Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the Northern Mariana Islands Entrepreneurship Act of 2023, which would extend eligibility for the Small Business Administration's microloan program to the Marianas. My bill ensures that small businesses in our islands are treated equitably and have access to the same assistance available in other parts of our Nation.

The opportunity for people to find and grow small businesses is the pathway to achieving the American dream. The SBA's microloan program was created to help everyday Americans do just that--with loans of up to $50,000, small business owners can jumpstart their dreams by investing the micro loan towards inventory, supplies, machinery, equipment, and more. And when our small businesses thrive, we all stand to benefit. According to a 2019 report from the SBA, small businesses create two-thirds of net new jobs and drive U.S. innovation and competitiveness.

Yet this opportunity is not available to all Americans. My home, the Marianas, is the only jurisdiction in the Nation that is ineligible for the microloan program.

My bill ends this inequity and provides a path to entrepreneurship for all small business owners, no matter where they choose to live in the U.S.

I thank my colleague, Ms. Radewagen, who joined me in introducing this important bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Speaker, on a day like this, the last day of the week when Members get to vote by 11 o'clock, and then they start running out that door, I used to be envious.

Today, I am actually astonished; astonished at the problem before us and that people have decided to take a break for Memorial Day. When I go home, I have to go home and face 700 families, veterans and their families, and their question is going to be: What is going to happen to our benefits?

You might have to fill out extra paperwork to get it. People will lose access to their food benefits and their health benefits. Teachers, firemen, first responders, and police officers, these are the individuals who are going to lose access to the benefits that they usually get either from Social Security, from their VA checks, et cetera.

Mr. Speaker, I think we should all come back tomorrow and continue the work we have before us. It is too important to allow us to go home.

Mr. Speaker, Medicaid funding for the Marianas was $6.5 million when I first came to Congress in 2009. This year, the Medicaid block grant is $66 million. We have made significant progress.

But the Marianas is like the runner who begins the race 400 yards back from everyone else's starting line.

In 1983, when limited Medicaid block grants for the territories were established in law, the Marianas lacked congressional representation. The impact was evident: our grant was the smallest.

In subsequent years, though the grant increased with the percentage of inflation or congressional action, that built-in disparity between the Marianas and other territories was perpetuated.

The result is today American Samoa receives $24 million more in Medicaid funding than the Marianas despite having the same population and income. And American Samoa is able to offer more healthcare services to more low-income residents as a result. In 2021, the American Samoa Medicaid program served nearly 38,000 residents whereas the Marianas Medicaid program served 17,000.

The time has come to level up and provide funding for the Marianas equivalent to a territory with virtually the same population and incomes.

The legislation I am introducing today does just that. It provides for a Marianas Medicaid grant that matches what American Samoa receives and corrects a historical disparity in Medicaid funding that began when the Marianas had no voice in Congress.

This legislation is not simply an action to rationalize the funding for Medicaid. The legislation also is a response to the very real shortfall in Medicaid funding for the Marianas that our Governor Arnold I. Palacios reported to me in April. I am including his letter in the Record.

Funding for fiscal 2023 has already been allotted. So, today's legislation will not aid this year's shortfall. But today's legislation will help ensure that in future years, low-income residents in the Marianas and American Samoa have equivalent access to federally funded healthcare.

Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, Office of

the Governor,

Saipan, MP, April 4, 2023.

Re Financial Shortfall.

Hon. Arnold I. Palacios & Lt. Governor David M. Apatang,

Governor, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,

Saipan, MP.

Dear Governor Palacios & Lt. Governor Apatang: In response

to the COVID-19 pandemic, and through temporary authorities

provided during the National Public Health Emergency (PHE),

the Commonwealth Medicaid Agency (CMA) expanded coverage for

up to 30,000 additional CNMI residents, providing vital

healthcare access to over 45,000 individuals today. The PHE

concludes on May 11, 2023, and although Medicaid expenses

will gradually decrease, we still anticipate a financial

shortfall by the end of fiscal year 2023 due to the impact of

the PHE.

