By Gemma Q. Casas
Variety News Staff

FIVE more staffers of the U.S. Congress and two U.S. military representatives arrived on island yesterday for a day-long visit to look into the situation in the Northern Marianas in the wake of plans to federalize its labor and immigration systems.
The seven spent most of their time talking with local officials, the members of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce and the Strategic Economic Development Council.
Jeff Schorr, field representative of the U.S. Department of the Interior, said although there wasn’t much time, the group did get a sense of what was going on in the CNMI through information they were provided.
The group first met with Gov. Benigno R. Fitial at 10 a.m.
Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said the meeting lasted for about an hour, which he described as an opportunity for the administration to explain the steadily declining revenues and efforts to curb labor abuses.
Reyes said the meeting also touched on security issues. He did not elaborate.
The visiting congressional staffers are led by Tony Babauta, the majority staff director for the newly created House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs chaired by Rep. Donna Christensen, D-VI.
The subcommittee is scheduled to hold an oversight hearing on “Current Economic, Social and Security Conditions of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands” on April 19 in Room 1324 at the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill.
Schorr said work is underway to hold the second subcommittee hearing on Saipan.
After briefly meeting with some members of the CNMI Legislature, the visiting military and congressional staff members headed to the Fiesta Resort & Spa where they met with the local business community around 2 p.m.
Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Juan T. Guerrero said their open dialogue with the visitors should give them a clearer picture of the economic situation of the islands.
The chamber is opposed to the extension of federal minimum wage and immigration laws to the islands.
After meeting with the local business community, the visiting congressional staff members and military representatives headed to the Saipan airport for their flight to Guam.
Congressmen Solomon Ortiz, D-Tx., and Congressman Joe Wilson, R-S.C., are on Guam for a brief official visit.
Tony Babauta, staff director of the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, led the delegation to Saipan which included U.S. Navy Cmdr. Anne Fischer; Rich Stanton, counsel for the subcommittee; Brian Modeste, subcommittee staff; Jed Bullock of Guam Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo’s office; Marisela Salayandia of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and Lindsay Young, a staffer in Congressman Ortiz’s office.
The subcommittee hearings on the CNMI came after the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources began discussions on the possible federalization of local immigration law.
The Senate Committee has since asked the Interior Department to draft the federalization bill which is due for submission on April 30.