“In the last Congress my bill conveying submerged lands back to the NMI passed the House unanimously,” he said.
“It was in line for Senate approval as part of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s America’s Great Outdoors Act when time ran out and the 111th Congress ended.”
Last week, he added, “I re-introduced the bill in the 112th Congress as H.R. 670, and will be working to get it quickly back on track for passage.”
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2005 that the commonwealth did not own the submerged lands around the islands.
Kilili’s bill returns the submerged lands to the CNMI out to three miles from the shoreline of each of the islands.
Both Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and the Legislature supported passage of the submerged lands legislation in the last Congress.
“Passage of H.R. 670 would give the people of the NMI the power to protect and benefit from these lands and the natural resources in the waters above them,” Kilili said.