The CNMI's federal Medicaid funding is capped annually by

statute, in section 1108 of the Social Security Act. The CNMI

Government bears the responsibility for services to Medicaid

beneficiaries when federal funds are exhausted. Despite

permanent increases to CNMI's Medicaid cap through the

Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, our current

funding of $65,870,000 for fiscal year 2023 is insufficient

given the expenditure trends observed in fiscal year 2022 and

as of March 30, 2023.

Medicaid expended approximately $18 million of ARPA funds

appropriated by the CNMI Government in addition to the $63

million of the 1108 Funding for Fiscal Year 2022. As a result

of the additional appropriations, CNMI Medicaid did not

experience a shortfall. As of March 30, 2023, Medicaid has

expended 61% of its Fiscal Year 2023 section 1108 allotment.

No other funding sources are available today to supplement

the shortfall.

The CNMI Medicaid's Section 1108 funding is expected to be

depleted before the current fiscal year's end, which

threatens our ability to continue providing essential

healthcare services to Medicaid beneficiaries. Additional

funding is crucial to prevent provider closures, suspension

of services and loss of healthcare access for beneficiaries,

and increased burden on the Commonwealth Healthcare

Corporation (CHCC), which will become the sole provider

available to Medicaid beneficiaries when federal funds run

out. Moreover, the CNMI's existing shortage of specialty care

services will be exacerbated, compromising current and future

patients' access to off-island treatments.

We initially projected a $10 million shortfall in Section

1108 funding; this projection has since been revised to $4.8

million as of March 30, 2023, following the announcement of a

date certain for the PHE's conclusion and additional guidance

from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

However, this figure may change due to monthly uncertainties

in services rendered and accounts receivables. It may also

change if monthly payments made to CHCC are adjusted based on

any revisions made to the Certified Public Expenditure

methodology post-PHE.

While the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 has

permanently secured CNMI's Federal Medical Assistance

Percentage (FMAP) at 83%, the 6.2% increase provided by the

Families First Coronavirus Response Act will be phased out,

resulting in higher local shares for CNMI. Additionally, as

we have learned from your FY 2023 revised budget message

transmitted to the Legislature on March 8, 2023, Community

Disaster Loan funds are no longer available to support the

CNMI's local match requirement for Medicaid. Insufficient

local matching funds jeopardizes our ability to utilize

federal funds.

To avoid the fast-approaching fiscal cliff and the

healthcare crisis that will follow, the Commonwealth's

Medicaid program is in urgent need of two critical

interventions in the current fiscal year:

1) a waiver of the local match requirement; and

2) additional federal funding of at least $4.8 million,

based on current projections.

These measures are essential to address our outstanding and

anticipated obligations for the remainder of the fiscal year

and will ensure the continued provision of vital healthcare

services to our constituents.

Please feel free to contact me for further discussion.

Sincerely,

Vicenta Borja,

Acting Medicaid Director.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the AANAPISI Opportunity Act. This legislation seeks to ensure that the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides research and career opportunities to students at all Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) by creating grant programs for the only MSI without any USDA support: Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs).

The AANAPISI Opportunity Act is modeled after several already existing competitive grant programs for MSIs in USDA. Specifically, the bill establishes grants to support Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI)-centered agricultural research and scholarships to support agricultural education and career development. Additional funding will be given to AANAPISI students through a 50 percent institutional matching requirement. For low-resourced AANAPISIs who might not be able to match, like Northern Marianas College in my district, USDA may provide a waiver to help keep them in consideration for grant awards.

In addition to enhancing the potential of American agriculture, this bill will have generational impact by investing in the AAPI agricultural pipeline. USDA's 2017 Census of Agriculture identified 25,310 Asian producers in the United States, most of whom were younger and more likely to have recently started farming than U.S. producers overall.

Although 25.310 accounts for only 0.7 percent of the country's farmers and 2 percent of total U.S. agricultural sales, this bill would bolster the number of skilled AAPIs that contribute to our nation's agricultural workforce and output. A 2019 Journal of Research in Technical Careers article found that the highest-rated student retention strategies for underrepresented students pursuing agricultural careers were ``academic support [and] giving students practical work experiences in their intended major.''

U.S. agricultural priorities can only be met when all producers are given opportunities to compete and succeed, including Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Now it is time for Congress to fully commit to investing equitably in one of the nation's most indispensable industries.

