Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

This bill authorizes the National Park Service to conduct a special resource study of Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York. Fort Ontario was a military installation used during the French and Indian Wars, which was later used to house refugees fleeing the Nazi Holocaust during World War II.

Many Americans remember our Nation's role in World War II through events like the Invasion of Normandy or the Battle of Iwo Jima, closer to my district, which have been re-imagined in film and memorialized in stone, but the story of Fort Ontario is an equally important component of our historical legacy. Providing physical refuge from persecution says as much about our national character as the bravery and sacrifice of the millions of Americans who were deployed overseas.

The site has been managed as a New York State historic site since 1949 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1970. The study authorized by this bill will look into the best available options for the continued preservation and management of Fort Ontario, including the possibility of turning it into a unit of the National Park System.

Fort Ontario has had many uses throughout our Nation's history, and it has had a particularly relevant place in the story of Jewish Americans. As we work to ensure that our public lands tell the story of all Americans, Fort Ontario and its unique story could be a fitting addition.

This bill passed the House last September but was, unfortunately, not acted upon by the Senate.

I would like to thank Representative Katko, the sponsor of this bill, for his continued efforts to ensure the Nation knows about the story of Fort Ontario.

This is a good bill, and I urge my colleagues to support its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption and support of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 374 would reward the States of California, Oregon, and Washington for their long legacy of successful cooperative management of the West Coast Dungeness crab fishery in Federal waters. These States have, with oversight from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, managed this fishery sustainably, and this bill would make that management arrangement permanent.

The specifics of the Dungeness crab fishery, including robust stock assessments, accurate catch reporting, and little conflict between commercial and recreational crabbers, make regional management a good choice. This is basically the opposite of a fishery like Gulf of Mexico red snapper, where there is a lack of cooperation among States and fishing sectors.

I agree with the goals of this legislation, and I ask my colleagues to stand with me in support.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of H.R. 374, and I have no further speakers.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the sponsor of the bill, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I urge all of my colleagues for the adoption of H.R. 538.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

This bill adjusts the boundary of the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in Georgia to include two historically significant structures, the Wallis House and Kolb's Farm, and to assist in the preservation of the story of the Atlanta campaign. Additionally, the bill authorizes the National Park Service to acquire by donation approximately 8 acres that will be added to the Kennesaw National Battlefield Park.

The Civil War was a significant event in the history of this country and remains relevant as we grapple with the civil rights discussions today. The preservation of these sites reinforces Congress' dedication to equality and enables the National Park Service to interpret and tell our national story.

I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Loudermilk) for continuing to support the preservation of the history of this great country.

This bill passed the House last Congress by voice vote, and I encourage its swift adoption today.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I urge the adoption of the bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

This bill, H.R. 560, amends the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Improvement Act to extend a waiver for certain commercial traffic on U.S. Route 209, a federally owned highway that runs through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

When Congress decided to restrict commercial traffic on the portion of the highway that runs through the recreation area, the law included an exemption for certain vehicles that belong to nearby businesses and municipal governments. This bill provides a 5-year extension of that exemption in order to facilitate continued access for local residents.

The National Park Service, which manages the area, supports the bill; and it passed the House, as my colleague from California mentioned, last year by voice vote. I urge my colleagues to support the adoption of this bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague, Mr. Marino, for his leadership and his effort in the introduction and efforts towards the hopeful passage of H.R. 560. I want to also thank my good friend from California for this afternoon's wonderful time managing these six bills.

I urge the passage of H.R. 560.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, August 11, 1956 marks a watershed moment in the history of the Northern Mariana Islands. That was the day that Saipan Shipping, Incorporated, was established, setting the Marianas on a course for economic resiliency and self-sufficiency that endures today.

Seven years before the founding of Saipan Shipping, in the aftermath of World War II, Jose C. ``Joeten'' Tenorio started a small grocery story in Chalan Kanoa, Saipan. What started out as a way to help deliver goods to local customers eventually developed into one of the largest businesses in the Marianas.

