Trump’s budget

Washington and elected officials here seem to have overlooked the legal status of the CNMI, as though it’s a territory like others under the flag.

“It is not. It is a ‘commonwealth’ in political union with the U.S. inherent under U.S. Public Law 94-241 or Covenant agreement,” according to former speaker Oscar C. Rasa.

He noted that the agreement excludes some aspects of the U.S. Bill of Rights and provides limited landownership to the indigenous people.

Moreover, the agreement says the application of federal laws must specifically name the CNMI lest it doesn’t apply here, Rasa said. “These are the unique aspects of the agreement which sets the NMI apart from other territories,” he said.

“In other words, the U.S. Congress doesn’t have plenary (absolute) powers over the NMI like it does Guam and others,” Rasa pointed out. “In short, we have self-government while Guam can’t have the same as an unincorporated territory.”

There were challenges to certain provisions of the agreement that was upheld by the courts such as exclusion of some of the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution and the integrity of Section 805 of the Covenant or land alienation.

“As interpreted by the courts, ‘in the territorial context the definition of a basic and integral freedom must narrow to incorporate the shared beliefs of diverse cultures,’” according to the book, An Honorable Accord written by Howard P. Willens and Deanne C. Siemer, both constitutional lawyers.

“The key question then becomes whether the asserted constitutional guarantee ‘is fundamental in this international sense.’”

“After examining the right to jury trial, the right to equal access to land acquisition…the courts concluded that none of these rights was ‘fundamental’—in this sense—so as to require the invalidation of the Covenant provision involved. In addition, the court in the land alienation case examined whether it would be ‘impractical or anomalous’ to apply the constitutional right involved in the Northern Marianas.”

“It concluded that the underlying purposes of the land alienation restrictions were to protect local culture and values, that the U.S. was felt politically compelled to curtail landownership in order to convince the NMI people to accede to U.S. sovereignty, and that without such a restriction the political union between the NMI and the U.S. would not have been possible.

“To hold otherwise, the court reasoned, would require construing the equal protection clause of the Constitution ‘to force the U.S. to break’ its commitment under the Trusteeship Agreement,” according to court decision.

Former speaker Rasa was one of the Covenant negotiators and a recipient of the prestigious International Who’s Who of Intellectuals issued by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England. He reiterated that local policymakers and the administration must come to terms with the agreement because it distinctly sets the NMI apart from other territories. It means the NMI is not a territory of the U.S. but a Commonwealth in political union with the U.S.

Labor: The NMI wants an increase in the number of foreign workers to prevent chaos under fragile economic foundation.

Queries were raised on the practicality being sought by the NMI. This is where the apparent anomaly if the issue is based solely on the letter of USPL 110-229. Is there a way out of this dilemma?

Local officials have discussed immigration as it relates to labor, focusing on temporary measures. Former speaker Rasa suggested a more lasting approach such as co-management.

He said the difficulty shows Washington is too far away from the islands but “our needs are imperative,” thus the need to work jointly. He said that capital and labor go together, where one can’t function without the other. Both sides must meet to establish a co-management system where the benefits are mutual.

Da salary: To spin reality into your obvious self-aggrandizement, how many of you could really earn $75,000 to $135,000 per year in private industries?

Would your shiny academic and professional experience get you anywhere near $75,000 per year at an outside job? Like what we all had to endure, you too must learn to earn your dues!

Ascension: The law governing ascension of the Senate president as lieutenant governor must be changed substantially. In other words, whoever sits in that post or the first seat must have a public mandate or the votes of “we the people.”

The current arrangement is asinine where one without a public mandate enjoys the fortune by “legal” means, disposing of matters of state without approval by the people. The mechanics should be worked out as the proposed initiative is prepared for this purpose. This is a must in the seat of “we the people.”