[Pages H8048-H8050]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS SUBMERGED LAND CONVEYANCE

Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 934) to convey certain submerged lands to the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands in order to give that territory the
same benefits in its submerged lands as Guam, the Virgin Islands, and
American Samoa have in their submerged lands, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 934

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CONVEYANCE OF CERTAIN SUBMERGED LANDS TO THE
COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS.

(a) In General.--The first section of Public Law 93-435 (48
U.S.C. 1705) is amended by inserting ``the Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands,'' after ``Guam,'' each place it
appears.
(b) References to Date of Enactment.--For the purposes of
the amendment made by subsection (a), each reference in
Public Law 93-435 (48 U.S.C. 1705) to the ``date of
enactment'' shall be considered to be a reference to the date
of the enactment of this section.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Guam (Ms. Bordallo) and the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Guam.

General Leave

Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Guam?
There was no objection.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I call up for the consideration of the
House H.R. 934, which is the first bill introduced by our colleague,
the gentleman from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
Mr. Kilili Sablan. I thank the gentleman for bringing the subject
matter of this bill to our attention.
This measure provides equity to the CNMI. It is the only U.S.
territory that does not control its submerged lands. The bill before us
would simply convey the submerged lands surrounding the Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands extending out to 3 nautical miles to the
Government of the CNMI. This is the same treatment of submerged lands
afforded to Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
I would like to thank Mr. Sablan for introducing this legislation and
for making H.R. 934 one of his first legislative priorities as the
delegate from the CNMI.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this important legislation, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R.
934, and I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, under this legislation, the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands will have parity with other U.S. territories by gaining
jurisdiction over its submerged lands out to 3 geographic miles. The
other territories were given jurisdiction over submerged lands out to 3
geographic miles in the 1974 Submerged Lands Act. It is time that the
Commonwealth is given the same authority, and this legislation provides
that.
And with that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the author of the bill and the
gentleman from the CNMI, Mr. Sablan, for as much time as he may
consume.
Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Guam,

[[Page H8049]]

the distinguished chairwoman of our subcommittee, Madeleine Bordallo,
for her leadership on many matters pertaining to the insular areas and
to the Mariana Archipelago islands that we represent here in Congress.
I want to especially thank her for her support of H.R. 934.
On February 25, 2005, the people of the Northern Mariana Islands
awoke to the news that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had affirmed
a lower court ruling stating that the submerged lands and the waters
above them surrounding our islands do not belong to us; rather, they
are the property of the United States of America. The decision came as
a shock.
For at least 3,500 years, the Chamorro and Refaluwasch people have
lived on these islands and fished and sailed in the waters around them.
Never did we think them not our own, nor did the people of the Northern
Mariana Islands ever believe, in entering the Covenant of Political
Union with the United States of America, that we were relinquishing our
rights and title to the submerged lands and waters surrounding us.
These lands and waters have always been an integral part of our
existence, essential to our being and livelihood and to the sense of
who we are; yet the Ninth Circuit ruled otherwise.
In doing so, the Court did, however, ``recognize the importance of
the submerged lands to the culture, history and future of the Northern
Mariana Islands,'' and acknowledged that Congress, if it chose, could
remedy the situation and return these lands to the people of the
Northern Mariana Islands, and that is what H.R. 934 does.
The bill conveys to the people of the Northern Mariana Islands the
submerged lands surrounding our islands and extending 3 geographic
miles outward from their coastlines. The measure is supported by the
elected leadership of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
I ask to enter into the Record this letter jointly signed by Governor
Benigno R. Fitial, Speaker of the House Arnold I. Palacios, and Senate
President Pete P. Reyes, in which the three confirmed their support of
H.R. 934.
I would also like to add to the Record a second letter of support.
This is from the Friends of the Monument, an organization that worked
for and successfully achieved the designation of large areas of the
waters and lands in the Marianas as the Marianas Trench Marine National
Monument.
The Monument is one of the largest marine conservation areas in the
world, which we share with our neighbor, Guam, 115,000 square miles,
and protects the world's deepest ocean, the Marianas Trench, 35,813
feet deep.
It is the understanding of all parties that H.R. 934 gives the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands the same ownership rights
over the submerged land surrounding our islands as are possessed by
Guam, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa.
This conveyance includes the three northernmost islands in the
Northern Mariana Islands, which constitute the ``Island Unit'' in the
Marianas Trench Marine National Monument by Presidential proclamation
on January 6, 2009.
It is also understood that after this bill is enacted into law, the
people of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands will have
the option of exercising full control over the submerged lands
surrounding these three islands, or deciding to include those submerged
lands within the Monument under comanagement with responsible Federal
agencies.
The proclamation committed the Federal Government to providing the
Commonwealth with this option, and H.R. 934 expressly provides that it
does not amend, repeal or otherwise alter the proclamation and the
commitments attached to it.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 934 is the very first bill that a representative of
the people of the Northern Mariana Islands has ever introduced in the
United States Congress.
I ask my colleagues to support the measure. I thank the ranking
member, Mr. Hastings, also for his support of the measure, and I
express my hope that this bill giving back to the people of the
Northern Mariana Islands what they always believed to be their own will
be the first bill introduced by their own representative that is
enacted into law.

