Guam loses Congress vote

FRIDAY, 07 JANUARY 2011 02:56 BY THERESE HART | VARIETY NEWS STAFF

* Constitutionality of delegate voting rights raised

Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo is joined by Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio and her granddaughter, Nicole Bordallo Nelson during her swearing-in ceremony in the 112th Congress. Contributed photo

Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo yesterday took her oath of office in the 112th Congress during a ceremony led by Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio.

But even as Bordallo was sworn in, the new Republican majority in the House worked to terminate the “symbolic” voting rights that Guam and other insular areas enjoyed in the previous Democrat-controlled Congress.

Bordallo, joined her colleagues from the District of Columbia, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in opposing the passage of H. Res. 5, the rules governing operations of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 112th Congress.

Over the past several weeks, Republican leaders crafted a rules package during the House Republican Conference that, among other provisions, would rescind the ability of delegates to cast symbolic votes on the floor during Committee of the Whole proceedings.

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia was joined on the House floor by Bordallo, Congressman Eni Faleomavaega of American Samoa, Congresswoman Donna Christensen of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Congressman Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico, and Congressman Kilili Sablan of the CNMI as she made a motion to refer the rules package to a committee that would investigate the constitutionality of delegate voting rights.

Congresswoman Norton's motion was put on hold, by a vote of 225 yes votes to 188 no votes. H. Res. 5 eventually passed last evening by a vote of 240 yes votes to 191 no votes thus depriving the Delegates and Resident Representative from the right to vote in Committee of the Whole.

Delegates were first granted voting privileges in 1993 under the leadership of Speaker of the House Tom Foley of Washington in the 103rd Congress. The Republican majority removed delegate voting privileges in the 104th Congress.

Subsequently, the 110th Congress, under Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, restored those voting rights. This is the second time that the ability of delegates to cast votes has been rescinded.

"The Republican rules package makes this body less transparent and less responsive to the American people," Bordallo said.

"By obligating the Delegates to take public stands, our limited vote showed our constituents where we stood on important issues. Our vote also helped ensure legislation considered by the House took our constituents into account. When an amendment came forward last Congress regarding the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo into the U.S, the territories were initially excluded from the prohibition. Our vote compelled the House to address our concerns. This is precisely how representative democracy is meant to work,” Bordallo said.

“Further, men and women from the territories and the District of Columbia serve and have died for our country in the Armed Forces to protect our way of life. Yet, despite all the rhetoric of restoring democracy to the House of Representatives, the Republicans’ first act is to deny us a basic function of democracy - the right to represent our constituents and vote in the House of Representatives," she added.

As her first legislative act in the 112th Congress, Congresswoman Bordallo re-introduced the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act hours after taking her oath of office.

The Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act was re-introduced as H.R. 44 and is identical to compromise language that was reached during negotiations on H.R. 6523, the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11 NDAA).

In the 111th Congress, Guam war claims was removed from the final defense spending bill due to objections by a group of fiscally-conservative Republicans in the U.S. Senate, said Bordallo.

"The fight to bring closure to the issue of Guam war claims continues in the 112th Congress with introduction of the compromise version of H.R. 44.

"The passage of the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act continues to remain my top legislative priority as we begin the 112th Congress.

Introduction of H.R. 44 continues to build on progress and momentum of the legislation in the 111th Congress.”

Lawmakers blast Senate for war claims removal

by Sabrina Salas Matanane from KUAM.com

Guam - Here at home the actions of the United States Senate led to an emotional final session of the 30th Guam Legislature, as lawmakers in their final remarks expressed their dissatisfaction with what happened an ocean away.

The final session of the 30th Guam Legislature was filled with frustration - one by one lawmakers in their final remarks blasting what happened in the nation's capitol. Committee chair on the Guam Military Buildup Senator Judi Guthertz said, "We need a unified position on this and a statement of frankly dissatisfaction with the members of the Senate that allowed this to happen and I would also like to get an explanation from our congresswoman to share with us and tell us what happened."

Another shot, albeit a compromise version for war reparations, failed again in Congress. Senator Ben Pangelinan said the Senate's action in removing the war reparations provision from the National Defense Bill is typical of the relationship Guam has with the United States.

"When it's something they need from us, then we are part of the family, but when it comes time to make your child support payment in this case, they don't want to give us a blank check, they don't want to give us a check," he said.

Senator Pangelinan says the Senate's action has emboldened him to renew the fight for self-determination. Sentiments echoed in his final comments as a senator, Governor-elect Eddie Calvo saying we have no full representation, that we are a colony and that Guam always seems to be in the short end.

Calvo added, "It is my commitment as governor that I will push for the Commission on Decolonization. I will work with my colleagues in the Guam First Commission and we will work collaboratively to getting ultimate political self-determination for our people and we will use these very dynamic times and we will leverage the importance of the united states has in regards to this island to the best benefits of our people."

Senators in the meantime during their final session passed 21 bills last night.

