Our Delegate to Washington

First, I want to congratulate our first Delegate to the U. S. Congress, Mr. Greg “Kilili” Sablan.

But the question of whether or not we, the CNMI as a people, will address the problem or the solution to our economic challenges is a question we need to answer quick, fast and in a hurry! We all know the problem is our failing economy in the face of federalization, which we also knew would make the challenges even greater and now it has been confirmed by a study conducted by an economic research service that our economy will suffer tremendously under federalization as it is presently proposed. The report went as far to say that our economy would be thrown back to the level it was in 1985, and in reality we haven’t done anything to build the economy since the early ’80s when the tourist industry took off. We are on a path that is taking us right back to where we started almost 30 years ago. We also know our present situation is a result of a short-sighted and irresponsible government that failed to make the decisions and take the necessary steps to meet the expectations of the indigenous people who wanted to achieve a higher quality of life equal to the mainland and the expectations of the federal government to meet all federal standards and expectations as part of the United States.

Our leaders have lost sight of the real problem and done everything but address the question that should have been answered when the Commonwealth was conceived, which is how to create a healthy and fully developed economy in the CNMI. Two industries is not a developed economy and we stopped trying to create a healthy, sustainable economic growth. I’m not surprised we will end up right back where we started. The smart governors on the mainland are lining up for President-elect Obama’s economic stimulus but our focus is taking the feds to court. I’m sure people can see there is something wrong with that picture and they see the immediate problem our Delegate will face starting on his first day on the job.

So do we continue to this finger pointing and trying to say the feds are the problem or are we going to focus on finding some solutions to what I would like to call the “challenge” of growing our economy in the face of federalization? Some of our leaders have been our own worst enemy by fighting to avoid federal expectation to increase wages and improving immigration practices dating back over a decade. When will our leaders start looking for solutions to federalization, especially when the entire American economy is trying to reboot? The feds are already arresting our leaders and filing lawsuits to counter our fight. You don’t have to be a political scientist to know we are going to lose.

The Obama administration has pledged to build our economy and we had better get on board and we can’t do that by fighting the very Congress and President we need to help us. I am making this plea because the CNMI can’t afford to send our new delegate to the U. S. Congress under the present conditions. Are we going to send him to Washington with fighting orders or compromising orders because he can’t do both. Our delegate will surely be put on the spot in Washington to take a stance. He will need a unified position from the government and the people with the intent of finding a solution to federalization and not a fight. If our delegate goes to Washington fighting federalization, it will result in nothing tangible for the CNMI. He may even be shunned to a certain degree and he doesn’t have a vote!

We must send our delegate to Congress with a united support base (government and citizens). We don’t need the governor and people in the Legislature shouting at our U. S. Delegate in Washington, especially when he will have to deal with the hundreds of people in the U.S. Congress. We must be willing to compromise with the feds and our delegate must have the ability to compromise or we may never get any part of what we want from Congress. Compromise is one of the primary tools for getting things done in politics and in Washington and we must play the game by the feds’ rules and not ours or we won’t be playing at all.

The U.S. Constitution itself was ratified only because of some compromises, called the “Great Compromises.” The CNMI delegates who drafted our Constitution had to reach a compromise or it might not have been a Commonwealth. The solution to federalization and growing our economy is finding the right mixture of components to meet the expectations of the feds and the CNMI in the form of compromises but no one is looking for the answers or solutions to offer the feds other than a straight out no which is what worries me.

The recent front-page story declaring the federalization task force is a waste of time. The task force is a collection of the same mentality that got us in the mess and we can’t fix a problem with the same mentality that created the problem (Albert Einstein).

We have our first delegate headed to Congress and we had better send him with the right message or we are doomed when it comes to our relationship with the federal government. Asking him to introduce legislation against federalization will literally be political suicide for the CNMI. Our delegate will already be challenged and you only need to review the records of the delegates from the other territories and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to see the extraordinary odds of success he faces. Stubbornness and arrogance are not the answer nor will they fix our economy and our relationship with the feds. God speed Delegate Sablan and I pray your biggest challenge won’t be from people in the CNMI.