I thank my colleagues who joined me in introducing this important, bipartisan legislation--Mr. Case, Ms Chu, Mr. Moylan, Ms. Radewagen, and Ms. Tokuda.

Mr. Speaker, three years of pandemic have taken a toll on businesses nationwide and, especially, in isolated, one-industry economies like that of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Policies that made sense before a pandemic shut down the tourism industry in the islands I represent are now actually making recovery more difficult.

So, today, I am introducing legislation to ease the return to normalcy by recognizing the impact of the pandemic.

My bill will delay for three years the effective date of a provision of the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act, Public Law 115-218, that is making it more expensive and more difficult for businesses in my district to recover.

This is the so-called ``touchback'' provision of that law that requires employers to send certain foreign workers back to their home country at least every three years. Doing so has, of course, proven problematic during the pandemic, when airflights were interrupted and increasingly costly. In some cases, home country ingress provisions made it difficult for workers to return.

In the meantime, the purpose of the touchback requirement has been fulfilled. It was intended to reduce reliance on foreign workers and encourage investment in U.S. workers. And that is precisely what has occurred, even without implementation of touchback.

During the pandemic the number of U.S. workers employed in the Marianas has held steady near 13,000, according to the most recent report from the Governor required by the U.S. Workforce Act. The number of foreign workers, according to the Governor, has fallen from about 8,000 to 6,000.

Even without the requirement that certain foreign workers return home at least every three years, Marianas businesses appear to have shifted to a relatively greater reliance on U.S. workers. This is precisely the intent of Public Law 115-218.

Rather than striking the requirement from the law altogether, however--as considering this shift touchback may now seem unnecessary-- my bill takes a more conservative approach to delay the effective date for three years, matching the duration of the pandemic.

The bill also makes clear the intent of the law's authors--Chair Rob Bishop and Ranking Member Raul Grijalva of the House Natural Resources Committee, Chair Lisa Murkowski of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and me--with respect to the timing of touchback, as explained in our letter of July 22, 2020, to Samantha Deshommes, Chief of the Regulatory Coordination Division of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Ultimately, I respect the bipartisan agreement on a reasonable immigration policy unique to the Marianas that is embodied in the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act. Circumstances now warrant fine-tuning the touchback provision. Ultimately, however, I want to see that bipartisan policy through to its conclusion in 2030.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to reintroduce the Insular Area Medicaid Parity Act. This legislation seeks to protect the continued delivery of critical healthcare services to Americans in all corners of our Nation by eliminating the general Medicaid funding limitations for territories of the United States.

The Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are subject to a hard, statutory limit on federal Medicaid support, unlike the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This cap means that preventive care and treatment for the poorest Americans in the insular areas will always be less available than for Americans elsewhere.

Congress has also acknowledged this inequity. We acted to provide more Medicaid funding for the insular areas by substantially lifting the cap through P.L. 116-94, Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020. Provisions in P.L. 116-127, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act created equity between the states and the insular areas with respect to the increase in the federal-local match for Medicaid. Families First, also, provided additional federal dollars for the insular area Medicaid programs. Most recently, P.L. 117-328, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, made permanent the 83 percent federal match for Medicaid for the smaller territories.

The Insular Area Medicaid Parity Act furthers this progress by creating an enduring policy that safeguards the health of the poorest Americans in our insular areas. By repealing the cap, we will not only ensure that there are sufficient resources to address the ongoing pandemic, but also set up the healthcare systems in the insular areas to respond to the next public health challenge, whatever it may be. Most important of all, we will ensure that day-after-day and year-by- year, those with the smallest incomes and no access to other insurance receive the care that will keep them healthy and help ward off debilitating disease.

The pandemic has brought home this truth: none of us can truly remain well, while some of us are ill. Now it is time for Congress to fully commit to making sure the poorest in the insular areas are treated equitably.

