Here are the highlights from the sessions this week, November 12 (Saipan & Northern Islands Legislative Delegation) and November 13-14 (House):
SNILD passes new Zoning bill
The bill proposes to repeal and reenact the Zoning law, and includes changes with respect to signage and lighting, road standards, adult businesses, microbreweries and home day care centers, road standards, etc. The bill also eases zoning requirements to facilitate the reuse of old garment factory warehouses. In discussions with Zoning Board Chair Mr. Henry Hofschneider, and Zoning Administrator Mr. Steve Tilley, some members, including Senator Pete Reyes and I, said that in the future, they preferred to see the Zoning Board enact zoning changes by regulation rather than coming to the Saipan delegation again and again to repeal and reenact the law.
All members present voted yes to the bill. The bill now heads to the governor.
House Bills Introduced on the Floor (not on the agenda)
House Resolutions Adopted
1. HR 16-62: encouraging the Commonwealth Development Authority board and executive director to deny granting additional benefits to the existing Qualifying Certificate to Saipan Laulau Development, Inc.
Supporters of the resolution noted that the CNMI had been quite generous to Saipan Laulau Development, Inc. already, granting breaks on the lease of the property as well as tax breaks worth $18million, and there had to be reasonable limits placed on such generosity, as well as tangible benefits to the community arising from the investment. Speaker Palacios in particular noted that the decision to approve new lease terms and reduced rent for SLDI had been the hardest decision he’d had to make during the 15th Legislature, but he had ultimately endorsed the proposal because of the promise of additional tax revenues, jobs, tourists, and other benefits – only to find that SLDI would subsequently ask for tax breaks, scale back its investment, and then ask for more tax breaks.
Opponents of the resolution argued that the problem lay not with Saipan Laulau Development, Inc. for requesting the additional benefits, but with the government for sending mixed signals to investors and with the Qualifying Certificate program itself. Rep. Santos informed the members that she was presently developing a bill to overhaul and depoliticize the Qualifying Certificate program, and urged Rep. Yumul to withdraw his resolution and work with her on the bill instead, but Rep. Yumul said that the Legislature had attempted in the past to amend the program without any success and his primary concern as the Ways and Means chair was to prevent further erosion of the CNMI’s tax base as a result of any additional benefits that CDA might grant to Saipan Laulau Development, Inc.
In my comments on the floor, I concurred with Rep. Santos and other members that our focus should be on improving the QC statute and minimizing political influences in the program, rather than targeting an individual investor’s request for QC modifications. I noted that other investors in the past had requested modifications to their Qualifying Certificate, and had been denied because CDA regulations did not allow for reconsideration of approved QCs. Now the CDA Board is attempting to revise its regulations to allow such reconsideration to accommodate SLDI, and though SLDI is at present the only investor requesting additional benefits, I worried that the new regulations, if promulgated, would open the floodgates for additional requests from other investors that would also have to be accommodated. I said that rather than singling out one investor in a resolution, we should devote our attention to ensuring that the QC statute provides for the fair, objective, and consistent implementation of the program.
Because this resolution was particularly controversial and subject to such lengthy debate, a roll call vote was taken. Members who voted yes to the resolution were: Reps. Edwin Aldan, Joseph Camacho, Frank Dela Cruz, Joseph Deleon Guerrero, Heinz Hofschneider, Victor Hocog, Ray Tebuteb, Ralph Torres, Arnold Palacios, and Ray Yumul. Members who voted no were: Reps. Oscar Babauta, Ray Palacios, Justo Quitugua, Ed Salas, Rosemond Santos, Stanley Torres, and myself. Rep. Joseph Reyes abstained; Reps. Diego Benavente and Dave Apatang were absent.