However, as Joeten's business grew, he ran into a major obstacle: In 1956, regular Japanese liners from the war were gone, the Trust Territory government ships did not run regularly, and cargo bound for Saipan often sat in port on Guam for days or even weeks. The lack of reliable and affordable shipping service to Saipan increased the costs of goods shipped to a small and struggling island economy.

Not content to accept the status quo, Joeten decided to do something about it. He reached out to family and friends to buy 100 shares in a start-up shipping company, and, on August 11, 1956, they formed Saipan Shipping Company, Incorporated.

The company began with its first vessel, the M/V Hope, which was purchased for $50,000 from Kenneth T. Jones Jr., President of Jones and Guerrero Company, Incorporated, on Guam. The converted minesweeper with twin screws and a wooden hull made weekly runs between Guam and Saipan, as well as occasional trips to the Northern Islands to pick up copra, which was sold to Japanese purchasers at the time. The boat also collected brass, copper, and other metals left from the war on the islands. Often these goods were delivered to Japan directly by the M/V Hope when it sailed there each year to dry-dock.

In May 1962, Saipan Shipping purchased the M/V Four Winds, also a former military and CIA vessel, from Bruan Shipping in Delaware. The Four Winds traveled a regular route between Saipan and Japan.

However, soon after the acquisition of the M/V Four Winds, Saipan Shipping would be challenged by two catastrophes. In November of 1962, just months after the acquisition of the Four Winds, the M/V Hope was struck by another vessel, the Guam Bear, which rendered the Hope unseaworthy. Days later, on November 11, Super Typhoon Karen hit Guam, sinking the Hope while it was in dry dock on Guam.

Despite these twin calamities, Saipan Shipping bounced back by taking the M/V Four Winds out of the Japan run to handle the local service run between Guam and Saipan, as well as quarterly trips to the Northern Islands.

Saipan Shipping continued to evolve in the years that followed. In 1965, the company began chartering the M/V Ran Annim from the Trust Territory government. In 1966, after the

M/V Four Winds was sold, the Ran Annim serviced the local route exclusively, until three years later, when it was replaced by the M/V Mas Mauleg, a larger vessel with passenger capacity.

In 1971, Saipan Shipping purchased the M/V Normar for local service and chartered the M/V Mas Mauleg to Micronesian Interocean Lines, Incorporated, a shipping company serving all the Micronesian islands. When Interocean Lines went bankrupt in 1974, Saipan Shipping saw an opportunity. The company started a joint shipping venture with Kyowa Shipping Company Limited, which marked the beginning of over 15 years of Saipan Shipping service to Micronesia and a partnership that endures to this day. The charters, however, were terminated in the late 1970s due to high costs caused by the global fuel crisis. Despite that termination, Saipan Shipping maintained service to Micronesia and the South Pacific by facilitating voyage space charters on the Kyowa vessels sailing these routes.

As the 1980s economic boom on Saipan dawned, Saipan Shipping flourished as it adapted to the changing needs of the island economy. In 1979, the company sold the M/V Normar, ending 23 years of almost continuous vessel ownership. The company then signed a charter contract with Transpac Marine in 1980 for weekly tug and barge service to Guam, Saipan, and Tinian. After Transpac Marine's barge #S-2009 ran aground on Guam in 1986, Marianas Tug & Barge became the charter company for Saipan Shipping.

In 1982, Saipan Shipping also negotiated a connecting carrier and agency agreement with American President Lines--a major U.S. shipping company, which supplemented the company's existing relationship with SeaLand Services.

These relationships resulted in Saipan Shipping becoming the primary carrier for American President Lines cargo loading and offloading on Saipan. Combined with the company's existing relationship with Kyowa, Saipan Shipping was poised to profit from the 1980s economic boom brought on by the growth of tourism and the garment industry.

In 1983, the first shipment of garments--all sweaters--was delivered from Saipan to New York. Saipan Shipping took the first containers to Guam. At the time, only three garment manufacturers were on Saipan. But, over time, the industry grew to eleven in 1987, then 23 in 1990. By 1997, there were more than 30 clothing factories on Saipan. By 1999, the value of clothing produced on Saipan had hit $1 billion, which translated into large profits for Saipan Shipping.