I thank my colleagues who joined me in introducing this legislation-- Ms. Holmes Norton, Ms. Plaskett, Mr. Moylan, Ms. Radewagen, Ms. Gonzalez-Colon, Mr. Torres, Mr. Takano, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Trone, Mr. Case, Ms. Barragan, Ms. Bonarnici, Ms. Meng, Mr. Garcia, Ms. Lee, Ms. Moore, Ms. Napolitano, and Ms. Chu.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor the life and legacy of the Honorable Edward De Leon Guerrero Pangelinan, a founding father of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, who passed away on February 3.

Mr. Pangelinan was the very first Chamorro from the Northern Marianas to graduate from law school and, so, became the natural leader of our islands in seeking to end the post-World War II United Nations Trusteeship and to become part of the United States. As Chairman of the Marianas Political Status Commission, Mr. Pangelinan with his fellow Commissioners successfully negotiated the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America, which was approved by plebiscite in 1975 and codified in federal law the following year.

His work as reflected in the Covenant agreement then led to United States citizenship for the people of the Marianas during the Administration of President Ronald Reagan and, ultimately, to their representation here in the United States Congress.

Edward Pangelinan's work on behalf of the Marianas did not end with the Covenant. In 1978, he was elected to be our first Resident Representative to the United States, a position that advocated for and foreshadowed representation in Congress. In 1985, President Ronald Reagan appointed Mr. Pangelinan to the Northern Mariana Islands Commission on Federal Laws, where he helped identity areas of the law that should be amended in light of the inclusion of the Marianas into the United States. Later he served as legal counsel and special advisor to Resident Representative Juan N. Babauta and then as advisor to Resident Representative Pete A. Tenorio before retiring from public service in 2009.

Throughout his life, Edward Pangelinan worked tirelessly to bring respect and equity to the indigenous Chamorro and Carolinian communities of the Marianas. In addition to the successes he achieved for his people, Mr. Pangelinan will also be remembered for his unfalteringly optimistic approach to public service. No matter how long the days, or difficult the fights, Mr. Pangelinan by his example will always remind us that change--slow or even impossible though it may seem--can and will happen through perseverance.

Few people use their lives to make as enduring and beneficial an impact on the lives of others as did the Honorable Edward De Leon Guerrero Pangelinan. Please join me in recognizing Mr. Pangelinan's outstanding contributions to the people of the Northern Mariana Islands as we honor his memory.

Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing the Northern Mariana Islands Population Stabilization Act. The bill is intended to bolster our nation's strategic interests in the Western Pacific by maintaining the population and prosperity of the Marianas, the district I represent.

The Marianas is part of the chain of U.S. and U.S.-affiliated islands that faces Chinese expansion in the region. Through the Marianas, the U.S. controls an ocean area of 289,000 square miles, greater than the size of Texas.

Yet, the U.S. presence here is at risk. According to the 2020 decennial census the population of the Marianas declined by 12.2 percent since the 2010 census. This is the second largest decline among all states and non-state areas of our Nation over that 10-year period.

This population erosion--and the loss of economic viability that results--occurs against the backdrop of increased competition with China in the Western Pacific, a time when the United States needs to be strengthening our position in the region, not shrinking in significance.

There are many reasons why people are leaving the Marianas. There are better public services and greater economic opportunity in the mainland United States. The anxiety stemming from the repeated and hyper- destructive typhoons associated with accelerating climate change also factors in the decision to leave. I refer Members to the article ``People are fleeing Puerto Rico, Guam and every other U.S. territory. What gives?'' in the Washington Post edition of September 23, 2022, for a discussion of population loss in all the U.S. insular areas. The article, ``Perfect Storm. When is it time to abandon a place to climate change?'' in Harpers Magazine's October 2022 edition tracks the decision of one family in the Marianas to leave their home to escape the impacts of climate change.

Population decline, whether in the islands or in rural areas of the continental United States, creates a negative feedback loop. Reduced tax revenues limit the ability of local governments to improve services. And the reduced consumer base and labor pool throttle business. You can see this affect in the drop in Gross Domestic Product in the Marianas. GDP fell 11.2 percent in 2019, the most recent available data, a decline that would have been even more severe but for the COVID-related relief that Congress provided.

The Northern Mariana Islands Population Stabilization Act builds on several laws enacted during the Trump administration and on previous action by the House.

