Last May Fitial submitted his written testimony to the U.S. Congress in support of Sablan’s H.R. 670 which gives CNMI the ownership of lands three miles out from the islands’ shorelines.
Senate President Paul A. Manglona, Ind.-Rota, said he congratulates Sablan for successfully moving the bill in the nation’s capital. The submerged lands are an issue that the CNMI government has been pursuing for many years, he added.
Finally, he said, “it seems there is light at the end of the tunnel”
“I know that we would like to have won the court case when we tried to get the 200 miles. But we have to be realistic on this issue and I think the congressman saw the benefit in controlling our submerged lands so he should be commended for pushing this forth,” he said.
Rep. Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan, said the CNMI people have to accept what is being given now by the U.S. Congress.
In the future, he added, “we would still be seeking a larger area.”
Disappointed
Vice Speaker Felicidad T. Ogumoro, Covenant-Saipan, said she is extremely disappointed that the U.S. House “has disregarded what was agreed to in the Covenant.”
She added, “I cannot accept that the U.S. Congress will deprive the people of the commonwealth of their rights to the adjacent waters and submerged lands.”
She said three miles “represent only a fraction of what rightfully belongs to our people.”
“Since when did the U.S. become the rightful owner of our submerged lands?” Ogumoro asked, as she cited Article 8 of the Covenant and Article 11 of the CNMI Constitution which state that “the submerged lands and the waters adjacent to the NMI belong collectively to persons of the Northern Marianas Descent.”
Rep. Joseph M. Palacios, R-Saipan and chairman of the House Committee in Natural Resources, said three miles are “not really fair.”
The NMI people, he added, deserve more than three miles of the waters surrounding their islands.
For thousands of years, he said, “our forefathers owned these lands, so since when they all of a sudden belong to the U.S.?”
Rep. Fredrick P. Deleon Guerrero, Ind.-Saipan, said he is also disappointed that the U.S. House did not increase the three miles to 10 miles or even 200 miles “which we actually own.”
He, however, is happy that Sablan finally got the bill passed.
H.R. 670, Deleon Guerrero added, “is probably a good start that we can dig in to continue fighting for more of the submerged lands.
Ike Demapan, the resident director of the Indigenous Affairs Office, said now that the U.S. gave the commonwealth three miles, “maybe we can try to get more.”
Demapan said he still wants to see 200 miles given to the CNMI. “I believe we deserve to have that,” he added.
Equity
The bill was passed by a vote of 397-0 in the U.S. House.
“Alone among U.S. coastal areas the Northern Marianas does not control its own submerged lands,” Sablan said in a statement.
“So, H.R. 670 provides equity to the people of the Northern Mariana Islands — the same ownership and responsibility for surrounding lands and waters that every other coastal jurisdiction enjoys.”
Sablan managed H.R. 670 for the Democratic side, along with a number of other Natural Resource Committee bills that were considered noncontroversial in nature.
In his statement of support for the measure, Sablan used the example of Louisiana to demonstrate the important role that submerged lands could have for economic development.
“In 2006 Louisiana leased 392,118 acres of its submerged lands for oyster harvest,” said the congressman, “profiting the state and providing an economic opportunity for holders of 8,167 leases.
“Other coastal jurisdictions have similar stories to tell about the important role that coastal lands and waters can play in creating jobs and contributing to the economy.”
Since a 2005 court ruling the federal government has controlled all the lands and waters right up to shoreline in the Northern Marianas. “The federal government does nothing with the potential of these lands,” Sablan said.
“H.R. 670 would put the local government in charge. We would be free to develop offshore wind farms or other energy alternatives, and responsible for protecting the rare marine environment, which is both our legacy and trust, and also makes our islands alluring to tourists.”
Sablan thanked the Republican chairmen of the Natural Resources Committee, Doc Hastings of Washington, and the Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans, and Insular Affairs Subcommittee, Dr. John Fleming of Louisiana, for their support in moving the bill out of committee and on to the floor of the House for debate.
He gave thanks, too, to the Democratic ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee, Ed Markey of Massachusetts.
Sablan himself is ranking member of the Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans, and Insular Affairs Subcommittee.
The bill now moves to the U.S., where companion legislation, introduced at Sablan’s request has already had a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The bill was introduced by the chairman and ranking member of that committee, Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Ak.
The same submerged lands bill was passed by the House in the previous Congress, also unanimously, but failed to win approval in the Senate after Sen. John McCain, R-Az., blocked passage.