However, the expansion of the garment industry on Saipan also led to more competition in the shipping industry as shipping companies emerged to rival Saipan Shipping's foothold. Over time, though, Saipan Shipping pulled ahead. In 1996, American President Lines was purchased by Matson Navigation Company, a change that Saipan Shipping leveraged to transform its business once more. From being simply a carrier's principal agent, the company transitioned into more of a local partnership, with Saipan Shipping employees regularly participating in Matson's training programs at the turn of the century and working hand- in-hand to meet the shipping demands of the garment industry.

In that same year, Saipan Shipping pushed ahead with transforming its business, partnering with Kyowa and private investors to establish Marianas Steamship Agencies, Incorporated. This new company served as the husbanding agent for Saipan Shipping on Guam, providing goods and services needed by Saipan Shipping boats or crew.

In the early 21st century, major policy shifts at the national and international levels altered the economic landscape in the Marianas and profoundly impacted the shipping industry. The end of international quota restrictions in the global garment trade made it cost prohibitive for the garment industry to remain on Saipan, which led to all 31 garment factories closing shop in the early 2000s.

As a testament to its resiliency, however, Saipan Shipping endured while other shipping companies closed. Moreover, the company expanded. In 2001, Saipan Shipping ended 21 years of chartering boats with the purchase of Marianas Tug & Barge. The purchase included all of MarTug's equipment, most importantly the tugs Sea Husky and Don Juan Tenorio, and barges Francisca III and Francisca IV. All operations of MarTug were thus assumed, including the subsidiary Mid-Pacific Salvage, effectively adding marine salvaging to Saipan Shipping's portfolio of services.

Then the terrorist attacks of September 11 rocked our nation, and the world. The global economy reeled in the aftermath of the attacks, and new challenges arose for the shipping industry as more stringent regulations were adopted to increase national security. Undeterred, Saipan Shipping demonstrated its adaptability once again by upgrading its information technology to increase efficiency and profitability. The company automated many aspects of its business, which helped streamline customs and quarantine processing, customer clearance processing, and physical clearance of cargo.

Still standing as the lone local shipping company in the Marianas, Saipan Shipping moved confidently into the new millennium. In 2005, the company entered into an agency agreement with Marianas-based vessel operator, Seabridge, Incorporated, serving inter-island trade between Saipan and Guam.

Tragedy struck again in 2015 with Super Typhoon Soudelor, which wreaked more havoc on Saipan's port than many previous storms. But Saipan Shipping stood strong, rebounding and reaching out into the community to deliver much needed relief supplies.

Today, with construction booming and a budding gaming industry on Saipan, Saipan Shipping is adjusting as it always has to meet the demands of the local economy. And while competition has emerged, yet again, Saipan Shipping has adapted, yet again, to work with competitors to help the island economy prosper, yet again.

Jose C. ``Joeten'' Tenorio probably could not have imagined the remarkable evolution and many iterations of Saipan Shipping Company, Incorporated after its inception in 1956. But he would not have been surprised by Saipan Shipping's ability to adapt and thrive. Nor would Joeten have been surprised by the vital role that Saipan Shipping has played and continues to play in the local and regional economy.

After all, that is exactly why he helped start the company, to achieve the one purpose spelled out in its Articles of Incorporation in 1956 and to this day:

``The purpose of this Corporation is to engage in trade and commerce in and between [Saipan]'', the Marianas, the Pacific, and, indeed, the world.

Mr. Speaker, as we ready to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in the 114th Congress, I am introducing legislation, which I want to see incorporated into a reauthorization and which will help fulfill one of the original goals of the Act, namely to ensure that American children have access to a high-quality education--no matter the economic circumstances of the geographic area where they live. Title 1 of the ESEA was designed to address the ``impact that concentrations of low-income families have on the ability of local educational agencies to support adequate educational programs . . .'' Pub. L. No. 89-10, Sec. 201. But this intent--to close the educational opportunity gaps that exist from community to community in America--has not yet been realized in my district, the Northern Mariana Islands, where incomes are less than half the national median and our local educational agency still struggles to meet the needs of students.

