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Upper house or Senate?
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Posted on May 20 2004
From time to time, a leadership in the Senate refers to the two houses of the CNMI Legislature as either the “upper house” or the “lower house,” suggesting that a distinction exist where one house is superior or inferior to the other. Such classification does not exist in the laws of the CNMI or its Constitution. However, the Constitution makes it clear that the two houses of the Legislature are equal in power, but each has different responsibilities.
The Constitution differentiates the two houses by reference in phrases such as “each house,” “the Legislature,” “presiding officers of the Legislature,” and other defined distinctions. The Constitution makes clear when it refers to either the “House of Representative” or the “Senate” of the Legislature. The classification that there exist in the CNMI legislature an “upper house” or a “lower house” is not mentioned in the laws of the CNMI or its Constitution.
If this is correct, we ought to make direct reference to the “House of Representative” when we are referring to that house or the “Senate” when we are referring to that house of the Legislature. Thank you and I hope that this will help when making reference about a house or the houses of the CNMI Legislature.
Frank Agulto
Silver Spring, Maryland
