After helping the CNMI Public School System in his first three terms in office, Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan will now focus his attention on working with the Northern Marianas College to improve the level of higher education in the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never wait for Congress to start. I always do as early as I can what the agenda is for next Congress. Obviously it changes as we find out what is going to move. One of the things that I\u2019m aware of that\u2019s been talked about, that there are going to make a real effort to pass, is higher education reauthorization so we really have to look at that. I\u2019m senior enough to get into the subcommittee and I\u2019m going to try and bid for a position in the subcommittee,\u201d he told reporters Wednesday at his office in Susupe.<\/p>\n
If higher education is reauthorized, Sablan said he would like to put in two items that are a priority for NMC. That is, if NMC would allow him to work with them. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got to find way to work with people of NMC. I can\u2019t figure out why exactly why I can\u2019t work with NMC the way I do with PSS. The reason I work well with PSS is because we\u2019re honest in our relationship and they\u2019re willing to identify and work with me on what it is that they need. I\u2019m not saying that I would have the same relationship with NMC. There are other agencies that we work very well with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sablan said his relationship with NMC is a work-in-progress, but revealed that it has come to a point that he\u2019s been called names. He, however, said he is willing to reach out to NMC president Dr. Sharon Hart and the college. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve gotten lectures from NMC and not support. Yeah, lectures and not support. For me to work with them, they have to understand that I\u2019m the one who\u2019s going to bat and not them. So they just can\u2019t come here and lecture me. They need to work with me. I\u2019ve been told names, I\u2019ve been told things but we\u2019ll leave that in the past. I already asked staff to open up communications with NMC and find out one or two things they think they need done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aside from his agenda on higher education, Sablan said he would first try to get a feel for the incoming 14th U.S. Congress before introducing any piece of legislation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHigher education, I\u2019m trying everything to get us in there. There are other things I want to work on. I will not have a lot of bills to introduce in the very beginning. I will be very conservative on the number of bills I will introduce until I see the lay of the ground and decide what to introduce as we move along. It would be great if we prioritize higher education because there are things we could really do to help the Northern Marianas College,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dearth of workers<\/strong><\/p>\n Sablan also gave his 2 cents worth on the mammoth $7-billion Saipan integrated casino resort development of Best Sunshine International, Ltd. and the big question how and where it will get the 9,000 or so workers it needs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a problem here where the Commonwealth government deciding to expand economic development and when I talk about expansion I\u2019m talking about huge expansion. I don\u2019t know if we\u2019ll get to $7 billion on this casino proposal. It is huge and they\u2019re going to need workers and they\u2019re going to need access to tourists.\u201d <\/p>\n Currently, the cap of H workers in the entire U.S. is 65,000 and not all workers Best Sunshine is looking to bring in to the CNMI can qualify for H visas.<\/p>\n Best Sunshine\u2019s project is not the only mega development in the horizon for the Commonwealth, as Alter City Group is also eyeing a $360-million development on Tinian and Honest Profit International Ltd. is plunking down another $130 million investment for a hotel in San Antonio.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s exactly why I can\u2019t figure out why the very same people opposed to comprehensive immigration reform supported the casino bill. The only reason I can think about is they haven\u2019t read the immigration bill. That is not just about long-term nonresidents; it\u2019s also about H workers and other workers needed. Whether it\u2019s H1B or H2 workers. I don\u2019t know how we\u2019re going to go about it. The governor and I need to sit down and figure out how to do this,\u201d said Sablan.<\/p>\n He also said that if Best Sunshine and Alter City Group are thinking of bringing in people from China, then they have another think coming.<\/p>\n \u201cChina has no treaty with the U.S. on H workers. You need a special waver. It\u2019s not easy. There\u2019s a problem [but there] are ways around this but it requires legislation. I\u2019m now baffled, maybe someone in the Legislature has an idea as to how they\u2019re going to do this because they\u2019re saying \u2018yes\u2019 on one hand and \u2018no\u2019 on the other and these things need to come together.\u201d<\/p>\n Sablan said he would be working with Gov. Eloy S. Inos to figure out a plan to supply the labor needs of the CNMI in the face of these mega developments.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a very difficult issue in Washington because, again, it\u2019s an immigration issue and we\u2019re no longer outside the federalized immigration system and we\u2019re now in the system. It\u2019s going to be complicated, whether it\u2019s the workers or the visa waiver program.\u201d <\/p>\n After a short Thanksgiving break, Sablan is set to leave for Washington, D.C. today. He said Congress would have its last day of session on Dec. 12. He would be back in the CNMI for a two-week Christmas break. <\/p>\n Saban will take his oath as a member of the 114th U.S. House of Representatives on Jan. 6 in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After helping the CNMI Public School System in his first three terms in office, Delegate…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900,4],"tags":[256,26,37,69],"class_list":["post-186197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-local-news","tag-casino","tag-cnmi","tag-education-2","tag-nmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186197\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}