US House panel OKs delegate bill

The U.S House of Representatives Committee on Resources has unanimously approved the bill that calls for a CNMI nonvoting delegate in Congress.

Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio, in a Sept. 29, 2004, letter to Gov. Juan N. Babauta, said that various House members spoke out in support of the measure, and described the approval of the bill as “great news.”

“It has been a great day for the Commonwealth… The recently introduced Delegate Bill, H.R. 5135, has been approved by the…committee,” Tenorio said. “I wish you were here with me this morning as the various sponsors of the bill spoke in favor of its passage and our quest for a voice in the national legislature.”

Even Democrat U.S. Rep. George Miller, a long-time critic of the CNMI and a member of the committee, threw his support behind the bill.

In a statement before the panel chaired by California Republican Rep. Richard W. Pombo, Miller said the improvements in the CNMI resulting from the “courageous leadership” of Gov. Juan N. Babauta and litigation, “merit recognition.”

“That improvement merits recognition and, in my view, representation in this House,” said Miller. “I would hope that the representative chosen by the CNMI voters will join in supporting legislation to improve labor conditions in the Commonwealth and in ensuring that the forces of reform are successful.”

Tenorio said he was “nervous” as Miller began speaking, particularly when the congressman reiterated his call for U.S. control of the CNMI’s immigration “but to my shock and great surprise, he supported our quest for a delegate.”

“He spoke very highly of your administration’s reform efforts and is hopeful that you will continue,” Tenorio told Babauta.

He said there is a chance that the bill would be up for a vote before the entire House prior to the scheduled recess next Friday, Oct.8. If not, he said it must wait “for the lame duck session scheduled for late November through January 2005.”

The CNMI’s bid for U.S. Congress representation has garnered widespread support from various federal officials and organizations.

The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on Sept. 23.

Tenorio, accompanied by Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo, announced the introduction of the bill at a reception during the Department of the Interior’s Business Opportunities Conference in Los Angeles.

The CNMI is the only U.S. territory without representation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

If enacted into law, H.R. 5135 would provide for the first election of a CNMI Delegate in the federal general election in 2006.

“This is just the first major hurdle. We still need to get the approval of the entire House of Representatives and the Senate. It is late in the legislative year, the Congress will recess next Friday as all of the House of Representatives and one third of the Senate must return to their home districts and campaign for re-election. A ‘lame duck’ session will be held from the middle of November until early January 2005. There is a chance we can get this bill passed into law, and if not we will begin again early in the next Congressional session,” said Tenorio.

The bill was introduced by the Resources committee chair himself and ranking member Nick J. Rahall (D-WV).

Pombo led a congressional delegation visit to the CNMI in January and held an oversight hearing in February this year that examined the potential for a Delegate in Congress for the CNMI.

The bill currently has 16 co-sponsors, including Roy Blunt, Majority Whip; Don Young, chair of the House Transportation Committee; Dan Burton, chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness; the three territorial delegates: Madeleine Bordallo, Eni Faleomavaega, and Donna Christensen; members of the delegation that visited the CNMI: Jeff Flake, Dennis Cardoza, and Dennis Rehberg; Hawaii Rep. Neil Abercrombie and Ed Case; David Scott, Wayne Gilchrest, Tom Cole, and Greg Walden.

A previous bill in 1996, H.R. 4067, was approved by the same committee, but not unanimously. Miller was the primary dissenting voice, questioning the CNMI’s commitment to the principals of the U.S. Constitution in relation to the treatment of nonresident workers in the CNMI. The bill failed to garner enough support for approval by the House of Representatives.