Kilili thanks governor for support of HR 339

Photo shows the new law, signed by President Trump, framed with the pen that the President used in signing Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan’s bill into law.
(Contributed Photo)

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan released last Nov. 1 his letter of thanks to Gov. Ralph DLG Torres for the governor’s support of Sablan’s bill, H.R. 339, increasing the number of CW permits available for the Marianas in 2017.

The legislation was signed into law by President Donald Trump in August.

The new Public Law 115-53 also blocks the use of CW permits for new construction work to protect local businesses unable to renew their legacy workers. Sablan’s law adds extra money for training local workers.

“It was not easy to get a bill dealing with foreign labor issues enacted in this Congress,” Sablan wrote the governor. “Your letter of support for the legislation and your participation in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing in April contributed significantly to our success.”

Torres testified in person at committee hearing. “HR. 339 is a necessary and important piece of legislation that will improve our capacity to transition into the U.S. immigration system, and provide the CNMI the short-term relief it needs to retain critical employees for the economy and provide for the well-being of our population, especially in our health care system,” the governor had said.

He also addressed the surge of construction workers using up CW permits. “Removing construction workers from the eligible job categories for the CW permit will force employers to go to better suited visa classifications and alleviate the limited CW permits for occupations that are crucial for the overall economy and the needs of the people,” Torres had told the Senate committee.

“In my view, CW permits were only for job categories not available under existing visa classifications. …Construction workers could be sourced through H2-B visas,” the governor had added.

In the Nov. 1 letter, Sablan told the governor that the enactment of H.R. 339 was a good indication that efforts to address the 2019 expiration of the Commonwealth-only Transitional Worker, or CW, program would also succeed.

“I am already working on that long-term solution with fellow members of Congress, who helped draft and pass Public Law 115-53,” Sablan told the governor. “And I look forward to continuing to work with you, also, to ensure that the Marianas has sufficient labor to keep our economy growing and that our U.S. labor force continues to expand.”

Sablan wrote similar thank-yous to other community leaders, who provided letters of support for H.R. 339, including Velma Palacios, president of the board of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce; Gloria Cavanagh, chairperson of the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands; Alexander A. Sablan of the CNMI Strategic Economic Development Council; and Esther L. Muna, chief executive officer of the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.

Along with his thank you letters, as a memento, Sablan also sent a photo of the new law, signed by President Trump, framed with the pen that the President used.

Sablan was in the Marianas in August, when the President signed H.R. 339 into law. (PR)