FORMER Gov. Juan N. Babauta said U.S. Congressman Don Young, who passed away on March 18 at the age of 88, was a good friend of the CNMI.
The longest serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Young was Alaska’s lone congressional member.
Babauta said when he was the CNMI resident representative and, later, as governor, he met and talked with Young several times, adding that the Alaska Republican “cared deeply for the CNMI.”
“He was a defender of the Covenant and wanted the CNMI to succeed economically,” Babauta said in an interview on Monday.
Ratified by NMI voters, approved by the U.S. Congress and signed into law in 1976 by President Gerald Ford, the Covenant established the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in political union with the United States of America.
Babauta said Young supported the CNMI’s efforts in addressing alleged violations of U.S. Labor laws by the local garment industry “so that it could continue to contribute to the economy alongside the tourism industry.”
Young, the former governor said, also supported legislation that would create a CNMI non-voting delegate seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“It was an issue that I discussed with him time and again when I was resident representative to the U.S. and as governor,” Babauta said.
He said as governor, he asked Young for assistance in funding the reconstruction of the Talofofo road that connected the Kingfisher Golf Links and Bird Island in the northern part of Saipan.
Babauta said Young included a $12 million appropriation for the Talofofo road project on a list of projects for Alaska, but the funds were not drawn down.
Babauta said he was glad that the Torres-Palacios administration announced recently the implementation of the Talofofo project.
“I will always remember [Young] as a good friend of the CNMI and one way to recognize a friend is to name the road in his honor,” Babauta said referring to Talofofo Road, which he would like to be renamed Don Young-Talofofo Road.
U.S. Congressman Don Young shakes hands with then-CNMI Resident Rep. Juan N. Babauta on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. in this file photo.
