E-Newsletter - February 19, 2010

In this issue:

• Hearing scheduled on Marianas Trench Marine National Monument visitor center bill
• $94 million to NMI in first year of ARRA
• Perry Tenorio appointed to U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board
• NMI juniors encouraged to apply for Junior Statesman Summer Program
• New push to reauthorize No Child Left Behind
• Credit CARD Act consumer protections go into effect
• $437,000 in transportation grants awarded

This week I attended the Pika Festival on Tinian and was able to spend time with many Tinian residents. Wiith Mayor Ramon Dela Cruz and Councilmember Joe Cruz, Jr. With the Matua Cultural Dance Team from Saipan Greeting Mr. and Mrs. Julian Hofschneider To view more photos from the festival, visit: http://www.sablan.house.gov/gallery/pika.shtml

Hearing scheduled on Marianas Trench Marine National Monument visitor center bill - At my request the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife will hold a hearing H.R. 3511, the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument Management Enhancement Act of 2009, which I introduced last July. The bill provides for Monument visitor facilities to be located in the Northern Mariana Islands. A hearing was originally scheduled for October, but then cancelled by the Subcommittee. A similar bill, H.R. 4493, introduced by Subcommittee Chair Madeleine Z. Bordallo (GU) this year is also on the agenda. Bordallo’s bill provides for Monument visitor and research services center to be placed on Guam. It also gives the Government of Guam a role in the management of the Monument, equivalent to the management role of the CNMI provided in the Presidential Proclamation that created the Monument. I want to thank the Chairwoman for making time on her Subcommittee’s very busy agenda for these two bills and look forward to receiving testimony from the many people in the Northern Mariana Islands who supported the establishment of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument and see the visitor center in the NMI as an important first step towards realizing the potential benefits of the Monument. The Subcommittee will webcast the hearing live from the House Natural Resources Committee website: http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/. Anyone interested can also watch the webcast live at the Saipan District office on February 26th, 2010, beginning at 1:00 am, Chamorro Standard Time. Please refer questions about the event to Congressman Sablan’s Saipan district office at (670)-323-2647/8.

$94 million to NMI in first year of ARRA – This week marked the one-year anniversary of the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and so far, about $84,313,902 has been awarded to government agencies, non-profits, and private contractors with an additional $15.9 million being paid out in tax credits to individuals in the NMI. Voting in favor of the Recovery Act was one of my first actions in Congress, and I am happy to report that the money is creating jobs, making investments in infrastructure necessary for economic development and giving extra money to people who need it the most in these tough economic times. The following are among the highlights of how Recovery Act money is being used in the NMI:

• Public School System: $24 million has allowed PSS to restore 99 teaching positions lost over the last three years due to local budget cuts and to renovate classrooms long overdue for repair.
• Division of Energy: $19.5 million to increase energy efficiency and reduce the import of costly fossil fuel. The funds are being covered over to the CNMI Treasury.
• “Making Work Pay” tax credit: $15.9 million is going into NMI paychecks over 2009-2010 to provide relief for taxpayers. Individuals can receive up to $400 and joint filers up to $800 in credit.
• One-time $250 Recovery Payments to Social Security recipients: $642,420 paid out to 2,570 seniors and others to provide relief during the current recession.
• Commonwealth Government: $8 million in State Fiscal Stabilization Funds is being used to support education and the medical referral program.
• Promoting use of energy-efficient vehicles and appliances: NMI citizens have benefited from ARRA-funded Cash for Clunkers program and also stand to receive $100,000 in rebates when they swap their inefficient refrigerators or air-conditioners for more efficient ones.
• Operating loans and loan guarantees for farmers and fishing industry: Over $1 million has gone out to farmers and the fishing industry to expand businesses.
• Contracts with local construction firms: $4.5 million in highway construction and $1.6 million from the Clean Water Fund.
• Discretionary and competitive grants: The NMI also benefits from discretionary grants in the hands of various federal agencies. For example, US Interior Secretary Salazar awarded $750,000 for solar panels at American Memorial Park, and Commerce Secretary Locke awarded $2.9 million to the Division of Environmental Quality to protect coral reefs at Laolao Bay.

It should be noted that discrepancies sometimes exist in the reporting of ARRA funding due to how quickly awards and obligations are posted. To make it easy for our readers to double-check information, we have relied in our reporting on the official Recovery Act website, www.recovery.gov.

Marianas Visitors Authority Vice Chair Marian Aldan-Pierce and Managing Director Perry Tenorio at a press conference in our Saipan Office announcing Perry’s appointment to the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board this week.
Perry Tenorio appointed to U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board – I offer my congratulations to Marianas Visitors Authority Managing Director Perry Tenorio who was appointed to the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board this week by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. I nominated Mr. Tenorio in September 2009, because I believed having an NMI representative on the Board would give a boost to the most important sector of our economy: tourism. The main responsibility of the Board is to provide counsel to the Secretary on government policies and programs that affect U.S. travel and tourism. The new Board, comprised of 29 appointees, will serve from 2010-2011. Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta Airlines, which is one of our major travel partners since the merger with Northwest Airlines, also joins Perry on the Board. I look forward to working with all of the Board and Secretary Locke to improve national tourism policies and help the Northern Mariana Islands.

