sablan said.