Gov. Ralph DLG Torres\u2019 trip to the nation\u2019s capitol last month was a series of meetings with officials over issues of immigration, environment, and federal aid for the CNMI. Torres also got an update on late governor Eloy S. Inos\u2019 request for direct consultation with the White House on issues of immigration and the military training in the CNMI.<\/p>\n
Torres disclosed as much in an interview with reporters Tuesday, but also had some pointed words for the congressional delegation that visited the CNMI, while he was on his trip.<\/p>\n
That CODEL, from the largest subcommittee in the U.S. House Armed Services committee, was led by Readiness chair Readiness subcommittee chair Rob Wittman (R-VA 1st District) and Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU). The two members trumpeted that military training in the Marianas meant more security for the region and economic opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is our responsibility to tell them what is good for us, not the other way around,\u201d Torres said, when asked if he appreciated the visit.<\/p>\n
If I am not mistaken, from the information I gathered, Congresswoman Bordallo came to Saipan telling us what is good for us with the military. I can tell you that on behalf of the government and the people of the CNMI, we are very sensitive to the type of military proposals\u201d that are on the table.<\/p>\n
Among others, the Department of Defense plans to use Tinian for live-fire ranges and to lease the entire island of Pagan for these purposes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are just thankful now that the Air Force has come in and wants to do the divert airfield only on Tinian and so we are waiting for that. But we in the CNMI and the government will be communicating with the military and it is our obligation to make sure they hear our concerns and what we are willing to assist [with] our military family as well,\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n
902<\/strong><\/p>\n Torres gave an update on the pending request for direct consultation with the White House on issues of immigration and military build up in the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are bucking on down on who [will be] representing\u201d them \u201con those two items,\u201d Torres told reporters Tuesday, and described the team he\u2019d be putting together for talks between the White House and CNMI.<\/p>\n \u201cPete A., former DPL [secretary Pedro A. Tenorio] will be one of your consultants for the 902 talks. He\u2019s been there. He has the institutional knowledge. I\u2019m in constant talk with some of the legislators, specifically, those that are chairing the federal relations\u201d committees,\u201d Torres said. \u201cOur legal counsel, Wes [Bogdan] will be joining us. I have not officially invited any one on this, however we continue to have a dialogue, because there are so many interests to join on these 902 talks. But as much as I\u2019d like to accommodate everyone, it\u2019s actually a fairly handful of people that would be on the table to negotiate.\u201d<\/p>\n Torres emphasized they \u201cdon\u2019t want 20\u201d people \u201con each side\u201d in the talks.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the reason why I haven\u2019t invited specific individuals because I would like to see the guidelines proposed by the President regarding the 902 talks,\u201d Torres said. \u201cWhat are the guidelines, what are the scopes of work, those are the information I need to base our decision on who should go and the number of participants.\u201d<\/p>\n Immigration<\/strong><\/p>\n Torres also met with immigration officials like Leon Rodriguez, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, discussing issues ahead of the end of the local contract worker program in 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t ask for an extension,\u201d Torres said, when asked. \u201cNo, we didn\u2019t. The reason why is\u2014we came to D.C. to acknowledge that we in the government are also doing our due diligence to encourage our business partners, our government, to hire local, to hire U.S. citizens. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd if we show we are doing what we can to the best that we can, and in the end we still have that shortage,\u201d he added, \u201cwe can go ahead and ask for that extension.\u201d<\/p>\n Torres said the critical part of the issue was that Congress took away the authority of the U.S. secretary of the Department of Labor to extend the program past 2019.<\/p>\n Public Law 110-229\u2014transferred local immigration control to the federal government and allowed for a transition period to end in 2014. That transition period was extended last year to 2019, the current and absolute deadline the CNMI now faces. <\/p>\n Torres emphasized that any extension of the worker program has to be requested through U.S. Congress.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the biggest\u201d thing,\u201d he said. \u201cWe continue to lobby to give that back to the secretary of Labor to make that determination whether an extension is needed or not.\u201d<\/p>\n Torres said they also echoed concerns of CNMI\u2019s infrastructure and business development that were \u201champered\u201d because of a slow-going permitting process.<\/p>\n While Torres said he thanked USCIS for a 240-day rule to allow contract workers to continue working if USCIS had not yet processed their papers past the permit expiration, he noted that the rule was only applicable to the current CW worker pool, and not the ones requested for looming development.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had [delays] for several months already and that has been hampering our development. We did echo that concern. We also asked, is there anyway the CNMI government can be part of the process, or at least [to have] for us to know where our applicants are [in permitting process] and if we can give special attention and effort to expedite those papers and applicants,\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n Federal aid<\/strong><\/p>\n Torres also described his trip as part giving thanks to federal agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency\u2014which were instrumental in Saipan\u2019s recover after Typhoon Soudelor\u2014and inviting federal counterparts he met in the nation\u2019s capitol.<\/p>\n \u201cI invited all of them. Make no mistake, I invited every single, almost every person that I met to come down,\u201d Torres said. \u201cSpecifically, the departments that I met [with] so they know what we\u2019re going through, the struggles that we are going through and the success we are going through. <\/p>\n \u201cI met with the FEMA during the dinner at the White House. I met with Mr. William Craig Fugate [FEMA administrator]. When I sat on the table, he asked me, \u2018How are those concrete poles?\u2019\u2014So he\u2019s never been here but obviously through all the works that have been done and the declaration [of disaster] from the president, I invited him and I invited everyone that I met to come down to see the progress. <\/p>\n Still, Torres said there were some issues that FEMA and the CNMI could address to better help the community.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the island we have a different way of living versus the United States. For a lot of our culture, we eat outside, we have an outside kitchen, the dirty kitchen. We spend a lot of our time outside. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen the typhoon came, that was not part of the dwelling [considered for federal aid]. So we had a lot of our folks not compensated where we feel it was home. So those are things that I echoed out,\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n On environmental issues, Torres said he spoke about how the Endangers Species Act could affect islands like those of the CNMI, concerns he said which were echoed by the U.S. Virgin Islands.<\/p>\n \u201cI spoke about here we have an abundance of a lot [species] categorized as endangered. For example, green sea turtles. On island we have a lot of green sea turtle but more so our neighboring islands on the side are harvesting this.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026It seems like we are the sanctuary, and our neighboring islands are harvesting what we are protecting,\u201d Torres said, recalling a concern expressed by Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp.<\/p>\n \u201cMy other question was\u2014for whatever species you put on the endangered species act, what is the threshold to remove it from endangered species? That was a lot of the discussion at the [Interagency Group on Insular Areas].<\/p>\n On the issue of corals, Torres pointed to how larger countries can affect smaller islands with pollutants that contribute to climate change and its effects like coral bleaching.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t say we have no choice,\u201d Torres said, \u201cbut whatever the bigger countries, whatever the environmental damage [they] produce, it affects us. And we need to protect our coral and that\u2019s our livelihood here.<\/p>\n Gaming<\/strong><\/p>\n Torres said he also was introduced to Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a former gaming commissioner, who asked Torres about the CNMI revenues and its industry.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I will be communicating with him. He was a former gaming commissioner, prior to being a governor. And there is a relationship there,\u201d Torres said. \u201cHe has offered his assistance to our gaming commission here on a personal level as well as a professional level. I will be extending an invitation for him to come when we are having our grand opening\u201d for the Saipan casino in Garapan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Gov. 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