Previous Story
CNMI, Guam urged to take advantage of Abramoff scandal
|
Posted on Apr 11 2006
The Abramoff scandal presents the CNMI and Guam governments a great opportunity to lobby Washington, D.C. for better federal representation, according to a University of Guam professor.
Ronald L. McNinch, an associate professor at the UoG School of Business and Public Administration, said the Commonwealth and Guam could argue that their involvement in the Abramoff lobbying scandal had resulted from its lack of representation in the nation’s capital.
“This is a good time for the CNMI and Guam to ask the federal government for better representation. Why did we need Jack Abramoff? Because we needed some help in how to make a case in Washington D.C.,” McNinch said.
He also urged Gov. Benigno R. Fitial to work together with Guam Gov. Felix Camacho in lobbying the federal government for a voting delegate to the U.S. Congress.
Guam currently has a non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives. The CNMI is still lobbying to enjoy the same representation.
“Fitial and Camacho working together can turn negative into good. They should do it now, while the story is still very hot in the national media,” McNinch added.
Former U.S. lobbyist Jack Abramoff has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison for conspiracy and fraud.
From 1994 to 2001, the Commonwealth government paid at least $11 million to Abramoff-associated lobbying firms, in an attempt to keep the local government’s control over wage rates and immigration.
Gov.-elect Benigno R. Fitial has also been linked to the lobbying scandal. He is believed to have received assistance from Abramoff in his bid to become speaker of the 12th CNMI House of Representatives in 2000. He has issued a public statement calling Abramoff and former U.S. minority leader Tom DeLay, who is also involved in Abramoff’s corruption case, his “friends.”
