“We still need the support and the help of the federal government. Without that we will have a hard time surviving,” the governor told the Variety.
He said he will travel back to Washington, D.C. in the near future to foster better relations with the Obama administration and the U.S. Congress.
“I am visiting Washington again,” he said but did not specify the date of his departure. “We have to build better relations not only with the Obama administration but with the new Congress as well. We have to articulate our [position as a commonwealth of the United States].”
The governor and first lady Josie Fitial attended Obama’s inauguration in January.
In February, the governor returned again to the nation’s capital to attend different national conferences and to personally hand-deliver a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
That letter is asking Napolitano to postpone for 180 days, from June 1, the federalization of local immigration.
The governor sued the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Labor on Sept. 12 to prevent the federalization of the islands’ immigration system.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The governor and local businesses are now waiting for the ruling of federal Judge Paul Friedman on the islands’ request for a preliminary injunction against the implementation of the federalization law and that of the U.S. Department’s motion to dismiss the CNMI’s case.
Fitial reiterated that the lawsuit seeks only a declaratory judgment on labor-related provisions of the federalization statute under U.S. Public Law 110-229.
The federal government will still take over the islands’ border security control this year even if the court ruling is favorable to the CNMI, he added.
Fitial, who is seeking re-election, said the CNMI is pleased with the grants extended to the islands under Obama’s $787 billion stimulus law.
The Public School System, which will get $48 million in stimulus grants, is the single biggest recipient in the CNMI.
A large part of the money will be used to either refurbish or build new school buildings and facilities.
The governor said such grants are needed to stimulate economic activities on the islands.
The economy remains his top agenda, he added.
“Economy is still our number one priority. It requires the four M’s — manpower, money, machinery and management.”
