The Tinian legislative delegation chairman, Sen. Joseph M. Mendiola, on Thursday wrote to U.S. Congresswoman Donna Christensen, chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, to complain that the U.S. congressional staffers who visited the CNMI recently never set foot on Tinian and Rota.
The delegation was headed by Christensen’s staff director, Tony Babauta.
Mendiola said the delegation was on Saipan for less than 48 hours and did not meet with the leaders of Tinian and Rota.
“This is to express great disappointment in the inattention to the other islands of the commonwealth by staffers of several congressional committees and subcommittees including your staff director,” Mendiola told the congresswoman.
He said the congressional staffers should have inquired about the unique situations of Tinian and Rota.
“We have added transportation expenses due to added tariff and fuel costs, far less business opportunities than Saipan, scarce commodities, and scarcer skilled workforce as compared to Saipan due to our small population,” the senator said. “Due to these challenges, it is important that we be heard, especially with respect to the immigration issues that will soon face the entire commonwealth.”
He said he asked CNMI Washington Rep. Pete Tenorio for a dialogue with the visiting staffers but was unsuccessful.
Mendiola said this is not the first time that Tinian and Rota have been ignored.
In October last year, U.S. Government Accountability Office personnel made a three-week visit to the CNMI but they never visited Tinian and Rota, Mendiola said.
“Consequently, the report they produced fell woefully short of adequately covering the major immigration and economic issues that face our two islands,” Mendiola said, adding that “it is very disheartening to see the same tactics that had been employed in the Trust Territory times when the U.S. was a colonial power and ruled CNMI from afar with no regard to the people’s concerns.”
According to Mendiola, “It is bad enough that we are U.S. citizens who do not have the privilege to vote for the president; we could at least be afforded the opportunity for a dialogue with the congressional staffers or other federal officials handling immigration and economic matters who make the long journey to our islands.”
He said he is inviting the congressional staffers to hear the “myriad of issues” on Tinian.
