Marissa Flores
REPRESENTATIVE Marissa Flores on Thursday accused Senate President Edith Deleon Guerrero of “sitting” on House Bill 23-22, which proposes to give the Office of the Attorney General subpoena powers.
Authored by Flores, H.B. 23-22 has been passed by the House, but is still with the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Government and Law. The committee’s chair, Sen. Celina Babauta, said she is working on a draft Senate substitute bill that addresses the concerns raised by the Public Defender’s Office and local attorneys who opposed the bill as originally drafted.
Flores brought up the matter during the miscellaneous part of the House session on Thursday, citing another lawsuit that was filed against the OAG in relation to the issuance of subpoenas.
She said the OAG “is the highest legal office in the Commonwealth, but unfortunately it does not have the authority to issue subpoenas for investigations.”
Flores said the OAG “must rely” on the Office of the Public Auditor to issue a subpoena, which, she added, can be time consuming and hinders the AG’s ability to act swiftly on cases of public abuse and corruption.
She said subpoena powers are essential for the OAG to carry out its duties effectively.
“Let me remind this community once again,” she added. “The Senate president proposes to provide the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation’s Judiciary and Governmental Operation, which she chairs by the way, with subpoena powers to conduct her investigation. Yet she sits idle on H.B. 23-22 aimed to give investigative subpoena power to the highest legal office in our Commonwealth,” Flores said.
She added that the Senate president “continues to provide her own sentiments on reform yet she has only displayed inaction to support her views.”
“This is not about personal views,” Flores said. “This is about accountability. This is about combating corruption. This is about finally giving our community justice. This is about government reform. And it starts at the highest level of the legal office of our Commonwealth.”
Flores stated that as long as H.B. 23-22 remains in the Senate, “waiting for the Senate president to exercise her power to calendar” the bill for action, there will be a continuation of abuse of power and corruption.
“With that said … colleagues, we might as well throw in the towel and live in a government designed for monarchs and communists,” Flores added.
Asked for comment, Deleon Guerrero said she is “not sitting on anything.” She added that the last time she checked, H.B. 23-22 was referred to the Senate JGL Committee in September 2023.
The Senate president said rather than “barking up the wrong tree, it’s best that Flores bark at the appropriate committee.”
Deleon Guerrero also noted that the Senate JGL Committee has yet to schedule a meeting to publicly discuss the proposed substitute bill.
Opponents of the bill’s original version described it as “a legislative attempt to infringe into the people’s constitutional right of privacy and right against unlawful search and seizure.”
