Northern Mariana Islands Delegate Takes the Gavel in U.S. House of Representatives

Video of Congressman Sablan Presiding in the House. Click here.

Washington, D.C. — The people of the Northern Mariana Islands reached another milestone in representation in the U.S. House of Representatives today. For the first time ever a representative of the Northern Mariana Islands presided over the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union as Speaker Pro Tempore during debate and voting.

U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan took up the Speaker’s gavel at approximately 2:15 in the afternoon and controlled the flow of legislative action for over an hour and a half, while the H.R. 3246, the Advanced Vehicle Technology Act, was under consideration.

“I am very grateful to Speaker Nancy Pelosi for giving me this opportunity and for allowing the people of the Northern Mariana Islands through their elected representative to stand here today and conduct the business of the House,” Sablan said after leaving the Speaker’s chair and returning to sit, along with the other 439 Members, in the benches that arc around the dais.

Sablan said that he was nervous, but excited, when contacted by the Speaker’s office to take on this responsibility. “As with all my work here in Washington, I want to do well for the people of the Northern Mariana Islands. But this is the first time I’ve had to do well in front of all my House colleagues and in front of a national television audience.”

All proceedings of the House of Representatives are carried on the C-Span cable network.

The Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union is just that: a committee composed of all members of the House of Representatives. The business of perfecting bills by offering, debating, and voting on amendments to bills is often conducted in the Committee of the Whole House under less stringent parliamentary rules than apply to the House of Representatives itself.

A measure involving taxes or spending is required to be first debated in the Committee of the Whole.

Under Rule XVIII of the House, whenever the House resolves into the Committee of the Whole, the Speaker leaves the chair after appointing a Member, a Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico as the Speaker Pro Tempore, or Speaker for a time.

Video of Congressman Sablan presiding over the Committee of the Whole can be seen at sablan.house.gov.

Northern Mariana Islands Delegate to Congress Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan presided over the Committee of the Whole House today. The first time a Northern Mariana Islands Delegate has been selected by the Speaker of the House for this responsibility. “It was the first time,” said Sablan, “but I hope not the last.”