By Jude O. Marfil-Schwalbach
For Variety

WASHINGTON — U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne will be in the CNMI on June 5 for a two-day visit “to see for himself” the situation in the commonwealth, according to Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary David B. Cohen.
“I believe the secretary will be interested in listening to the people of the CNMI,” Cohen said. “I’ve told the secretary a great deal about what’s going on in the CNMI, and he very much wants to see it for himself.”
Cohen, who will join Kempthorne during his CNMI visit, said the secretary wants to “get a feel for the daily lives —really get a sense of the place.”
“He relates very well to people, and always tries to understand policy issues through the perspective of the people that will be affected,” Cohen said.
This will be the first time Kempthorne will visit the CNMI since he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 26, 2006.
Kempthorne will also visit Guam, American Samoa as well as the Freely Associated States — the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.