VISITING U.S. Congresswoman Donna Christensen says the pressure to federalize the Northern Marianas in Washington, D.C. is mounting and her pending federalization bill is likely to pass.
“There’s a lot of support…from the White House and the Department of the Interior so it has a fair chance of passage,” said Christensen, D-V.I. and chairwoman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs which will conduct a public hearing today on her federalization bill, H.R. 3079, or the Northern Mariana Islands Immigration, Security and Labor Act.
“We hope that we can make a bill that, in the final analysis, will allow us to all come to a consensus,” she said in an interview during the dinner reception on Monday night hosted by Gov. Benigno R. Fitial for the visiting U.S. lawmakers.
With Christensen is Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo, D-Guam, chairwoman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans; and Congressman Eli Faleomavaega, D-American Samoa, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.
Christensen said they want to hear from the people of the Northern Marianas before they act on H.R. 3079.
“We’re here to hear what the governor has to say and what the community has to say. We would be very interested in (the governor’s) title by title analysis and section by section analysis of the bill,” she said.
“You know, there’s nothing better than seeing first hand (the situation) so I’m glad that Chairwoman (Madeleine) Bordallo, who chairs a different subcommittee, and I are here. We will be joined by Eli Faleomavaega, the chairman of the subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific,” she added. “The three of us will be here for the hearing.”
Fitial has submitted written testimony against the bill.
He said its provision granting nonimmigrant status to a select group of long-time guest workers will disenfranchise the indigenous people.
But Christensen said they have given the bill much thought in ensure that it will not adversely impact the islands’ economy.
“We want to make sure that when we pass the bill that we’ve taken into consideration all of the concerns and all of the problems that it might cause,” she said. “We don’t want to create problems for the CNMI. We don’t want to have an adverse impact. We want ways to be helpful.”
Asked about the possibility of amending her bill to accommodate the governor’s recommendations, Christensen said: “It depends on what the amendment might be. You have to realize that this is a bill that has been introduced in the Senate as well as in the House. It has to pass both places and there’s a lot of sentiment, including from the Department of the Interior, in support of the bill.”
Christensen’s group met today with local lawmakers.
Speaker Oscar M. Babauta, Covenant-Saipan, said the breakfast meeting was held at the Fiesta Resort & Spa.
He said some lawmakers expressed strong opposition to the bill’s nonimmigrant status provision.
“Several members asked (Christensen) not to support that,” said the speaker.
“Some of us echoed fears of the bill’s impact on the commonwealth’s education, health, public safety and other services offered by the government,” he added.THE BOTTOME LINE IS MR. COHEN SPENT MOST OF HIS TIME VISITING NON-RESIDENTS AND REFUSES TO MEET WITH THE INDIGENOUS TAOTAO TANOS THE PAST 3 VISITS TO NMI.
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TAOTAO TANO HAD SPOKEN
- A direct impediment to the human right to self-determination
- 12808 st - Taotao Tano rebuts Pete A. in interview with KSPN 2 News
- TAOTAO TANO CNMI sents letters to the community
- 011608 st - SEND THEM HOME
- 011608 mv - Guest worker faces deportation
- 011608 mv - TAOTAO TANO SLAMS FEDERAL LABOR OMBUDSMAN
- 121407 mv - Trampled by foreigners
- 121407 mv - The despair of the indigenous people
- 121407 st - Familiarity breeds contempt
- 121407 st - 'Be selective on who to bring in'
- 121407 st - This land belongs to the indigenous
- 121407 st - To the people of Precinct 1
- 121407 mv - Think again
UPDATES by links
- 020808 mv - Fitial ready to testify in DC vs federalization, wage hike
- 020108 mv - US Senate panel OKs federalization bill
- HOUSE APPROVED 3079
- 121407 mv -Fitial says feds applying ‘socialism’ to NMI
- 120707 mv - Bingaman answers Fitial
- 120307 mv - US House may vote on NMI federalization
- 110607 mv - Cohen: Fitial administration ‘misinterpreted’ nonimmigrant provision
- 110207 mv -Guest workers brace for final version of federalization bill
- 110207 mv -Gov’t to recalculate numbers of migrants before year ends
Friday, August 17, 2007
THANK YOU U.S. CONGRESS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO TESTIFY AND BE HEARD
at 4:06:00 PM Posted by TAOTAO TANO CNMI
Labels: TTCAI Updates FEDEARALIZATION ISSUE
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OUR FALLEN HEROES
SAME THING WILL HAPPEN HERE - JUST CHANGE THE NUMBERS
JUST CHANGE THE NUMBERS TO CNMI NUMBERS AND
THE COHEN PLAN WILL HARM THE CNMI IN THE SAME WAY
CURRENT IMMIGRATION POLICIES WILL DAMAGE THE USA.
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