BLAS FIRES OFF LETTERS TO MCAIN AND LEVIN

BLAS FIRES OFF LETTERS TO MCAIN AND LEVIN

Written by :
Clynt Ridgell


Senator Frank Blas Jr. has fired off two letters to two members of the US Congress. The senator has sent a letter to Senator's John Mccain and Carl Levin stating that he will not give up on the fight for Guam war reparations. In addition to this he is currently working on drafting a letter along with democrat senator Frank Aguon Jr. requesting that public hearings on the Guam WWII Loyalty Recognition Act be held on Guam.



Congresswoman Bordallo stated in her release last week that while war reparations weren't included in the Defense Authorization Act public hearings would be held on the Guam WWII Loyalty Recognition Act as a stand alone bill before the next defense authorization bill. Blas would like for these public hearings to be held on Guam to make it easier for the elderly WWII survivors to provide testimony

Indigenous group says federalization ‘violates’ NMI right to self-government

Friday, 13 March 2009 00:00 By Gemma Q. Casas - Variety News Staff


THE CNMI Descent for Self-Government and Indigenous Rights Inc. says the U.S. Congress exceeded its lawful powers under the Covenant when it enacted the federalization law, or U.S. P.L. 110-229.

The CNMI Descent filed its 48-page brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia as amicus curiae or friend of the court.

Federal Judge Paul Friedman allowed the CNMI Descent to file its brief but not to orally argue its position.

The group’s counsel, Saipan defense attorney Robert O’Connor, argued that federalization “is the infringement on, and deprivation of, the CNMI’s Covenant-guaranteed right of self-government,” and that this “is the immediate and primary injury, not any economic harm that may ultimately result from that deprivation.”

He added, “Regardless of how the law is classified or described, Congress exceeded its lawful powers under the Covenant by enacting it, and this court must therefore uphold the Covenant by enjoining its application to the CNMI.”

The lawyer said they are not seeking economic damages but rather a declaratory relief.

According to O’Connor, U.S. P.L. 110-229 not only applies federal immigration law to the CNMI but also creates a new and unique immigration law for the commonwealth.

“It purports…to establish a separate and distinct regulatory regime of indefinite duration, under which the immigration laws of the CNMI are established by the secretary of Homeland Security, in [her] sole discretion,” he said.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial believes that federalization will destroy what is left of the CNMI’s alien labor-based economy.

The federal government, for its part, argued that the Covenant allows Congress to extend U.S. immigration law to the islands.

Fitial: Federalization law is illegal

MONDAY, 12 JANUARY 2009 00:00
BY GEMMA Q. CASAS - VARIETY NEWS STAFF

The Fitial administration told the federal court in Washington, D.C. the federalization law is illegal because it breaches the commonwealth’s Covenant with the U.S. regarding the islands’ right to self-government.

The U.S Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss the islands’ lawsuit against the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Labor should be denied, the governor’s lawyers stated.

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Paul Friedman is hearing the case.

In related news, Variety learned that Homeland Security and Immigration officials from California and Washington, D.C. are arriving this week on Saipan for another fact-finding mission.

The group will hold closed-door talks with Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, other administration officials, lawmakers, the business community and other members of the community.

Last month, U.S. DOJ attorneys led by Theodore Atkinsons asked the federal court to dismiss the CNMI’s lawsuit because it lacks standing as the case was not brought by the commonwealth’s attorney general.

They also argued that under the Covenant, the U.S. Congress can extend federal immigration law to the islands and that the CNMI’s economic disaster scenario is hypothetical and speculative.

Howard P. Willens, the governor’s special legal counsel, and David W. DeBruin, William M. Hohengarten and Sharmila Sohoni of the Jenner & Block law firm, said the U.S. DOJ attorneys have “mischaracterized the commonwealth’s claims.”

They said the lawsuit “alleges specific violations of the [Covenant] between the commonwealth and the united states — claims based essentially on breach of contract, for which the harm is (and need only be) a violation of established contractual rights.”

According to the CNMI attorneys’ 30-page reply, the Covenant “guarantees the Northern Marianas the right to local self-government and control over internal affairs. This is a critical right for a small, isolated island community. In multiple ways, however, the act violates that established right, and its implementation should be enjoined.”

They said a preliminary injunction at the most would just delay the implementation of the federalization law, as embodied in U.S P.L. 110-229 or the U.S. Consolidated and Natural Resources Act, to Dec. 1, 2009.

During this period, they said the CNMI would be able to negotiate with federal authorities on how to administer its foreign worker program, which administration officials fear would end by 2014.

The federalization law, the CNMI lawyers said, “ultimately requires that all foreign workers lawfully admitted to the commonwealth must be removed unless they qualify for a federal visa — and most indisputably cannot — meaning that the act compels the removal of two-thirds of the private sector workforce and one-third of the population of the CNMI. The act strips critical revenues from the CNMI. In each of these respects, the commonwealth contends that the act violates enforceable promises made by the United States in the Covenant as a matter of law.”

The CNMI attorneys argued that the economic impact of the federalization law is imminent once it takes effect this June 1.