SPEAKER Nancy Pelosi has bowed to pressure from her colleagues and the media about H.R. 2 — the bill that proposes an increase in the federal minimum wage and also to extend the federal wages to the CNMI but not to American Samoa.
Speaker Pelosi has stated that the minimum wage bill will be changed to cover all U.S. territories — including American Samoa before it reaches President Bush’s desk.
Her remarks on Friday followed accusations from Republicans a day earlier that American Samoa, which is not covered by the $5.15 per hour federal minimum wage, was not even included in the bill raising the federal minimum wage pay to $7.25 an hour because StarKist has a large cannery in the island chain. StarKist is owned by Del Monte Foods Co., which has its headquarters in San Francisco, Pelosi’s district.
This exclusion was done at the request of nonvoting Delegate Eni Faleomavaega, who represents the Pacific island territory of American Samoa in the U.S. House. Delegate Faleomavaega stated that raising the federal minimum wage would devastate the local tuna industry. Well, can you imagine how the raising of the minimum wage in the CNMI will devastate our own local economy without at the very least a wage review board to review our economic activities prior to any increases!
I am appalled though to think that Speaker Pelosi’s quick decision to have Rep. George Miller make amendments to H.R. 2 is reckless and without merit nor was there consideration to the economy of American Samoa. Her decision to amend the federal minimum wage bill was due to pressure from her peers and the media. She unilaterally decided to destroy the economy of American Samoa’s tuna industry. This person clearly has no compassion to the territories of the United States.
The CNMI government is now expecting to loose in the neighborhood of $50-60 million in user fees and taxes when the garment businesses leave. The loss of Concorde Manufacturing and other affiliates alone may have reduced our intake to the tune of $10 million in user fees and taxes.
Because of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s directive to amend H.R.2 for the inclusion of American Samoa into the bill, we have an opportunity to again request that the CNMI be allowed to have a Federal wage review board. We also have an opportunity to work with American Samoa to have a single voice on maintaining that Federal wage review board.
I am in favor of increasing the minimum wage of the CNMI but gradually so that we do not lose employees due to business shutdowns.

REP. RAY N. YUMUL
15th CNMI Legislature