THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS - July 22, 2022
Jul 24, 2022
- $25.5m in Marianas earmarks passed
- 2022 Report to Constituents arrives
- Suicide crisis line goes live
- Listening to veterans' leaders
- Marianas research guide online
- Caregivers legislation advances
- Empowering Puerto Rico
- Education Summit online
- Internships available
- App Challenge now open
- KILILI TIME CAPSULE
- OPPORTUNITIES
- HIGHLIGHTS
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$25.5m earmarks passed
The House of Representatives okayed Wednesday 12 of my requests for Marianas community projects – worth $25.5 million. The earmarks were included in H.R. 8294, a “minibus” package of six Fiscal Year 2023 spending bills.
In the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development appropriation, the Commonwealth’s Department of Public Works receives $10 million for four road projects:
- Rota Route 10 Drainage Improvements and Road Overlay – $2,000,000
- Tinian Route 205 Road and Drainage Improvements – $2,000,000
- Saipan Route 302 Improvements – $2,000,000
- Saipan Route 36 Phase 1 Construction – $4,000,000
The Commonwealth Office of Transit Authority would receive $8.4 million for three transit projects:
- 187 Bus Stop Shelters on Saipan Public Transit Fixed Route – $4,500,000
- Covered Bus Parking Facility – $3,000,000
- Bus Transfer Stations at Northern Marianas College, Paseo De Marianas, and Kagman – $900,000
The Agriculture-Rural Development appropriation includes four of my requests worth $6.2 million to support public libraries and access to healthcare in the Marianas:
- Joeten-Kiyu Public Library Solar Power System - $1,200,000
- Furniture upgrades for Rota, Tinian, and Saipan libraries - $436,191
- Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation peritoneal dialysis in Tinian - $389,250
- Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation parking space expansion - $1,200,000
The Interior-Environment spending bill includes $911,302 I requested for the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation. The funding would pay for a comprehensive wastewater treatment analysis and feasibility study for the islands of Rota and Tinian.
All Republicans voted against the bill. H.R. 8294 now goes to the Senate for consideration.
2022 Report to Constituents arrives
The biannual Report to Constituents is now being delivered to post office boxes in the Marianas and is available online. Published three-quarters of the way through each two-year congressional term the Report highlights the work of your congressional office. The American Rescue Plan Act takes center stage in the 2022 Report. The Rescue Plan provided $1,400 economic impact payments to 33,719 residents of the Marianas, pumped $283 million into our economy through unemployment assistance, and kept the Commonwealth government afloat with a $482 million grant for operations. In Congress only Democrats voted for this historic legislation that has been essential to maintain the life of our islands during the COVID pandemic.
Listening to veterans' leaders
This Tuesday, I sat down with leaders of various Veteran Service Organizations, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and fellow members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee to discuss issues facing veterans across America. The conversation centered on the PACT Act, a bill I cosponsored, that will help veterans, who were exposed to burn pits and other sources of toxins during their service, get medical care for cancers and related diseases. The Veteran Service Organizations thanked the House for passing the PACT Act. We all share the hope the Senate will now promptly advance the bill to the President’s desk.
Marianas research guide online
From the historical works of German Governor Georg Fritz to collections of ancient Chamorro poetry to the modern scholarship of Scott Russell, the Library of Congress is rich with materials of value to students, teachers, and the general public in the Marianas. And now that material is more accessible. At my urging the Library’s American Folklife Center has published an online guide to help researchers uncover collections related to the Marianas. This is the same research guide the Folklife Center has already prepared for every other state and territory and was added to the Library of Congress website this week. View the guide here.
Tebuteb addresses Marianas hunger
Mr. Tom Tebuteb, representing the Empty Vessel Ministry, was invited by House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern to talk about what is being done to help people in the Marianas who need food aid.
VA to hire Marianas social worker
Veterans Affairs will hire a full-time permanent Licensed Clinical Social Worker dedicated to Northern Marianas veterans. The job announcement is now posted at USAJobs.gov.
$32.5 m. approved for NMI food stamp study, pilot program
Members of the U.S. armed services would receive a 1.7% pay raise under terms of the FY13 Department of Defense Appropriations Act.
Grants:
- Regional Ocean Partnership and Data Sharing
- Humanities Collections and Reference Resources
- Energizing Insular Communities
- FEMA Public Assistance for Safe Opening and Operating of Schools
- FEMA 2021 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program
- Emergency Rural Health Care Funds
- Indigenous Communities Program (EDA)
Jobs:
Public comments:
- Special Census Program
- Data for new environmental programs
- Offshore Spectrum data
- Clean Water Act rule change
- Education financial survey
- Library grants data
- FEMA system of records
- Endangered species permissions
- Nondisplacement of qualified workers
- ESRD payment system updates
- Greenhouse Gas reporting rule changes
- Limited English Proficiency NAP data
THIS WEEK
- H.R. 8294 - Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture, Rural Development, Energy and Water Development, Financial Services and General Government, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2023 (passed, 220-207)
- H.R. 7693 - National Park Foundation Reauthorization Act of 2022 (passed, 397-22)
- H.R. 7025 - Advancing Human Rights-Centered International Conservation Act of 2022 (passed, 379-43)
NEXT WEEK
