The Commonwealth should engage the federal government in a dialogue instead of pursuing an expensive but uncertain lawsuit against the federalization law, according to Rep. Diego T. Benavente yesterday. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have the money to spend on this,\u201d said Benavente, referring to the administration\u2019s planned lawsuit that, according to Gov. Benigno R. Fitial\u2019s special legal counsel, Howard Willens, would cost $50,000 monthly or about $400,000 covering an eight-month period. <\/p>\n
In an interview with Saipan Tribune, the former lieutenant governor cited options such as calling for the 902 talks to convene or having the administration and Washington Representative Pete A. Tenorio talk with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security people who are putting the proposed federalization regulations together.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knock on their doors and come in and present our views,\u201d said Benavente, who is chairman of the House\u2019s Committee on U.S. and Foreign Relations.<\/p>\n
Benavente said that when they visited Washington D.C. a couple of weeks ago, officials at the Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs, and members and staffers of U.S. Congress pointed out to them that this is an opportunity for the CNMI \u201cto knock on the door\u201d every other week or every month and present the issues that the Commonwealth is concerned with.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my opinion, this would be much cheaper than filing a lawsuit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Benavente pointed out that even though the outcome of a regular visit to Homeland Security is not certain, the lawsuit is not certain as well. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn the meantime, we are spending money that we don\u2019t have,\u201d the lawmaker stressed.<\/p>\n
He said that, based on what he heard of Willens\u2019 presentation, there are other options other than a lawsuit.<\/p>\n
In yesterday\u2019s House\u2019s session, Benavente suggested inviting other person who can argue the other side and might be able to present to the House a different picture\u2014rather than spending over half a million dollars in taxpayers\u2019 money.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s got to be a cheaper way to resolve this if there are some real concerns as raised by Mr. Willens. But I agree that there was a propaganda, there was an intent not to tell the whole picture,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
On behalf of the Fitial administration, Willens conducted a closed-door presentation on Tuesday in the House\u2019s chamber, where he tried to convince the Legislature to provide funding of about $400,000 that he said the administration will need to pursue the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
After the presentation, Willens told Saipan Tribune that Fitial is interested in pursuing litigation to protect the Commonwealth\u2019s right to self-government under the Covenant.<\/p>\n
He said the governor wants to consult with the Legislature before he makes the final decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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