2. HR 16-63: endorsing the strategic development plan for the establishment of the Micronesian Center for a Sustainable Future, and an administrative, research, and development center for the Micronesian Chief Executives Summit and the Micronesian Presidents’ Summit (Rep. Joseph Camacho)
3. HR 16-64: requesting the Office of the Public Auditor to conduct a close-out audit of the Office of the Resident Representative to the United States for the CNMI before the term of the Resident Representative expires on January 2, 2008 (Rep. Ray Yumul)
4. HR 16-65: creating a Small Business Development and Assistance Task Force to assess and analyze the current economic factors leading to to the decline in small business revenue in the Commonwealth, and to formulate a strategy to assist local businesses in increasing current revenue streams and to assist in the development of new revenue generating prospects; the task force will be chaired by Ways and Means Chair Rep. Yumul (Rep. Ray Yumul + 4)
5. HR 16-66: urging the Department of Public Safety to vigilantly enforce Public Law 15-127, the Fireworks Control Act of 2008 (Rep. Oscar Babauta +13)
6. HJR 16-4, HS1: to create a joint focus group within the Legislature to study the Guam military build-up and to help prepare the Commonwealth for the military expansion in the Marianas (Rep. Ray Yumul)
7. SJR 16-96: congratulating President-Elect Barack Obama on his election as the 44th president of the United States of America
Joint Conference Committee Report on the Budget Placed on the Agenda
The official committee report was first circulated to members just before 2pm on Friday, November 14. Minutes later, the Floor Leader made a motion to suspend the rules to place the joint committee report on the agenda for adoption. Several members, including Reps. Dave Apatang, Ed Salas, Ralph Torres, and I objected to the motion, and argued that we should at least have a chance to read the report before we take action on it. Nevertheless, the majority voted to suspend the rules, and the report was placed on the agenda.
Later in the session, the Speaker announced that the Senate had held a session and passed the conference committee’s bill. The Floor Leader also announced that he would be going off island for a week to accompany delegate-elect Gregorio Sablan to Washington D.C. and also to ”nurture relationships” with members of the U.S. House and Senate and to discuss the CNMI’s concerns with respect to federalization. Rep. Camacho is a member of the legislative task force on federalization. He requested that the House not act on the budget bill until his return. In response, Rep. Vic Hocog pointed out that every day of delay on the budget was costing the CNMI government. I pointed out that we would still have a quorum in the Floor Leader’s absence. It was unclear whether or not the Floor Leader’s request would be accommodated.
House Legislative Initiative 16-4, amending Article XII to extend the lease terms to 75 years, fails to pass in the House
Introduced by Rep. Heinz Hofschneider, this initiative proposed to extend the term permitted for transfer of leashold interests from 55 years to 75 years, to give the courts greater flexibility in determining whether or not land transactions in violation of Article XII should be voided, and to allow holders of existing leashold agreements to negotiate with lessors for the termination of existing leases and to enter into new leases. Seven public hearings were held on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. According to the committee report, a majority of the comments submitted were in favor of the proposal.
The initiative that ultimately came to the House floor, however, initially proposed to both extend the lease terms permitted on private property from 55 years to 75 years as well as reduce the Northern Marianas descent requirement for corporations from 100% to 51%. Many members objected to the latter part of the proposal, observing that the NMD requirement for corporations had been the subject of litigation in the past, and had been changed to 100% during the 2nd constitutional convention for good reason. I was primarily concerned about lumping the two contentious proposals together in one initiative, and said that it would be better to divide the proposals into separate initiatives rather than ask voters coming to the polls to vote on both at the same time. Rep. Oscar Babauta then offered an amendment to remove the provision pertaining to corporations, and his amendment was accepted.
The House held a lengthy debate on this initiative. Members who opposed placing the initiative on the ballot argued that we should wait until 2011 to decide on the Article XII question as provided by the Covenant, and that the economic arguments in favor of amending Article XII were misleading, and land alienation laws had little to do with the present state of the CNMI economy. Members were also concerned about the legislative initiative process itself — although legislative initiatives require the endorsement of 3/4 of the members of both Houses, they only require a simple majority of the votes cast to pass. These members worried that ”outsiders,” citizens who are not of NMI descent, might ultimately be allowed by the courts to vote on the land alienation issue.
Proponents of the initiative pointed out that the majority of participants in public hearings supported the placement of the initiative on the ballot, said that new and longer lease terms would encourage existing businesses and other leasees to improve and renovate their properties, and give prospective investors one more reason to consider the CNMI as a place to do business, and that we should trust in the wisdom and intelligence of our people and give them the opportunity to vote on the measure one way or another. I pointed out that the initiative would not mandate 75-year leases or the termination of existing leases for that matter, but would simply expand the pool of potential leasees to property owners so that individuals who do choose to enter into new lease agreements can get a better deal for their land.
