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Demapan looks forward to Murkowski visit
Early next week, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) will lead a congressional delegation to the CNMI at the invitation of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres—a visit that Rep. Angel Demapan (R-Saipan) is looking forward to.
That will be the senator’s first visit to the CNMI.
“…As the principal author of the U.S. version of the NMI Workforce Act, it will be really beneficial for her and the members of her committee to experience firsthand what’s on the ground and what exactly is the pulse of our community,” he said.
Demapan pointed out that U.S. Congress is thousands of miles away from the CNMI, yet makes decisions that impacts the Commonwealth.
Murkowski’s visit to the CNMI would give her that glimpse on the “true and real picture on the ground here,” Demapan said.
Demapan was in Washington, D.C. early this year to support Torres and officers and members of the Northern Marianas Business Alliance Corp. at the U.S. Senate hearing on the bill to extend the foreign worker program in the CNMI by 10 years, to 2029.
“It was not my first time [in Washington, D.C.] as I have been going there. But in this particular trip, I was pleased to have meetings with different key officials of Congress, particularly with Rob Bishop, the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction on the territories including the Commonwealth,” he said.
“I was able to discuss with him things that need to be addressed right away in the Commonwealth and he was very receptive and very much willing to be a partner of the CNMI as we move along the process,” he added.
Demapan is running against Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan (Ind-MP) as the Republican delegate candidate in the 2018 general elections. “Since I have made my announcement, I’ve been…having these discussions to find out how we can best improve our relationship with the federal government and how best we can improve the imposition of federal policies in the Commonwealth,” he said.