In the 116th Congress, we passed this same legislation by voice vote without dissent. It allows certain long-term foreign workers and investors already lawfully present in the islands to apply for permanent status in the Marianas-only. Previously, President Trump had approved USPL 115-218, defining these long-term workers, and signed USPL 116-24, creating the Marianas-only resident status.

The Marianas-only resident status that President Trump sanctioned provides no eligibility for public assistance. It bars entry into any other part of the United States except for purpose of transit through Guam to a non-U.S. destination. The status President Trump approved is revocable in case of communicable disease, criminal conviction, or terrorist activity.

Making this Marianas-only status available simply encourages continued residence and employment by people already lawfully present and gainfully employed; and doing so would help to stabilize the population in our islands.

After the House approved the legislation I have introduced today in the 116th Congress, the Senate took no action. In the intervening years, the population eligible for Marianas-only status--which by definition cannot increase--has shrunk from 2,600 to 1,600, underscoring the continuing flight and the urgent need for us to act.

In this time of heightened concern about spending, I do want to remind the House that the Congressional Budget Office determined in 2019 this legislation has negligible effect on direct spending. That assessment must remain the same in 2023, as the number of affected individuals has only declined.

I ask all Members to support this simple, straightforward response to the problem of population loss in the Marianas. It is not a

total solution, but acknowledgement a problem exists and must be addressed.

I ask, too, that Members see the Northern Mariana Islands Population Stabilization Act as an important component of our larger national response to the continuing Chinese expansion occurring throughout the Pacific.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the Guam-Northern Marianas Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) for 25 years of valued service supporting our islands' service men and women seeking civilian employment. Since 1997, the Guam-Northern Marianas ESGR has been instrumental in connecting our islands' National Guard and Reserve members with employers that understand and cooperate with one's commitment to military service. Supportive employers are critical to maintaining the strength and readiness of our Nation's Guard and Reserve units, should they be called upon for duty or disaster emergencies.

The Army National Guard, the Air National Guard, the Army Reserve, the Air Force Reserve, the Navy Reserve, the Marine Corps Reserve, and the Coast Guard Reserve are on the frontlines of securing our Nation from threats around the world. In fact, the National Guard and Reserve forces comprise nearly half of our U.S. military strength. Recently, Reserve Component forces have been activated across America to assist efforts to respond to, mitigate, and control the COVID-19 pandemic. And, with more than 2,700 service members on Guam, Saipan, Rota, and Tinian, Guam and the Marianas enjoy the highest Reserve membership per capita anywhere in the United States.

That is why the work of Guam-Northern Marianas ESGR is so important to supporting the well-being of our islands and our Nation. Our service men and women make tremendous sacrifices answering the call to serve, as do their employers whose deployed Guard and Reserve members can no longer offer their skills and services for months at a time. Yet because of ESGR, these service members are comforted by the knowledge of job security upon returning home and their employers are rewarded with a uniquely dedicated workforce.

I urge my colleagues to join me in thanking and celebrating Guam- Northern Marianas ESGR for their exceptional service and commitment to our islands' service men and women.

Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing the Northern Mariana Islands Population Stabilization Act. The bill is intended to bolster our nation's strategic interests in the Western Pacific by maintaining the population and prosperity of the Marianas, the district I represent.

The Marianas is part of the chain of U.S. and U.S.-affiliated islands that faces Chinese expansion in the region. Through the Marianas, the U.S. controls an ocean area of 289,000 square miles, greater than the size of Texas.

Yet, the U.S. presence here is at risk. According to the 2020 decennial census the population of the Marianas declined by 12.2 percent since the 2010 census. This is the second largest decline among all states and non-state areas of our Nation over that 10-year period.

This population erosion--and the loss of economic viability that results--occurs against the backdrop of increased competition with China in the Western Pacific, a time when the United States needs to be strengthening our position in the region, not shrinking in significance.