The initiative ultimately failed to garner the “yes” votes of 3/4 of the House, as required by the Constitution. Members who voted yes to the initiative were: Reps. Edwin Aldan, Oscar Babauta, Diego Benavente, Frank Dela Cruz, Heinz Hofschneider, Vic Hocog, Ray Palacios, Ed Salas, Stanley Torres, and myself. Members who voted no were: Reps. Dave Apatang, Joseph Camacho, Joseph Deleon Guerrero, Arnold Palacios, Joseph Reyes, Rosemond Santos, Ray Tebuteb, Ralph Torres, and Ray Yumul. Rep. Justo Quitugua was absent.
House Bill 16-110, HD1, officially establishing the CNMI Veterans Cemetery, passed in the House
Introduced by Rep. Yumul, this bill would officially establish the CNMI Veterans Cemetery by law, create a new Veterans Cemetery Revolving Fund, require the deposits of veterans license plate fees into the account to help finance the operations and maintenance expenses of the cemetery, and designate the Office of Military Liaison and Veterans Affairs as the official expenditure authority for the funds and as the primary agency charged with the responsibility of maintaining the cemetery grounds. Although construction of the cemetery has been completed since 2006, and the cemetery is now in use and governed by regulations promulgated in the Commonwealth Register, as yet there has been no official recognition by law.
The bill was reviewed by the Federal and Foreign Relations Committee in consultation with the Office of Military Liaison and Veterans Affairs, which is already managing the cemetery. All 18 members present voted yes to this bill. Reps. Heinz Hofschneider and Joe Reyes were absent.
House Bill 16-6, authorizing the assessment of parking meter fees, passed in the House
The bill proposes to give DPW the authority to construct, maintain, and operate parking meters, and to establish reasonable fees. Fees would be subject to local appropriation and shall be used for enforcement and maintenance related to parking meter administration. The Department of Public Safety would be responsible for designating areas along public roadways that would appropriate for the installation of parking meters, and for enforcing the time limits imposed by parking meters. All 18 members present voted yes to this bill. Reps. Heinz Hofschneider and Joe Reyes were absent.
House Bill 16-109, HS1, HD1, establishing a Military Family Relief Fund, passed in the House
This bill proposes to create a Military Family Relief Fund, supported funds generated by a new “Support our Troops” license plate, as well as any other donations or other contributions, to assist families of Commonwealth residents who are members of the reserve component of the U.S. Armed Forces or National Guard who are called to active duty. The Executive Director of the Office of Military Liason and Veterans Affairs shall be responsible for administering the program and promulgating necessary regulations. Proponents of the bill, including author Rep. Joseph Reyes, explained that similar programs exist in other states, and the new program would be funded by voluntarily-purchased “Support Our Troops” license plates, donations, or legislative appropriation.
The bill originally proposed also creating a new Veterans Cemetery Revolving Fund and diverting a portion of the fees from both the existing U.S. Armed Forces veterans license and the new Support Our Troops licenses to the Veterans Cemetery as well, but I pointed out a conflicting proposal in House Bill 16-110, which would also create the Veterans Cemetery Revolving Fund and proposed allocating all of the veterans license plate fees to the cemetery. I offered an amendment to delete all references to the Veterans Cemetery and the amendment was accepted. All 17 members present voted yes to the bill; Reps. Edwin Aldan, Justo Quitugua, and Vic Hocog were absent, as they were attending the joint conference committee meeting on the budget.
Senate Bill 16-34, HD1, amending 1 CMC Section 6103(a) of the Election Law, passed in the House
This bill proposes to remove the term limits imposed upon the Election Commission members (currently no more than two consecutive four-year terms). In reviewing the bill, the Special House Committee found that the relatively smaller communities of Tinian and Rota experience greater difficulty than Saipan in identifying qualified individuals who would be willing to serve on the commission, and that this difficulty could hamper the commission’s functions since the commission cannot meet and take official action unless there is a member present from all three senatorial districts. A review of policies in other jurisdictions revealed that some states and territories with election commissions impose term limits on members, while others do not. The Special Committee found that lifting term limits would be a logical policy call to make for the CNMI, and recommended the passage of the Senate bill, which was amended by the House committee for technical clarification. All 18 members present voted yes; Reps Diego Benavente and Joseph Reyes were absent.
