Kilili to have leading role in HELP

Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan (Ind-MP) has earned a leading role in the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions subcommittee as the second most senior member from the minority of the congressional group.

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives minority selected their leaders and ranking members for the subcommittee’s responsibilities of the Education and the Workforce Committee, headed by Rep. Virginia Ann Fox (R-5th North Carolina).

HELP is one of the four subcommittees under the Committee on Education and the Workforce, which was formerly known as the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-7th Michigan) is chair.

GOP Reps. Todd Rokita (4th-Indiana; Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education); Bradley Byrne (1st-Alabama; Workforce Protections); and Brett Guthrie (2nd-Kentucky; Higher Education and Workforce Training) are the other subcommittee chairs.

Sablan said he led the bipartisan territorial caucus’ letter to House majority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-23rd California) and minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-12th California) to include each of the insular areas they are representing in health care reform that the GOP is planning.

“We were largely left out of Obamacare [Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act], so now, with repeal and replace on the table, we want any replacement to meet President Trump’s standard of insurance for everybody,” said Sablan.

Reps. Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa), Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-Guam), Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colón (R-Puerto Rico), and Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) are Sablan’s counterparts that joined him in the position letter.

He said the territorial caucus also backs House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-1st Wisconsin) plans on healthcare reforms.

“Among the reforms we want are ending the cap on Medicaid insurance payments to insular areas and computing the federal/local shares of Medicaid in a way comparable to states. We also support [Ryan’s] idea to have federally-supported, refundable tax credits for health insurance.”

Sablan is also a member of the Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee and earned a special waiver to serve on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. Minority members are usually limited to only two committees.

“Democratic members are usually limited to membership on two committees, but I will now serve on three. The [Veterans Affairs] committee has jurisdiction over the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,” said Sablan.

“Veterans and their families in the Marianas and around our nation are too often forgotten, after giving so much. That’s why I asked, and was granted last week, a special waiver to serve on the committee.”

“[The committee] provides veterans with medical care, housing and educational benefits, and other compensation for their service. Committee membership gives me more opportunities to address disparities in these services for veterans living in remote areas of our country, like the Marianas.”

He thanked Pelosi, the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, Veterans Affairs ranking member Rep. Tim Walz (D-1st Minnesota), and House Natural Resources ranking member Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-3rd Arizona) for approving and supporting his waiver request.

Sablan said he would work for the Northern Marianas College, and all CNMI undergraduate and graduate students as a member of the Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee.