“THOSE who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.” Such saying should be the placard placed on every elected official in the Commonwealth. House Minority Leader Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, is absolutely correct in his assessment and recommendation that “We should send our own people instead to articulate our position (in Washington, D.C.).””It is not only what “the government should work for,” but also what the Congressional committees in Washington, D.C. expect from the CNMI. Such an act is a sign of honest political maturity on the part of the Commonwealth, and not playing “politics” with a few “seasoned” D.C. politicians and bureaucrats who wash each other’s hands every time they use congressional restrooms, and, who can smell fools a mile away.
Not all D.C. politicians are such scoundrels. However, even scoundrels know when sincerity and honesty come before their committee hearings, because they know, that lobbyists cannot buy people before them, who represent the CNMI. To play the game of “political maneuvering” with seasoned D.C. politicians, in my opinion and for what its worth; is a lose-lose result for the CNMI.
I also marvel at the bureaucratic games that the Department of Interior play with both the United States Congress and the Executive Branch. Cohen is caught between a rock and a hard place. In practical terms, he serves two masters because he may have to answer to both the United States Congress and the Executive Branch. Such is the system of checks and balances. It is fully operational in this instance. He must perform to satisfy both the United States Congress and the Executive Branch. Think about it. Why is there a need for government “staffers” to conduct their own fact-finding missions? Don’t they trust the efforts of the Department of Interior?
The real question is who should go?
A suggestion might be in order. The Washington Representative for the CNMI is already in Washington. So that leaves the Speaker of the House and Senate, the majority and minority whips, the delegations of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, representatives who formulated the Covenant, present and former governors of CNMI, the Chief Justice of the CNMI Supreme Court, and anyone else I might have not included in this distinguished group of leaders, that may be sent. But then again, because of funding problems, how do we choose who goes? Maybe…the people of the CNMI should decide through a vote. But then again, that becomes an expensive undertaking.
The bottom line: How many distinguished representatives from the CNMI, and for how long, will $80,000.00 support to provide a united effort to “lobby” with members of the U.S. Congress? To this, I have no answer…Maybe someone in CNMI government accounting office could answer this question.
The D.C. big boys in congress know when they are being played against each other, and they surely know when a member changes his/her party membership. They brand these members as untrustworthy to the principles of the party. In my opinion, the CNMI government places itself in this category when it hires “lobbyists” to do what our CNMI leaders ought to be doing. The “Biden” relationship is awkward. What happens when the winds change again and the make-up of congress changes as well?

FRANKLIN PEREZ
Shenyang City
Liaoning Province,
People’s Republic of China