Expenditures for public elementary and secondary education nationally were $10,667 per pupil in fiscal 2012, the most recent year for which this data is available. In the Northern Marianas public elementary and secondary education spending per pupil was just $6,246. National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. In part, this gap is a function of the local contribution; but the point of Title I was to use federal resources to balance educational funding nationwide by helping places where there is limited fiscal capacity. And my constituents are not unwilling to invest in education: In November they adopted an initiative amending our Commonwealth Constitution to require that 25 percent of each year's local revenues go to our schools, an increase of the existing 15 percent requirement. But, because personal incomes are low, these local government revenues are limited.

The local contribution in the Northern Marianas is also constrained because we have only one layer of government. Local educational agencies nationwide are generally funded both by a state and by a county or municipal government, a system that shares state resources across wealthy areas and poor. In the Northern Marianas there is only a single, state-level government that has authority to raise revenues and is solely responsible for supporting our school system.

If it operated as intended, the system of allocation established for Title I-A funding should alleviate such variations in local capacity, instead it appears to disadvantage the Northern Marianas. The ESEA gives the Secretary of Education authority to allocate a fixed one percent of Title 1 funds among the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools and four ``outlying areas,'' of which the Northern Marianas is one. But, according to the Congressional Research Service, the result in fiscal 2014 was an allocation of $1,987 per qualifying child in Bureau schools, while each qualifying child in Northern Marianas schools was allotted only $1,073.

In addition to this allocation discrepancy, associated with Secretarial discretion, there is an inherent flaw in the Title 1 set- aside of a fixed percentage of annual funding to assist a population that changes with time. We expect families to seek economic opportunity for themselves or better schooling for their children by moving from one area of our nation to another. I have seen this kind of out- migration from my district. And the annual adjustments in Title I-A allocations among the states respond to this dynamic, but the fixed one percent to BIE and the outlying areas does not. Likewise, the population counts and income data, which the Secretary uses in allocating funds among the outlying areas, are based on the decennial census, not on the more up-to-date information used for Title I-A allocations nationally. As a result, Title I-A allocations among the outlying areas continue fixed--on auto-pilot--for a decade, even if the economy in one of these areas flags, incomes fall, or the number of qualifying children increases. I have also witnessed this effect in my district.

Ironically, I understand, the one percent set-aside may originally have been intended to protect the small, outlying areas from year-to- year swings in funding and to assure our areas of federal assistance sufficient to run meaningful programs and to compensate for the inherent fiscal deficiencies islands we face, as a result of geographic and economic isolation. But the present effect of this set-aside is that Title I-A support for public elementary and secondary education in my district, the Northern Marianas, is, as noted, $1,073 per student, even less than the national average of $1,215.

So, today I am introducing legislation that modifies the present Title I-A funding system for the outlying areas. My bill ends the special set-aside system, removes Secretarial discretion, and employs the same funding formula that applies to every other part of our nation, although at a much reduced rate in recognition of our relatively smaller populations. And I ask my colleagues for their support.

Mr. Speaker, June 8, 2014 marked a pivotal moment in the history of the Northern Mariana Islands, when Marian Deleon Guerrero Tudela was sworn in not only as the first female mayor of Saipan, but the first female mayor of any of our municipalities. Mayor Tudela assumed this position by operation of law upon the untimely death of Mayor Donald Glenn Flores. Though residing at the time in the mainland United States, she honorably agreed to serve her community through the remainder of his term, and returned to Saipan.

With over 21 years in the private sector and over 10 years in government service, Mayor Tudela has a long and rich professional history. And this is not her first time to answer to the people directly. From 1994 to 1998 and from 2006 to 2008, Mayor Tudela was a member of the Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council. She has also served on the boards of the Northern Mariana Islands Retirement Fund and the Commonwealth Ports Authority.

As mayor, Ms. Tudela oversees a staff of approximately 40 hard- working members of our community. Her office undertakes programs and projects that range from improving local infrastructure to fostering better relations with our tourism partner countries. For example, each year, the mayor's office sponsors exchange programs among our high school students and students from Japan and Korea. And on any given day, you can find her employees trimming trees to make our beautiful lagoon more visible to tourists traveling on Beach Road, patching potholes on secondary roads or catching stray dogs that roam the streets. Couples intending to wed visit the mayor's office to obtain their marriage license, and those who do not drive but desire identification cards can receive those through her office. The mayor's office also spearheads the annual Liberation Day festivities on Saipan, which celebrates the freeing of our islands from occupying Japanese forces by the American military in 1944.