House Bill 16-31, amending the Weapons Control Act to promote shooting resorts, referred back to Committee
The House Committee on Commerce and Tourism recommended filing this bill, citing primarily safety concerns associated with the proposed amendments to the Weapons Control Act and the proposed new industry, concerns which were expressed during public hearings on the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, and during the public comment period. Vice Speaker Joseph Deleon Guerrero, himself a member of the Commerce and Tourism Committee who had also signed the report, requested that the bill be referred back to committee for further consideration since it does, after all, offer a new idea that could facilitate economic recovery in the Commonwealth. Some members, including Reps. Diego Benavente, Ed Salas, and I objected to the motion, and pointed out that the committee had properly reviewed the bill, held public hearings, and put forth its recommendations, and the members should now vote one way or another on whether to file the bill. I said that the Commerce and Tourism Committee was hardly anti-investment, but that the members had felt compelled to weigh the need for new investment against legitimate safety concerns, and I cited in particular the concerns of then-Department of Public Safety Commissioner Clyde Norita, who had testified against the bill and said that his Department would not be capable of properly regulating the new industry and ensuring the safety of the community.
In the end, however, 13 members voted to send the bill back to committee, and only six members voted against the referral. The six members who voted no were Reps. Dave Apatang, Diego Benavente, Frank Dela Cruz, Vic Hocog, Heinz Hofschneider, Ed Salas, and Arnold Palacios. Rep. Joseph Reyes was absent. The Speaker then ruled that the bill would be referred to the “Committee of the Speaker.”
House Bill 16-52, to permit a CDA borrower to assign land compensation due from the government to pay for the balance on the CDA loan, filed in the House
Introduced by Rep. Ray Yumul and seven others, this bill proposed to allow a borrower of CDA to assign land compensation due to the borrower from the government, to pay the balance on the CDA loan. Rep. Yumul argued that this bill would not mandate such agreements, but only provided one more option for borrowers and the government to settle their debts. Opponents of the bill, including Rep. Diego Benavente and I, said that CDA is not just any regular department of the government, but an autonomous agency and financial lending institution run by a board and executive director with their own fiduciary duties to uphold. The CDA board and director had strongly opposed this bill, pointing out that land compensation funds have always been uncertain and dependent on appropriations by the Legislature, that the bill could lead to a slippery slope of other similar offset situations, including judgments against the government, tax rebates owed to the people, and vendors not yet paid by the government, and that ultimately CDA could be bankrupted by such offset agreements. We agreed with Rep. Yumul’s argument that land compensation debts needed to be settled, especially in light of Judge Munson’s recent ruling that forced the Department of Public Lands to finally pay a claimant, but said that that CDA’s autonomy and fiduciary duties should be respected.
Rep. Hofschneider then suggested that the Commerce and Tourism committee explore policy options to provide relief to the growing numbers of CNMI residents who are facing foreclosure and who are also owed money by the government. He proposed imposing a stay on any seizures of property until the government pays its debts to such claimants.
The majority of the House members voted to file the bill.
House Bill 16-85, to provide for a liquid fuel tax holiday two days of every month, referred back to Committee
The Commerce and Tourism Committee had recommended filing this bill, introduced by Rep. Ray Yumul, because of the impact that it would likely have on the government’s revenue base. At the session, however, the Chairman and other members requested that the bill be referred instead to the newly-created Special Committee on Fuel, which consisted of members of both Commerce and Tourism and Ways and Means, for further review.
House Bill 16-39, HS1 to repeal and reenact the mechanics lien law, passed in the House
Introduced by Rep. Oscar Babauta and three others, this bill proposes to repeal and reenact the mechanics’ liens law by providing certain assurances required by title insurance companies doing business in the CNMI so that these companies would be more willing to issue title policies containing mechanics’ lien endorsements. Without such endorsements, banks and other lenders are reluctant to provide traditional construction financing to businesses and residents. The House Substitute incorporates certain provisions (mostly clarifying definitions) of a very similar bill that followed, HB 16-94, introduced by Rep. Justo Quitugua. All 19 members present voted yes to this bill. Rep. Joseph Reyes was absent.
House Bill 16-150, on the Managaha Landing Fee, passed in the House
Introduced by Rep. Dave Apatang and six others, this bill proposes to change the Managaha Landing Fee to a Managaha Departure Fee; to strip the Department of Public Lands from its authority to collect such fees and give that responsibility to the Department of Lands and Natural Resources; and to clearly establish the authority of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation to appropriate such funds. The present law stipulates that such funds shall be used for a performing arts center, the Department of Public Lands, the Commonwealth Museum, youth programs, Indigenous Affairs, and Carolinian Affairs. According to some veteran legislators, however, those funds have been held essentially hostage by the Dept of Public Lands, pursuant to an Attorney General’s opinion (of which no one had a copy that day) that the Legislature had no right to appropriate those funds Rep. Hofschneider raised questions about the practical implementation of the law, if departure fees would be collected at various ports around Saipan, rather than collected at the point of arrival on Managaha, but Rep. Quitugua and others said that the departure fee could be collected at Managaha before passengers return to Saipan. Rep. Hofschneider said the enactment of this bill into law would provide a good test case for the courts to determine who has authority to those funds.
