Legislative leaders off to D.C. to lobby

Senate President Paul A. Manglona and House Speaker Diego T. Benavente flew on Saturday to Washington D.C. in an effort to thwart fresh attempts by the Clinton administration to push for federal takeover of the CNMI as well as to cut back financial assistance to the government.

They will join Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio, who is attending a conference of all governors in the nation, in a whirlwind visit to the U.S. Congress aimed to lobby against the proposal by some members to strip CNMI of its powers over local labor and immigration standards.

The trip followed after the three-day visit here of Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) and other members of the House Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Northern Marianas and other U.S. insular areas, that ended on Saturday.

Benavente underscored the significance of their four-day visit at this time when other congressional members, such as Rep. George Miller (D-California), are renewing moves that will allow application of U.S. laws on CNMI immigration, minimum wage and customs.

“(We will) do the same thing that we have done — and that is to continue to lobby, continue to update members of our reforms so we can better fight off (these) attempts,” he told reporters on Friday.

According to Manglona, the meeting with key congressional members and staffers is an opportunity for island leaders to provide report of the tight financial situation of the government as well as various reforms implemented by the Tenorio administration in the past year.

“It will benefit us if we meet other members of the congress over there and again, to inform them of our ongoing reform measures and also what our administration has been doing to address their concerns,” he said in a separate interview.

The commonwealth has come under fire anew in the last two months over the alleged failure of the local government to curb the number of Asian migrant workers on the island — charges repeatedly refuted by CNMI officials with report of accomplishment of their labor and immigration reforms.

Last month, Edward B. Cohen, President Clinton’s special emissary to the 902 consultation talks with the CNMI, walked away from the meeting vowing to press the federalization plan in a sign that Washington remains dissatisfied with recent reforms.

In yet another severe blow to the island government, White House is proposing to slash by 51 percent from the $11 million in annual federal funding to the CNMI by next fiscal year.

Local leaders are hoping to drum up support in the Congress against the drastic cut in their capital improvement projects funds which are intended to finance several infrastructure development plans on the island to spur the economy.

“We always felt the we do not have a very serious situation here and it’s always easier, I feel, for anyone to understand that when they come here and see for themselves,” Benavente said.

“That is very important because some members of the Congress are introducing legislation based on what they hear on the media,” he added.