Pete A. sounds alarm over future of NMI

Faced with what he says is a crisis 20 years in the making, Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio is urging CNMI leaders to convene a non-partisan “summit” to tackle a number of crucial issues facing the islands’ future and its people, including the economy, long-term educational strategies and local manpower development.

In a letter to Gov. Juan N. Babauta, House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial and Senate President Joaquin G. Adriano, Tenorio particularly expressed concern over the worldwide lifting of quota restrictions by Jan. 1, 2005 and the impact this will have on the local garment industry; as well as the nascent movement among long-time nonresident workers who are pressing for permanent residency in the CNMI and the potential impact this may have on the indigenous population.

Tenorio said the CNMI’s top elected officials, the Legislature, other elected officials and the CNMI community should meet in a “summit” to discuss replacement industries for the garment sector, prospects of future investment potentials, the islands’ continuing reliance on nonresident workers and the future of these workers and their long term and potential permanent presence in the CNMI, among other things.

“I am greatly concerned about the future of the CNMI, and I think that it will take the best minds in the CNMI to solve some of these problems,” he said. “When the Covenant was signed into law 28 years ago, we were somewhat naïve as to the possible ramifications of some of our decisions or actions. We failed to exercise restraint in the growth of the garment industry, we neglected to follow global developments in trade and, in our quest for development and government revenues, we became shortsighted and failed to develop our most precious resource, our people. We have developed an economy that is completely dependent on nonresident workers.”

On Jan. 1, 2005, under a World Trade Organization agreement, the current restrictions, i.e. quotas on the amounts of clothing and fabric that each country can export to the United States and the European Union will be eliminated. Once these restrictions are lifted it is expected that low-cost Chinese manufacturers will grab a major share of the more than $400 billion global textile market. The U.S. textile industry has lost 350,000 jobs in the last three years, with many more expected to be lost in the coming years.

Five textile industry groups in the U.S. have filed safeguard petitions with the U.S. Department of Commerce to cap some of China’s textile products aimed at the United States, claiming that China poses a significant threat to their existence. This move was backed by 51 countries that are also afraid of unbridled Chinese competition. If approved the caps would limit the annual growth of Chinese imports to as little as 7.5 percent until 2008. This will bring some relief and a little breathing room.

At the same time, with the help of the Department of the Interior and its Business Opportunities Conference, Tenorio said the CNMI will see new investors and businesses coming in. He also projected an increase in the number of tourists visiting the islands, with China granting the Approved Destination Status to the Commonwealth.

“These will help mitigate the most likely decrease in our garment industry, but they will not be able to fill the void that will surely be created in our economy,” he said.

Tenorio said the decline in the local garment industry will surely continue in the coming months. There are ways, he said, that the CNMI can explore to stem such a decline, including amending Headnote 3(a) of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to be more lenient, as well as amendments to the Buy American statutes for the Department of Defense to ensure the CNMI’s eligibility to participate.

“But we also need to explore ways of dealing with approximately 25,000 garment workers who, over time, may lose their jobs. It is conceivable that many of their employers will be unable or unwilling to pay for their repatriation. It is also highly unlikely that our government will be able to repatriate them,” he said.

The Washington representative also voiced concerns over current initiatives by nonresident workers to challenge restrictions of the Covenant on residency and U.S. citizenship. Tenorio was referring to some guest workers who have banded together to form a movement called “Decada,” which intends to petition the U.S. Congress for permanent U.S. residency.

“I worry that many of our nonresident workers will never want to return to their home countries, and with the decline in the garment industry there will be no jobs for many of them,” he said. “I fear that the number of nonresident unemployed will far exceed the number of those employed. This of course leads me to a greater fear of what the U.S. Congress may do regarding our current ability to regulate our own immigration.”

This comes against a backdrop of what Tenorio describes as the “failure” of all elected leaders from the beginning of the Commonwealth to the present to secure successful and productive futures for the local people.

“Very few of the Chamorros and Carolinians of the CNMI desire employment in the private sector; they prefer the higher salaries and fringe benefits of our government payroll. The government payroll will not be increasing any time in the foreseeable future. More than likely, we will see reductions in budgets and the total number of positions decreasing. Where are our young people going to go for employment? How many millions of dollars have we spent over the last 28 years on scholarships and loans to our young people so that they may better themselves through higher education? How many of these young energetic citizens have returned home to find that there are no jobs in our government, and those in the private sector pay very little and are generally reserved for nonresident workers?

“What have we done over the last 28 years to provide sound variable viable vocational education programs at our high schools and Northern Marianas College for those who don’t want to go to college so that they can be trained to fill the positions held by nonresident workers? It is my understanding that the students who have benefited from what few programs that have been offered have ended up working in Guam or the mainland.”

“Governor, Mr. Speaker and Mr. President, we are in a crisis that has been developing over the last 20 years. Determining where we went wrong, finding the culprit that led us to this point, and pointing fingers will not solve these problems. We will need to ask for help, but at this point in time, we do not even know what help is needed. It is time for us to gather the best minds in the Commonwealth to examine these and related problems and develop strategies and potential solutions to these problems.

“I ask that you and the Legislature call for a non-partisan summit to begin a thorough examination of the economic and educational indigenous people we must begin today or we may be looking at a future for our islands that does not resemble the home we grew up in.”