Mayor Tudela is now one of the highest-ranking female officials ever to hold office in the Northern Mariana Islands. And as such, she serves as a role model and a reminder to all women that they have come of age in our local political arena. But championing women's issues is nothing new to Mayor Tudela. She formerly served as a Governor's Special Assistant for Women's Affairs, and over the years has participated in numerous symposia addressing issues of import to women in the Pacific region.

Marian Deleon Guerrero Tudela's willingness to step into this position so unexpectedly, serve so unassumingly and carry on the fine tradition not only of her predecessor but of the mayors of all our islands should serve as an inspiration for women, but more, should serve as a model for all people who aspire to serve their communities.

Mr. Speaker, lowering the cost of electricity is extremely important to the people I represent in the Northern Mariana Islands. Residential customers in my district pay 40 cents per kilowatt-hour--three times the U.S. average. And those electricity bills are eating away at families' paychecks.

That's why I support H.R. 83.

H.R. 83 will help local governments develop and implement plans to reduce reliance on the expensive fossil fuels that make electricity so expensive in America's insular areas, including the Northern Mariana Islands.

The plans will propose technical, financial, and policy actions that island governments and local utilities can take to move the islands towards alternative sources of energy--especially renewables. The plans will show how to improve efficiency beginning with production, through distribution, and at the point of use, so that every kilowatt generated in the islands goes unwasted.

Last year, Congresswomen Donna Christensen and Madeleine Bordallo, Congressman Eni Faleomavaega, Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi and I were successful in convincing Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to increase funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program in our islands. About 120 families were added to the rolls in the Northern Marianas and the assistance that all 420 families now receive is as much as double the previous amount.

But helping some families with the high cost of energy is only a partial fix. We need to lower costs for everyone. That's what Ms. Christensen's bill promises to do.

I want to thank Congresswoman Christensen for her years of work to move this important bill forward and congratulate her for bringing the bill to the floor today.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R 83.

Mr. Speaker, I support S. 1086, reauthorizing the Child Care and Development Block Grant program.

We all talk about jobs bills.

Well, in my district, the Northern Mariana Islands, mothers and fathers in 200 families can go to their jobs every day because their children are being cared for through this program.

That's why it is important to reauthorize Child Care, because it helps people who want to work.

Especially in the Northern Marianas, where we are replacing foreign workers with U.S. workers, we need good child care to make that transition.

And the bill accounts for sudden changes of income, so even when the minimum wage increases in the Marianas this month--as I am glad to say it will--families will keep getting child care--and parents will keep working.

Lastly, S. 1086 improves standards, because all parents want to work without worry, knowing their children are well cared for and safe.

I urge passage of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, twenty-five years ago on June 1, 1989, Delta Air Lines launched its first flight in a twice weekly service from Tokyo's Narita airport to Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. Operated then as Northwest Airlines and using a Boeing 747-200, this inaugural flight was a milestone in air service to my district; and I want to celebrate that event today.

Then and now, tourism is the lifeblood of our islands' economy; and this air connection with Japan, begun twenty-five years ago, has been essential to the growth and stability of our visitor industry. Other airlines have come and gone from the market, but Delta's commitment has been unwavering.

Today, the company is the only airline providing direct, scheduled, daily flights to and from Japan, carrying some 2,000 passengers per week on Boeing 757s. And these numbers add up: in the past ten years 23,000 Delta flights have provided seats for 4.25 million of our Japanese tourists.

Those flights to the Northern Marianas are, of course, only a tiny part of Delta's worldwide business. The company serves nearly 165 million passengers annually, flies to over 300 destinations worldwide, and employs almost 80,000 individuals. But those daily Japan/Marianas flights are crucial to our local economy, supporting numerous businesses and creating jobs.

And not only does Delta transport tourists. For many of the residents of the Northern Mariana Islands, whether traveling for business or pleasure, Delta is the airline of choice. The company provides a comfortable lounge at the Narita Airport hub and convenient connections: Delta is the only U.S. flag air carrier offering our community one-stop service to the mainland United States.

