The interim rule was posted last Wednesday on the Department of Homeland Security Federal Register and includes a list of all the list of countries that can visit Guam and the CNMI visa-free.
China and Russia are not on the list. However, visitors from the country are still allowed to visit CNMI.
Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo said last week that this is because Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano exercised parole authority because of a “very real” possibility that CNMI’s economy would collapse otherwise.
Bordallo, however, said this was not the intent of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, which proposed a joint visa waiver program for Guam and the CNMI.
In addition, she cited “flawed” implementation by the Bush Administration that led to the interim-final ruling.
Calvo told Guam Visitors Bureau members during a meeting last week that the visa waiver designation for China and Russia would prove Guam could be more self-sufficient to the federal government.
“With the increase in revenue, we will show our island is more than just a repository for federal funds. We will send a message to the federal government: we can take care of our own, if you just strip away all the unnecessary regulations you burdened our island and our families with,” said Calvo.
He said that while Lt. Gov. Ray Tenorio is pushing Guam’s agenda to national leaders in Washington, D.C., he and Bordallo will work to ensure that a China-Russia VWP for Guam becomes a reality.
“I will do everything I can to get the federal government to approve this,” he pledged.
He then told GVB members that his administration is currently working to empanel a Council of Economic Advisors who will analyze the tourism economy.
