By Haidee V. Eugenio
Variety Assistant Editor

THE federal government’s failure to reimburse the CNMI 90 percent or over $200 million of the close to $222.7 million in costs it incurred by hosting citizens of the Freely Associated States between 1996 and 2005 has added to the commonwealth’s “burden,” according to Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez.
He said the CNMI incurred costs of $222,687,480 in hosting FAS citizens between 1986 and 2005.
As of fiscal year 2006, the U.S. government reimbursed the CNMI only $22,145,102 or 10 percent of the total costs incurred, said Villagomez, citing CNMI Department of Finance data.
The Freely Associated States — the Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, Yap), Palau and the Marshall Islands — are independent nations whose citizens can work and reside in the U.S. and its territories.
To date, Villagomez said the CNMI is waiting for the reimbursement of $200,542,378 from the U.S.
“The failure of the federal government to reimburse fully the CNMI for the Compact-Impact costs resulting from the free flow of Micronesians into the commonwealth has added to our burdens,” Villagomez said in written testimony submitted to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources which held an oversight hearing on the CNMI’s labor, immigration, law enforcement and economic conditions on Feb. 8.
Exhibit 3 of Villagomez’s testimony to the U.S. Senate committee broke down the U.S. government’s reimbursement of Compact-Impact costs to the CNMI.
Between FY 1992 and FY 2006, the reimbursement ranged from $394,960 to $5.171 million for a total of $22.145 million versus the un-reimbursed amount of over $200 million, Finance data showed.
Villagomez cited the U.S. government’s non-reimbursement of Compact-Impact costs as one of the examples of the financial and economic challenges faced by the CNMI, along with the continuous decline in the garment manufacturing and tourism industries due to reasons beyond the islands’ control.
Villagomez recommended that the U.S. Senate committee request the Government Accountability Office to conduct a thorough study of the CNMI’s economic circumstances and the important issues raised by legislation to federalize the commonwealth’s immigration system.
“We believe that the commonwealth has an effective immigration program and that legislation transferring this responsibility to federal officials may have a negative impact not fully understood,” Villagomez told the committee chaired by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. and one of the co-authors of the bill to federalize CNMI immigration law that was passed by the U.S. Senate in February 2000.
Other witnesses at the Senate panel hearing in Washington, D.C. supported the federalization of CNMI immigration, most notably former Ambassador Franklin Haydn Williams, who was the U.S. president’s personal representative to the negotiations with the local panel that led to the drafting of the Covenant which made the islands part of the U.S. It was Williams who named the document “the Covenant.”