There are many reasons why people are leaving the Marianas. There are better public services and greater economic opportunity in the mainland United States. The anxiety stemming from the repeated and hyperdestructive typhoons associated with accelerating climate change also factors in the decision to leave. I refer Members to the article ``People are fleeing Puerto Rico, Guam and every other U.S. territory. What gives?'' in the Washington Post edition of September 23, 2022, for a discussion of population loss in all the U.S. insular areas. The article, ``Perfect Storm. When is it time to abandon a place to climate change?'' in Harpers Magazine's October 2022 edition tracks the decision of one family in the Marianas to leave their home to escape the impacts of climate change.

Population decline, whether in the islands or in rural areas of the continental United States, creates a negative feedback loop. Reduced tax revenues limit the ability of local governments to improve services. And the reduced consumer base and labor pool throttle business. You can see this affect in the drop in Gross Domestic Product in the Marianas. GDP fell 11.2 percent in 2019, the most recent available data, a decline that would have been even more severe but for the COVID-related relief that Congress provided.

The Northern Mariana Islands Population Stabilization Act builds on several laws enacted during the Trump administration and on previous action by the House.

In the 116th Congress, we passed this same legislation by voice vote without dissent. It allows certain longterm foreign workers and investors already lawfully present in the islands to apply for permanent status in the Marianas-only. Previously, President Trump had approved USPL 115-218, defining these long-term workers, and signed USPL 116-24, creating the Marianas-only resident status.

The Marianas-only resident status that President Trump sanctioned provides no eligibility for public assistance. It bars entry into any other part of the United States except for purpose of transit through Guam to a non-U.S. destination. The status President Trump approved is revocable in case of communicable disease, criminal conviction, or terrorist activity.

Making this Marianas-only status available simply encourages continued residence and employment by people already lawfully present and gainfully employed; and doing so would help to stabilize the population in our islands.

After the House approved the legislation I have introduced today in the 116th Congress, the Senate took no action. In the intervening years, the population eligible for Marianas-only status--which by definition cannot increase--has shrunk from 2,600 to 1,600, underscoring the continuing flight and the urgent need for us to act.

In this time of heightened concern about spending, I do want to remind the House that the Congressional Budget Office determined in 2019 this legislation has negligible effect on direct spending. That assessment must remain the same in 2023, as the number of affected individuals has only declined.

I ask all Members to support this simple, straightforward response to the problem of population loss in the Marianas. It is not a total solution, but acknowledgement a problem exists and must be addressed.

I ask, too, that Members see the Northern Mariana Islands Population Stabilization Act as an important component of our larger national response to the continuing Chinese expansion occurring throughout the Pacific.

Mr. Speaker, S. 3969, the Protection and Advocacy for Voting Access Program Inclusion Act, will provide federal funding to help my district, the Northern Mariana Islands, lower the accessibility barriers that prevent individuals with disabilities from exercising their right to vote.

The right to vote is the bedrock of our democracy. Yet simply having the right to vote does not ensure that every citizen is able to access the polls to cast their ballot. While the Help America Vote Act of 2002 has been instrumental in improving the accessibility of polling places for voters with disabilities, the Act currently cannot distribute program grants to the Marianas and the American Indian Consortium.

S. 3969 corrects that. The bill adds the Marianas and the American Indian Consortium to entities eligible for grants under the Protection and Advocacy for Voting Access program. PAVA supports training for poll workers, distributing resources on how to conduct an accessible campaign, maintaining voting hotlines, and examining polling places for accessibility.

S. 3969 is the Senate companion to H.R. 7326, which Rep. Ruben Gallego and I introduced in this Congress. I want to thank Senators Ben Ray Lujan, Roy Blunt, Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, and Martin Heinrich for introducing S. 3969 and their work to pass the bill unanimously in the Senate.

I also want to thank Representatives Tom O'Halleran, John Curtis, and Teresa Leger Fernandez for their cosponsorship of H.R. 7326.

I urged my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Chair, H.R. 7780, the Mental Health Matters Act, will provide federal funding to help students and school staff in my district, the Northern Mariana Islands, access mental health care and hire more school based mental health service providers.

The COVID-19 pandemic seriously impacted students' social and emotional development. In 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported over 44 percent of students felt sadness or hopelessness, almost 20 percent had suicidal thoughts, and 9 percent attempted suicide. However, the student mental health crisis preceded the pandemic. In 2016, CDC found roughly 1in 6 children in America aged 2-8 years were diagnosed with mental, behavioral, or developmental disorders. The House Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee I chair has heard from schools nationwide on the worsening state of our children's mental health. The House now has an opportunity to pass the Mental Health Matters Act that I cosponsored to provide the resources necessary to help schools provide lifesaving care to our students in need.

