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Kilili sponsors his first 2 bill in Congress
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Posted on Feb 16 2009
CNMI Delegate Gregorio “Kilili” Sablan introduced his first two pieces of legislation to the U.S. House of Representatives last week.
H.R. 934 seeks to convey up to three miles of submerged lands to the CNMI, similar to what Guam, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa have in place.
The bill, which Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU) and Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) co-sponsored, has been referred to the Committee on Natural Resources.
Ideally, Sablan said he would like more than three miles but said he needed to start somewhere. But, he added, the legislation will go through and the CNMI will have the same status as other coastal states and territories, excluding Puerto Rico and the Florida Gulf Coast, which have nine miles.
“At the same time, I will attach myself to other efforts done by chairwoman Donna Christensen and other efforts made where they will extend three to more, some say 12, some say 20, miles. I will attach myself to those efforts. But for me, ownership is important but it’s not the only thing.”
It’s important, Sablan said, that the Northern Marianas receive the benefits of the lands.
“We’ve set our marker,” he said. “That’s where we start. I thought that was a good beginning.”
Sablan’s second piece of legislation would increase the number of students the CNMI and American Samoa delegates can appoint to military service academies.
Under H.R. 935 the delegates of the two territories would be able to appoint three students for each cycle of each academy—Military, Navy and Air Force.
Currently, the CNMI can only appoint one every four years. American Samoa can only appoint two students, Sablan said. With this legislation, the two territories will be equal to other jurisdictions. American Samoa Delegate Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS) co-sponsored the measure, which has been referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
Sablan is also working on other legislations, but said he needed to make some final adjustments before commenting on them.