I asked the members not to vote on the bill that day, and said that there was no reason for us to rush the passage of the bill. I said that if the intent of the legislation was to clarify the Legislature’s position on some rather complex legal and constitutional issues involving public lands and fees associated with public lands, and also to provide a “good test case” for the courts, then these positions should be properly articulated and documented in a committee report, including a response to the AG’s opinion. I also noted that the bill had never been subject to review by the Natural Resources Committee, nor had comments been officially solicited from the affected agencies.
Nevertheless, the bill passed in the House with 16 members voting yes. The only two members to vote no were Rep. Ed Salas and myself. Reps. Diego Benavente and Joe Reyes were absent.
House Bill 16-58, establishing the Higher Education Commission, passed in the House
Introduced by Rep. Justo Quitugua and three others, this bill proposes to establish the Higher Education Commission, pusuant to the passage of House Legislative Initiative 15-1. The initaitive relieved the Northern Marianas College Board of Regents of licensing responsibilities over post-secondary educational institutions, and created a new Higher Education Commission to take on that responsibility. The bill requires that members on the commission shall serve in a voluntary capacity and be appointed by the Governor, and subject to confirmation by both the Senate and the House. Commissioners shall be registered voters, U.S. citizens, possess a Master’s degree from a U.S. accredited college or university, and have at least five years of related work experience. All 18 members present voted yes to the bill; Reps Diego Benavente and Joe Reyes were absent.
House Bill 16-168, providing for the lateral transfer of Division of Immigration personnel to other agencies, passed in the House
During the morning half of the session on Friday, November 14, the House held a meeting with Division of Immigration Director Mel Grey and his staff to discuss their concerns with respect to the transition from local to federal control of immigration, and the uncertain status of 68 local immigration personnel. Mr. Grey expressed his dismay at the unresponsiveness of the Department of Homeland Security to his suggestions and repeated requests for information, including inquiries related to the implementation of the transition to federal control, the presence of enforcement personnel on Tinian and Rota, and the hiring preference granted to qualified CNMI residents applying for federal immigration jobs under U.S. Public Law 110-229. Other concerns expressed involved the future livelihoods of local immigration personnel who might be displaced by the transition, some of whom would be ineligible for federal jobs because they are over the age of 37, some of whom are eligible to retire but unable to do so because of deficient employer contributions, all of whom have families to take care of.
Many House members assured the immigration staff that they would be taken care of, that there was a bill to provide for their lateral transfers within the CNMI government in the event that they would not be picked up for federal jobs, that would allow them to retain their current salaries and benefits, and that they would also be provided for in the FY 2009 budget bill. I expressed concern about whether or not the government was even in a position to promise such jobs to the staff, especially considering that virtually every government employee is anxious about future salary cuts or furloughs at this time. I also requested more information from Mr. Grey about the number of immigration personnel, positions held, the number of years worked, salaries earned, and an indication of whether or not these individuals would qualify for federal immigration jobs. Later in the hearing one immigration staffer expressed his frustration with both the local and federal governments, complained about some officials’ concern for contract workers, and said that the 68 immigration personnel were all voters and represented 68 local families who also deserved concern. He also, however, asked if the local government could even afford to guarantee lateral transfers
Some members asked if the Governor’s lawsuit might have anything to do with the Department of Homeland Security’s lack of responsiveness to the Division of Immigration’s inquiries. Mr. Grey said that he doubted it, but many of us remained unconvinced. Rep. Diego Benavente said that the newly-created legislative task force on federalization would formally follow up on the concerns expressed by Mr. Grey and thus far ignored by the federal agencies, and requested copies of Mr. Grey’s correspondence with Homeland Security and others.
