Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) spelled out his five high-priority goals starting out in Congress, all of which have been attained\u2014from getting back the CNMI\u2019s submerged lands to increased food aid and education funding. Sablan also wished that members of the CNMI Legislature did more research before coming up with an anti-immigration reform resolution that made the islands \u201clook a little foolish\u201d in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
Sablan, at the invitation of the Legislature, delivered yesterday a 44-minute report on milestones that he and his office have reached since becoming the first and so far only CNMI nonvoting delegate to the U.S. Congress.<\/p>\n
The five top goals he has set out to work on and eventually attained are: 1) getting back submerged lands; 2) making the transition to federal immigration as \u201cleast difficult\u201d as possible; 3) keeping the minimum wage going up without hurting the people who earn minimum wage; 4) getting families in the CNMI the same food aid that other Americans get; and 5) increasing federal funding for education.<\/p>\n
His most pointed statements were directed at members of the CNMI Legislature that supported Rep. Felicidad Ogumoro\u2019s (R-Saipan) House Resolution 18-34, which asked Congress to scrap from any pending national immigration reform bills a provision that would grant a pathway to improved immigration status for long-term, legal aliens in the CNMI, among other things.<\/p>\n
Sablan sent a copy of the resolution to the Congressional Research Service for analysis, the results of which discredit the Ogumoro resolution\u2019s three broad claims against Sablan\u2019s language in S. 744.<\/p>\n
One, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act or the law that placed CNMI immigration under federal control does not violate the Covenant.<\/p>\n
Two, S. 744 with Sablan\u2019s language does not amend Section 506 of the Covenant. Sablan said the CNRA repealed Section 506 and therefore it cannot be amended because \u201cit no longer exists.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Members of Congress see this obvious legal error, again, Resolution 18-34 loses credibility,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Three, Sablan said the claim that Section 2109 of the U.S. Senate immigration reform bill gives \u201cgreen cards\u201d or U.S. citizenship to aliens is \u201csimply false.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. Congressional Research Service says Section 2109 \u201cdoes not automatically grant any status to any long-term foreign resident of the CNMI.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain, House Resolution 18-34 got it wrong,\u201d Sablan said in his address.<\/p>\n
The delegate said anyone can have an opinion about public policy but when CNMI legislators send a formal, legal document to the U.S. vice president and the U.S. House speaker \u201cthat is so full of mistakes, you make us all look a little foolish.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish you had been more careful. I wish you had held a hearing on your resolution\u2014before you voted. Maybe these mistakes could have been avoided,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In the end, Sablan said he understands the \u201creal fear\u201d behind H.R. 18-34, which is that \u201cmore and more voters in the Marianas are not Chamorros or Carolinians.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he said the CNMI should remember it\u2019s not because of federal immigration law but because of a CNMI Legislature bill that was passed and enacted 30 years ago.<\/p>\n
Ogumoro, in an interview after the joint session, said the CNMI needs a delegate \u201cthat really strongly supports and fights for the rights of the people of the Commonwealth, and one that communicates very closely with the leaders of the CNMI.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI stand by my resolution and I commend the House for passing it,\u201d Ogumoro told Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n
The full text of Sablan\u2019s speech, detailing his hard work for the CNMI and its people, is available online.<\/p>\n
But in some instances where he veered away from his prepared speech, Sablan pointed at differences he had with Gov. Eloy S. Inos on education funding, while at the same time considered these as opportunities to work together.<\/p>\n
In yet another deviation from his prepared speech, Sablan announced that he will not sponsor a legislation that will \u201cshortcut\u201d the National Environmental Protection Act, or NEPA, process when it comes to the impact of military plans for the CNMI.<\/p>\n
Col. Philip J. Zimmerman, officer-in-charge for the U.S. Marine Corps Activity Guam, the ranking military official in attendance at the SOCA yesterday, said he concurs with Sablan\u2019s statement \u201cwholeheartedly\u201d about not shortcutting the NEPA process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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