Commonwealth of the

Northern Mariana Islands

Saipan, MP, July 9, 2009.
Hon. Gregorio C. Sablan,
CNMI Delegate to the United States,
Washington, DC.
Dear Congressman Sablan: We are jointly writing to inform
you that we are completely united in our support for HR 934.
We urge you to push for the passage of this legislation in
order to give the CNMI control over the first three miles of
its submerged lands.
We support this legislation with a certain understanding of
the provisions of H.R. 934 that we urge you to include in the
Congressional record, namely, that H.R. 934 would provide for
the following: H.R. 934 will give the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands the same ownership rights over the
submerged lands surrounding its islands as are possessed by
Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. This would
include the submerged lands around the three northernmost
islands in the Commonwealth, which constitute the ``Islands
Unit'' in the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument
established by Presidential Proclamation on January 6, 2009.
After this bill is enacted into law, the people of the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands will have the
option of exercising full control over the submerged lands
surrounding these three islands or deciding to include those
submerged lands within the Monument under co-management with
the responsible federal agencies. The Proclamation committed
the federal government to providing the Commonwealth with
this option and H.R. 934 expressly provides that it does not
amend, repeal, or otherwise alter the Proclamation.
With this understanding of the contents of H.R. 934, we
urge you to support H.R. 934 for the benefit of the people of
the CNMI.
Sincerely,
Benigno R. Fitial,
Governor.
Pete P. Reyes,
Senate President.
Arnold I. Palacios,
Speaker of the House.
____

Friends of the Monument,

Saipan, MP, June 23, 2009.
Re Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.

Representative Greg Camacho Sablan,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Hafa Adai Delegate Sablan, This letter is a follow-up to
the letter we sent you dated April 17, 2009. In that letter
we requested for ``the state waters from 0-3 miles
surrounding the islands of Uracas, Maug, and Asuncion (to)
remain a part of the monument, under the jurisdiction (and
ownership) of the Commonwealth and co-managed with the rest
of the monument by the Commonwealth and the Departments of
Commerce and Interior.''
This was our stance before the declaration of the monument
and it is our stance today.
Many promises made by the former Council on Environmental
Quality Chairman James Connaughton in the lead up to creation
of the monument have been kept. The Commonwealth has received
untold amounts of positive media exposure. There is a renewed
world-wide interest in exploring the depths of the deepest,
darkest place on Earth, as evidenced by the recent expedition
by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to the bottom of
Challenger Deep, only the third such expedition in the
history of mankind. The Northern Marianas are also now
recognized as the home to one of the most iconic,
recognizable geological features on the planet, adding to the
richness of our culture and heritage. The creation of the
monument will have everlasting positive effects on our
economy and the health of our marine environment and will
help preserve our unique culture. It has also brought the
Commonwealth closer to achieving the goals of the Micronesia
Challenge, which seeks to effectively conserve 30% of the
near shore resources of all the islands in Micronesia. Most
importantly, in the span of just a few months our people have
become worldwide leaders in ocean conservation. Perhaps you
saw the Friends of the Monument on NBC Nightly News during
Earth Week'?
Sadly, several promises remain unfulfilled. During his
visit to the Commonwealth in October 2008, Chairman
Connaughton promised the people of the Commonwealth that the
designation of the monument would give our people (1) co-
management of the monument, (2) a visitors center on Saipan,
and (3) control of the submerged lands from 0-3 miles around
the 14 islands of the Commonwealth.
We remain committed to fulfilling these promises, starting
with the control of the submerged lands around all the
islands of the Commonwealth. Just so that we are clear, it is
our recommendation that ``the state waters from 0-3 miles
surrounding the islands of Uracas, Maug, and Asuncion remain
a part of the monument, under the jurisdiction (and
ownership) of the Commonwealth and co-managed with the rest
of the monument by the Commonwealth and the Departments of
Commerce and Interior.''
Thank you for taking the time to listen to our concerns.
Your staff has been very gracious in allowing us time to
share our recommendations and concerns for the Marianas
Trench Marine National Monument.
And on a final note, on behalf of the entire Friends of the
Monument organization,

[[Page H8050]]

thank you for the recent Congressional Commendation. It is
quite an honor to be one of the first organizations in the
Northern Mariana Islands to be so recognized by the United
States Congress.
Thank you and I look forward to your reply,
Ignacio V. Cabrera,
Chairman, Friends of the Monument.