In the afternoon, we took up House Bill 16-168 for action. I reiterated my concerns about misleading the immigration staff and promising jobs that the government might not be able to afford, and said that there was no reason to rush action on the bill that day, considering that the legislative task force was still gathering information from the Division of Immigration and also considering that the implementation of federalization would not take effect for at least another 7 months. Rep. Apatang said that I should care about the families of these immigration staff and argued that providing their lateral transfers would have no impact on the government because these positions have already been budgeted for. I responded that my concerns about the bill had nothing to do with not caring about the staff, but about raising false hopes about what the government could actually afford, and pointed out that we had just adopted a joint committee report on the budget that estimated a $9million shortfall from FY 2008, that the government was presently operating on a deficit, that we owed enormous and mounting debts to the Retirement Fund, that we were liable for numerous judgments against the government, and that we really had little choice anymore in the matter of salary reductions and furloughs. I also said that I am concerned not only about the immigration staff, but about all government employees who also have every reason to feel anxious during these times of serious fiscal difficulty. The Speaker interrupted at that point and admonished me to “calm down.” I said that if I become passionate in debate it is because the CNMI is in a very real crisis, and we should, for once, be honest with our people about it and refrain from misleading them.
Rep. Ed Salas offered an amendment to require that immigration employees should be laterally transferred to positions for which they are qualified. The amendment was accepted.
In the end, however, 17 members voted yes to this bill; I was the only member to vote no. Reps. Diego Benavente and Joseph Reyes were absent.
House Bill 16-12, HS1, to repeal and reenact the Foreign Retiree Investment Certificate law, placed on calendar
The Commerce and Tourism Committee produced a report recommending the passage of HB 16-12, HS1, and the report was adopted by the House. I objected to the adoption of the report that day, and noted that the bill had been recalled from Committee and placed on the calendar some months ago, then referred back to the Commerce and Tourism Committee for further review after a substitute bill was introduced. The Commerce and Tourism Committee, I noted, had not actually met to review the bill, and I also noted deficiencies in the report itself, including a lack of explanation for some key amendments that had been made, such as the proposal to lower the age of foreign “retirees” from 55 to 35. Rep. Joseph Camacho said that the House had already established that a committee report is considered duly adopted if it is signed by a majority of the committee members, whether or not the committee had met, and said there was no need to rehash old arguments. His comment, however, did little to address the deficiencies in the report itself.
Nevertheless, the majority of the House members voted to adopt the report. The bill has now been placed on the bill calendar for action.
House Bill 16-192, to include Managaha Island in the exemption of tourist areas exempt from the alcoholic beverage prohibition on Election Day
Introduced by Rep. Rosemond Santos and passed on first and final reading that day, this bill amends the recently-passed Public Law 16-18 to include concession stands on Managaha Island in the list of areas exempt from the prohibition on sales of alcohol on Election Day. That list presently includes airports, hotels, hotel resorts, and golf courses. Seventeen members voted yes to the bill, I abstained due to a possible conflict of interest, and Reps. Diego Benavente and Joseph Reyes were absent.
Gov. Communications re certifications of vacant positions of “vital importance”
The CNMI government is operating on a deficit, suffered a shortfall of an estimated $9million at the end of FY 2008, is likely to be held immediately liable for more judgments against the government and debts to the Retirement Fund, is considering salary and personnel reductions, and still, bewilderingly, hiring continues virtually unchecked. I noted with both great interest and dismay that the Governor has, in the last few weeks certified such positions as “PIO Assistant,” “Mayor’s Departmental Assistant,” “Special Project Assistant,” “Community Development Specialist” for the Governor’s office as vacant and of “vital importance for the efficient delivery of essential public services,” in some cases even waiving the requirement to announce the positions. Why?
Misc. Communication 16-56, Saipan Chamber of Commerce endorses marine sanctuary in the CNMI
In a letter to Council on Environmental Quality Chairman Mr. James Connaughton, Saipan Chamber of Commerce President Jim Arenowski extended the support of the Chamber board to the effort to work with the CNMI government in order to designate a marine sanctuary in the Northern Mariana Islands.
In his comments on the letter, Rep. Diego Benavente urged for the members to maintain their opposition to the proposed marine national monument and noted recent media reports that had revealed that Vice President Dick Cheney and others had expressed concern about the proposal, and sympathy for the opposition expressed by many of the CNMI’s elected officials with respect to the monument. He suggested that members draft a resolution to thank the Vice President and reiterate opposition to the proposal; Floor Leader Joseph Camacho said that he was willing to work with Rep. Benavente on such a resolution.
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