Delta stands out, too, for its good corporate citizenship, supporting many worthy groups and causes, including the Rotary Club of Saipan, the American Red Cross, the Marianas March Against Cancer, the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, NMI Crime Stoppers, the Northern Mariana Islands Council for the Humanities, and numerous sporting events. Of special note, Delta has been the sole airline sponsor for the Saipan Marathon since 2008.

Please, join me in honoring the management and employees of Delta Air Lines as we commemorate their twenty-five years of air service between the Northern Mariana Islands and Japan, and in wishing them many more years of continued success and growth.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the contributions of Joaquin Camacho Arriola, who, with more than 60 years of practice as a highly respected lawyer in the courts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, and as one of Guam's first Chamorro lawyers, has received the Hustisia Award. The award is given to recognize a person or organization that has contributed significantly to the administration of justice and the improvement of government in Guam. The Hustisia Award was presented to Mr. Arriola on May 2, 2014 in Guam by the Guam Judiciary.

Joaquin Arriola was born on December 29, 1925 to the late Vicente Fernandez Arriola and the late Maria Soledad Camacho Arriola. Mr. Arriola lived an idyllic, rural life up until World War II, when, along with the rest of Guam, he had to endure years of harsh Japanese occupation. But when the U.S. returned to Guam, the teenaged Joaquin Arriola took action and was wounded by a Japanese hand grenade while leading a squad of the 77th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army.

Following the war, Mr. Arriola graduated from Guam's George Washington High School and then in 1950 cum laude from the College of St. Thomas in Minnesota. Three years later Mr. Arriola earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Minnesota. He helped finance his college education by working part-time during the school year and in the summer laboring fourteen-hour days for a construction and painting company at the minimum wage of seventy-five cents an hour.

As an attorney, Mr. Arriola was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the State of Minnesota, the U.S. District Court of Guam, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court of the Northern Marianas, and the Supreme Courts and Superior Courts of Guam and the Northern Marianas.

He was also elected to the Third, Fourth, Ninth, and Tenth Guam Legislatures, where he was speaker during his last two terms of office. One of the many milestones in his legislative career took place in 1968. The U.S. Congress was debating the Elective Governor Act of Guam, which contained a provision establishing a U.S. Government Comptroller with audit authority over all funds coming into Guam. Speaker Arriola spearheaded a movement against the Federal Comptroller position, arguing that the people of Guam were entitled to greater self- government and that the establishment of a Federal Comptroller outside the framework of the government of Guam represented a step back from this goal and implied that the people of Guam could not be trusted with the expenditure of public funds. The Federal Comptroller provision was ultimately removed from the federal legislation.

In addition to his years in elected office Mr. Arriola was also Legislative Counsel and Parliamentarian for the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Guam Legislatures and legal counsel to many Government of Guam entities, including the Guam Power Authority and Guam Economic Development Authority. He served as Selective Service Government Appeal Agent in 1959, Small Business Administration Disaster Fee Counsel in 1962, Chairman for the Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority from 1963 to 1964, Chairman of the Territorial Planning Commission from 1963 to 1966, and Chairman of the Board of Regents of the College of Guam from 1963 to 1966. And Mr. Arriola was a part-time Associate Justice of the Guam Supreme Court from 1996 to 1999.

In private practice Mr. Arriola is founding partner of Arriola, Cowan & Arriola--Guam's oldest established law office. His focus has been litigation; and Mr. Arriola still engages in civil trials to this day. He served as general counsel to the Bank of Guam, which he helped to incorporate, and as a member of the Bank's Board of Directors. He has also been secretary for BankPacific.

In recognition of all these accomplishments upon his 50th anniversary in practice in 2003, Mr. Arriola received a legislative resolution from the 27th Guam Legislature (Resolution No. 66). He was also honored for his service to the community with the degree of Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) from the University of Guam in 2007.