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake).
Mr. FLAKE. I just want to welcome the gentleman from the Northern
Marianas to this Chamber, and it's great to have him here. This is
something that we have wanted for a long time, to have this territory
represented here in the U.S. Congress.
This is a good bill. It's a bill that some of us have worked on for
years to ensure that the submerged lands are where they belong, that
the ownership is there, and that the rights that accrue to that attain
to the Northern Marianas.
So I just stand in support of this legislation. Again, welcome, the
gentleman from the Northern Marianas. We're glad he's here in Congress
where he belongs.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for time,
and reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. I have one additional speaker. I yield 3
minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Broun).
Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, my good
friend, Mr. Hastings, for yielding some time on this issue, and I
greatly appreciate the people of the Mariana Islands wanting to control
their own property. And I congratulate them on the introduction of this
legislation, and I certainly support it. And I think it's very laudable
that we are bringing this forward, and I very much support it.
I think States and territories should control their own property. We
have too much Federal control of State property and Federal property,
and I am glad to see this legislation. And I congratulate you and my
friends on the other side for bringing this forward.
I am also concerned about the submersion though of the American
taxpayer in just a sea of debt. We have created more debt in this
Congress, this administration has proposed more debt over the next 5
years than has been created by every single Presidency since George
Washington all the way through George W. Bush. And the American people
are drowning in a sea of debt, and we are creating more and more debt
for those people. We are robbing our children and our grandchildren of
their future. The American people are going to live at a lower standard
than we live today because of the debt that we are creating, and I am
very concerned about that.
We have got to stop the spending. It's egregious. It's absolutely
outrageous the amount of money that's being spent by this Congress. And
we see bill after bill, a nonstimulus bill, an omnibus bill, a Wall
Street bailout that our previous administration brought to us and that
this Congress and this administration continued and spent the other
half.
We have a health care bill that's being introduced just today that is
going to create more debt, and it's going to destroy the health care
system and put a Washington bureaucrat between patients and their
doctor. And Washington bureaucrats are going to be making health care
decisions for their patients. And the American people need to stand up
and say ``no.'' It's going to overwhelm them, a tremendous sea of debt
that's being created by this Congress, and it has to stop.
And, Mr. Speaker, I just hope that the American people will
understand what's going on here and will rise up, call their
Congressman, call their two U.S. Senators and say ``no'' to this health
care bill that's being introduced today. ``No'' to the tax and cap, so-
called cap-and-trade bill that's nothing but a revenue bill that's not
about the environment. Say ``no'' to that. ``No'' to this continued
tsunami of spending that's going on here.
We've got a spending addiction here in Congress. I'm an
addictionologist. I've practiced addiction medicine in my family
practice. In addiction medicine, we say where there is not denial there
is not an addiction. Congress has an addiction, a spending addiction,
and they are denying it. We are denying it, and the spending has to
stop.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for time and
would inquire of the minority whether they have any additional
speakers.
Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman is the
last speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R.
934, recognizing the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands'
(CNMIs') ownership of submerged lands lying three geographical miles
outside of mainland coastlines.
First and foremost, I want to commend my good friend, Congressman
Sablan of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, for taking
the initiative to introduce this important legislation. This bill is an
example of the continued efforts by the Congress to support the
Territories.
H.R. 934 seeks to officially award the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands submerged lands that are located three geographical
miles outside of mainland coastlines. Submerged lands qualify as lands
permanently or periodically covered by tidal waters up to, but not
above, the line of high tide. American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin
Islands were granted ownership over our own respective submerged lands
by the 93rd session of the Congress, before the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands became a territory of the United States. The
CNMI wishes to be afforded the same opportunities granted to the other
territories by having these submerged lands officially recognized as a
part of their Territory.
Mr. Speaker, by allowing these submerged lands to be recognized, they
will fall under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands, as opposed to that of the U.S. Seeing as the submerged
lands are located so closely to the mainland, having them fall within
the jurisdiction of the CNMI will allow for sufficient justice to be
served. Commonwealth citizens and officials, instead of officials
residing thousands of miles away, will be implementing and enforcing
laws that apply to their population.
The U.S. government will still have claim over gas, oil, and other
mineral deposits that may be possibly found on these lands. It should
be noted that H.R. 934 applies solely to those lands that are
submerged; the U.S. government will still have full control and
possession of lands above sea level that do not belong to the
Commonwealth. Additionally, it does not circumvent any actions that may
be taken or regulations that have been put forth by U.S. naval
authorities regarding these submerged lands.
It is apparent that H.R. 934 serves to benefit the Commonwealth of
the Northern Marina Islands and will not be detrimental to the United
States. For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to pass H.R. 934.
Again, I thank my colleagues for their support of this legislation.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I again urge Members to support this bill,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 934, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.

____________________