Sablan’s congressional directed appropriation was included in U.S. Public Law 111-117, enacted on Dec. 16, 2009.
“Education continues to be my focus in Congress,” said Sablan. “As a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor, I am always looking for new ways to support students in the Northern Marianas.
“Education is the best strategy for our economic development in the long term.”
Yesterday’s event was held at Garapan Elementary School and attended by PSS officials, librarians, teachers, and students. The $100,000 will be spent for library books and textbooks, which are often difficult for PSS to be able to buy given its limited local funding.
Last week, Sablan made a similar presentation of a $250,000 earmark for the Chamorro and Refaluwasch language programs at PSS.
U.S. Public Law 111-117 also included at $200,000 Sablan earmark for the Northern Marianas Trades Institute for instructional staff, books, and equipment in support of the NMTI vocational and technical training programs.
Congressionally directed appropriations are included in most annual appropriations measures passed by Congress.
These earmarks provide members of Congress an opportunity to help local organizations to obtain federal funding support without having to compete against other organizations nationwide.
“We are a small place with limited resources. We can’t compete for every single grant out there,” said Sablan. “And we can’t hope to win out consistently against places like New York or California.
“But the job of a member of Congress is to understand the special needs of the people he represents and to be able to make sure that his constituents get those needs met. That’s what earmarks accomplish. And that’s what this $100,000 does for PSS.”
For fiscal year 2011 appropriations, which are still working their way through Congress, Sablan has received preliminary approval of another $500,000 for PSS, as well as $500,000 for the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument Visitors Center, $500,000 for the Rota gymnasium, $400,000 for the commonwealth judiciary, and $75,000 for Tinian’s youth and seniors.
In addition to yesterday’s earmarked appropriation for library books, Sablan has also been actively engaged in using the resources of the Library of Congress to bring books to readers in the Northern Marianas.
To date Sablan has distributed over 10,000 books to public and private school libraries in the commonwealth, as well as to Joeten-Kiyu Public Library and Tinian Public Library.
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