Mr. Arriola was married to former Senator Elizabeth P. Arriola, deceased. Although frequently occupied with legal matters, Mr. Arriola finds time to spend with his children, Jacqueline A. Marati, Vincent P. Arriola, Attorney Anita P. Arriola, Lisa P. Arriola, Franklin P. Arriola, Michael P. Arriola, Attorney Joaquin C. Arriola, Jr., and Anthony P. Arriola, his fifteen grandchildren and five great grandchildren, often while tending to his farm in Merizo.

We recognize, commend, and congratulate Mr. Arriola for his extensive professional accomplishments and his deep personal commitment to serving the people of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Mr. Speaker, most Americans would agree on the essential importance of education to a successful and meaningful life. But knowledge in and of itself is insufficient without a moral and ethical context for its appropriate application. Thus, the importance of Catholic schools, which we celebrate this week.

In the Northern Mariana Islands the Catholic schools of Eskuelan San Francisco de Borja on Rota, St. Joseph Catholic School on Tinian, and Mount Carmel School on the Saipan, have been the vanguard not only in educational excellence, but also in the inculcation of spiritual values. Graduates of these schools, who now fill every nook and cranny of leadership in our communities, carry both intellectual skills and a moral compass to their work in our society. We are all better off as a result. And, at least in part, we have Catholic schools to thank.

We have also to thank the parents of every Catholic school student. For, over the years, these parents have chosen to sacrifice, to deploy their limited resources, to send their sons and daughters to parochial schools. Even as the quality of free, public education in the Northern Marianas has continued to improve--and I am sure that faculty and students in our fine public institutions would even proudly argue to surpass our Catholic schools--still have parents found something of extra value in those Catholic schools and continued to pay for their children to receive a Catholic education.

And we have to thank the religious and lay teachers in our Catholic schools. These women and men have chosen to forego material rewards of life in order to serve as the conduit for the moral system that underlies the academic content of their classrooms. Often among the best educated members of our community, rather than using their knowledge to advance their own interests these teachers disseminate what they know, so that many lives may be enriched. Their service and sacrifice, too, we celebrate and recognize during Catholic Schools Week.

Lastly, we congratulate the students in our Catholic schools. You are part of a heritage in the Northern Mariana Islands that we trace back directly to the founding of Mount Carmel School in 1952, but which certainly has its roots with the original Catholic missionaries of the 16th century. That is a remarkable tradition. One to be proud of, as you mark Catholic Schools Week, and to carry on.

Mr. Speaker, the people of the Northern Mariana Islands extend their condolences to the people of Guam on the passing of their former Delegate to Congress, General Ben Garrido Blaz.

Especially, we extend our sympathies to his sons, Mike and Tom, and to all of General Blaz's family for their great loss.

Ben Blaz was a trailblazer for all the Chamorros of the Mariana Islands, the first of us ever to rise to the rank of General in the U.S. Armed Forces.

And he served here from the 99th to the 102nd Congresses, often looking out for the interests of the people of the Northern Mariana Islands, whom I represent, as well as for his own constituency in Guam.

Beyond those professional accomplishments, Ben Blaz was a warm and caring man.

He was knowledgeable about policy, committed to finding solutions, and in his passing, the Marianas have lost an important leader.

The people of the Northern Mariana Islands share the sadness of our friends and neighbors in Guam.

And I thank Ms. Bordallo for bringing us together here this afternoon to salute General Ben Garrido Blaz.

May he rest in peace.

Mr. Speaker, the people of the Northern Mariana Islands-- and all the Pacific territories--lost a friend in August. Mr. Francis Xavier Solomon, II, veteran and public servant, passed away.

Mr. Solomon's service to our country ranged from his tour of combat in Vietnam to his career with the Department of the Interior. There, he helped develop telecommunications infrastructure in the islands and the financial management systems our young governments needed.

In his last 13 years he worked as a consultant to the Prior Service Retirement Trust Fund, which provides a pension to former employees of the U.S. Government in Micronesia.

Mr. Solomon is remembered by my constituents as ``a true public servant in the finest sense of the term,'' and ``a humble person who possessed extraordinary talent and accomplished great things.''

Francis Xavier Solomon leaves behind a beloved wife of 29 years, Millie, and several children and stepchildren. And he leaves behind a legacy throughout our island communities, for which we will always be indebted.