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Teno to lobby vs. federal takeover
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Posted on Jul 29 1999
Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio yesterday vowed anew to fight any attempt that will take away CNMI’s control over its labor and immigration functions, as he leaves today for Washington D.C. to lead the local delegation that will testify in an oversight hearing in the US Congress next week.
The governor leaves today along with Commonwealth officials and representatives of the business sector for the August 3 hearing in the US capital called by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The panel, which has oversight of the Northern Marianas and other U.S. territories, will tackle the proposed legislation seeking full extension of the Immigration and Nationality Act to the island.
Co-sponsored by Chairman Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), the bipartisan measure is one of the seven bills pending in the Congress that will seek to strip CNMI authority over local immigration, minimum wage and customs policies.
Tenorio said the island government will submit its position paper to the committee and members of the delegation are prepared to respond to the questions from the panel.
“We’ve always wanted to ask the U.S. Congress to reconsider (their actions on federal takeover) because of our economy here in the CNMI,” he told reporters on the eve of his departure.
He declined to provide specific details of the “unified” position which the government has drafted for the hearing, the first oversight since Commonwealth leaders and business representatives faced the same committee in March 1998.
In the past, the CNMI has repeatedly opposed attempts by Washington to federalize such Commonwealth functions, citing its devastating impact on the local economy highly dependent on contract workers from Asian countries.
The Clinton Administration has criticized the island government for its alleged failure to curb the number of nonresidents on the island — issues which have driven a wedge on the bilateral relations in recent years.
At least a dozen local officials, excluding representatives from the private sector, are expected to travel to the U.S. capital this week for the August 3 hearing.
