GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres on Friday said the CNMI and other U.S. territories should have nonvoting seats in the U.S. Senate.
In an interview, the governor said he supports H.R. 6941, a bill authored by Guam Delegate Michael San Nicolas and co-sponsored by U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan of the CNMI, U.S. Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett and Washington D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes-Norton. The bill has also been endorsed by the 28-member Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
The governor said the bill would “give us more voice and more representation in Congress, and the more representation we have in [Washington] D.C., the better for all of us.”
Besides, he added, “we are part of the U.S.— we are the U.S. so being represented in both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate is the right thing to do.”
In a separate interview, Sen. Paul A. Manglona, the longest-serving member of the CNMI Legislature, said opponents of the bill would argue that the territories are “too small” to warrant representation in the U.S. Senate.
However, he added, “we are only asking for a non-voting Senate delegate and so we hope that they will move this legislation forward.”
In his opinion, Manglona said, “it does make a tremendous difference for the territories if we have friends in the U.S. Senate also. I remember years ago when we had a great relationship with the late Sen. Frank Murkowski who chaired for many years the Energy and Natural Resources Committee” which has oversight jurisdiction over the insular areas.
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres delivers his remarks as Capt. Michael Bacher, USN (Ret.), looks on during the recruit training graduation ceremony for the Natibu Division of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps at Guma Higai, Civic Center in Susupe on Friday.
