Galvin Deleon Guerrero
AS we celebrate Fourth of July, we pause to honor two defining moments — Independence Day as Americans, and Liberation Day as a Commonwealth. These are more than just holidays; they are powerful reminders of the freedoms we cherish as Americans.
As a candidate for the United States Congress, I felt it was important to draw attention to some pressing federal issues that will affect the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The U.S. Senate just passed a federal budget and tax bill that, if passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, would have sweeping implications for our islands. While the bill is to be commended for its efforts to stimulate economic growth through tax cuts and incentives, support our military with increased funding, and invest in small businesses with expanded programs, it also jeopardizes vital support for health care, food assistance, and education in the long-term.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the bill would cut $1 trillion in Medicaid funding, $9 billion in food assistance programs, and $42 billion in funding for education programs like Pell Grants, all while adding $3 trillion to the national debt over ten years. These figures are devastating — but even more troubling is that, while other territories received much-needed support, the CNMI was left out of key provisions.
For example, this bill includes special food cost adjustments for Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands — but not for the CNMI. Regardless of the difference between the SNAP and NAP programs, this still means the same families in the Marianas who are paying higher prices for basic groceries will continue to receive support levels based on outdated, inequitable formulas.
While territorial Medicaid programs’ annual federal grants may seem unaffected, the bill does not address the continued call by the territories for lifting the current Medicaid caps and the longstanding issue of permanent parity to expand coverage and effectively fund healthcare providers like our Commonwealth Healthcare Center.
While other territories have secured targeted investments and protections, the CNMI is nowhere to be found in the language of this bill. Guam is poised to receive $200 million for defense-specific infrastructure spending in this bill. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands successfully advocated for the restoration of their enhanced rum cover-over rate to support economic development, disaster recover, and essential public services. American Samoa just received news of a new discretionary grant of $275,025 from the CDC to strengthen chronic disease prevention in their communities.
And here in the CNMI, our economy struggles to recover, the cost of basic necessities like groceries and utilities continues to climb, and job opportunities steadily dwindle. Federal programs have been cut over the last six months, affecting people’s lives and incomes. 18,000 of our people rely on Medicaid. Over 8,500 count on affordable food and nutrition assistance. More than 1,000 of our students depend on Pell Grants to chase their dreams. These programs are not handouts. They are bridges — bridges to health, to dignity, and to a better life.
Put simply, we cannot afford to hurt our people at a time when they are already hurting so much.
Reflecting on what this means as we celebrate our freedoms this weekend, it helps to consider what the philosopher Isaiah Berlin observed about two concepts of liberty, freedom “from” and freedom “to.” There is freedom from oppression, which the nation’s founding fathers bravely fought for in 1776, taking on the world’s greatest superpower at the time to secure their independence. That freedom from oppression is what we, in the Marianas, also fought for after centuries of colonization through liberation from Camp Susupe after World War II right up to Covenant negotiations that secured our right to self- governance as a Commonwealth in 1976.
But freedom from oppression is not enough. We also need the freedom to live our lives as fully as possible, unhindered by illness, malnutrition, and poverty. We must be free to live healthy lives, put food on the table, and work for a better life for ourselves, our families, and our islands.
That’s what I’m fighting for. I’m fighting for us.
With that, I wish everyone in the Commonwealth and our nation both of these freedoms this Fourth of July.
Happy Liberation Day, Marianas! Spend time with the people you know and love.
GALVIN S. DELEON GUERRERO
Independent candidate for U.S. Congress