This week I met with Student Council representatives from San Vicente Elementary School working on a postcard project to invite President Obama to visit the Northern Mariana Islands. The students who have spearheaded the project plan to get classmates within their school as well as the other 11,000 students in the Public School System to send postcards to President Obama. I hope to be of service to these students in getting the postcards delivered to the President.

NMI juniors encouraged to apply for Junior Statesman Summer Program —Held at Georgetown, Princeton and Stanford Universities and geared towards students interested in government, politics and public service, the Junior Statesman of America (JSA) Summer Program gives students the opportunity to take college level courses and meet political leaders from all over the nation. Since 1992, the JSA, in partnership with the Department of Interior, has helped students from the US territories to participate in the program. This year, the Department is offering 4 complete scholarships to CNMI students, each valued at $7,000.

The Northern Marianas has sent 248 students to the program in its 17-year history. Many alumni, including Public Health Analyst Roxanne Diaz and Public Defender Janet King confirm how the experience inspired them. "These programs and the students I met changed my life," says King. "I never conceived a world outside of Tinian and such intelligent, driven people all students like me, young, awkward, but trying to be at the top of their classes." King attended the JSA program at both Yale and Georgetown, but before scholarships were available. Her parents scraped together the money, she said, because they understood "an education was costly, but the cost of not having an education was much greater."

Students interested in the JSA Summer School Program should visit www.jsa.org.

New push to reauthorize No Child Left Behind — This week, the House Committee on Education and Labor, of which I am a member, announced that we will begin rewriting the No Child Left Behind education law. We will start with a series of hearings to explore the problems with the 2002 law and the potential ways to improve the controversial accountability provisions. One of my goals is obtain more federal funding and other benefits for the Northern Mariana Islands as we move forward on the law. Groups and education stakeholders can submit comments to me at kilili@mail.house.gov or directly to the Education and Labor committee by e-mailing eseacomments@mail.house.gov by March 26, 2010. The Committee’s website also contains information about our process and deadline http://edlabor.house.gov/education/k-12/.

We had a number of visitors young and old this week in the Saipan office. Steven SablanDiego Aguon and Jesus Villagomez

Jenisha Dubrall

Fazana Cepeda Syed

Credit CARD Act consumer protections go into effect — Last year we passed the "Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights" to hold credit card companies accountable and provide new protections for consumers. The Credit CARD Act contains three separate implementation dates, but the key reforms go into effect on Monday, February 22, including:

• Prohibiting arbitrary interest rate increases and universal default on existing balances;
• Requiring issuers extending credit to young consumers under the age of 21 to obtain an application that contains the signature of a parent, guardian, or other individual 21 years or older who will take responsibility for the debt or proof that the applicant has an independent means of repaying any credit extended;
• Protecting recipients of gift cards by requiring all gift cards to have at least a five-year life span, and eliminating the practice of declining values and hidden fees for those cards not used within a reasonable period of time;
• Prohibiting issuers from charging over-limit fees unless the cardholder elects to allow the issuer to complete over-limit transactions, and also limiting over-limit fees on electing cardholders;
• Requiring payments in excess of the minimum to be applied first to the credit card balance with the highest rate of interest;
• Prohibiting issuers from setting early morning deadlines for credit card payments;
• Prohibiting interest charges on debt paid on time (double-cycle billing ban).

$437,000 in transportation grants awarded — This week the Federal Transit Administration of the Department of Transportation announced 5 grants for the Northern Mariana Islands.

• $332,548: Urbanized Area Formula Grant Program – The grant can be used to finance planning projects and the acquisition, construction, improvement, and maintenance of facilities and equipment for use in transit.
• $56,313: Special Needs for Elderly Individuals – The funds help private nonprofit groups meet the transportation needs of the elderly and individuals with disabilities when public transportation services are unavailable or inappropriate to meet these needs.
• $14,438: Nonurbanized Area Formula Program – This program supports capital and operating expenses.
• $9,994: Rural Transportation Assistance Program – These funds are used to design and implement training and technical assistance projects, research, and other support services.
• $23,291: Job Access and Reverse Commute Program – The grant supports development and maintenance of job access projects designed to transport low-income individuals to and from jobs and activities related to their employment, and for reverse commute projects designed to transport residents.

Morgan and Moses Iguel of Fredericksburg, Virginia stopped by the Congressional office this week.
Highlights in the Legislative Program

THIS WEEK

The House was in recess.

NEXT WEEK

H.R. 2314 - Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009 (Rep. Abercrombie – Natural Resources)

H.R. __ - Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act (Rep. Perriello – Judiciary)

H.R. 2701 - Intelligence Authorization Act (Rep. Reyes – Intelligence)