H.R. 7780 will set aside $25 million to school districts in the Marianas and other insular areas for the recruitment and retention of school-based mental health service providers. The Marianas Public School System serves a high percentage of students that come from families with incomes below the poverty line. Students, regardless of income, should have access to the health care they need. H.R. 7780 expands students' access to mental health care and ensures our schools have the resources to provide the care they need.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 7780.

Madam Speaker, on September 16, the United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands will be officially moved into its new courtroom and offices in Gualo Rai on the island of Saipan. The U.S. Pretrial and Probation Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and the Federal Protective Service are also now housed in this new building, leased by the General Services Administration from Marianas Management Corporation for the next twenty years.

To commemorate this move I want to add to the Congressional Record a history of the federal court in the Marianas, which is part of the ongoing story of how the people I represent have become members of the American political family and have been included in the institutions of the United States government.

I am indebted to the research of Ms. Lallane Guiao-Seng, MPA, who formerly interned with the Marianas congressional office and is now Generalist Clerk for the U.S. District Court. Ms. Guiao-Seng prepared a photo exhibition

with extensive captioning recounting the court's history for the ceremonial opening of the new courthouse this month. I am also indebted to Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona, who agreed to allow Ms. Guiao-Seng to share her research with the congressional office. That work is extensively excerpted here.

Section 401 of the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America, which the people of the Mariana approved in a plebiscite in 1975 and Congress agreed in Public Law 94-241 in 1976, provides that the United States will establish a District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. The United States fulfilled this commitment in 1977 with enactment of Public Law 95-157 establishing the District Court under Article IV of the U.S. Constitution.

According to the Senate Judiciary Committee report that accompanied this legislation, establishment of the court was a legislative priority during the 95th Congress (1977-78). The Committee noted, in part, that

After the Constitution [of the Northern Mariana Islands]

becomes effective, it will take the legislature an

undetermined amount of time to create the local court

authorized by the Constitution and to establish it as a

functioning branch of the local government. Transitional

provisions of the constitution will enable the current, local

courts to hear and determine cases that will be within the

limited jurisdiction of the Commonwealth trial court.

However, unless the District Court for the Northern Mariana

Islands is established by S. 2149 in this session of

Congress, there will be no court in the Northern Mariana

Islands to hear serious criminal and important civil cases,

arising under local law. Moreover, there would be no court to

hear cases involving Federal questions or Federal crimes, and

there would be no appellate tribunal.

Consequently, the committee recognized ``the urgent need for enactment of S. 2149 in this session of the Congress and, therefore, the committee reports the bill favorably with a recommendation that it do pass.'' The legislation did pass the Senate on October 13, 1977, and the House on October 25. President Carter signed the bill on November 8 of that year.

In addition to establishing a judgeship for the court and assigning it to the same judicial circuit as Guam (which, at present, is the Ninth Circuit), the legislation also authorized the President to appoint a U.S. attorney and a marshal for the Northern Mariana Islands. The legislation also granted the court the same jurisdiction as a U.S. district court (i.e., district courts authorized under Article III of the Constitution). The Chief Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit was empowered to assign certain persons ``to serve temporarily as a judge in the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands whenever such an assignment is necessary for the proper dispatch of the business of the court.''

Quickly, the Chief Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit did assign three senior federal judges and the new Northern Mariana Islands District Court received its first case filings on January 9, 1978. Quickly, too, President Jimmy Carter nominated Alfred Laureta, who hailed from Hawaii, to be the district judge. He was confirmed by the Senate on May 17, 1978.

The new courthouse and federal office building we are celebrating today is a far cry from quarters that Judge Laureta confronted, when he arrived on the island of Saipan in the Marianas in August of 1978. ``The Court convened in a poolside suite at the Saipan Beach Intercontinental Inn in the village of Garapan. The district judge's law clerk's office was ten yards from the Intercontinental swimming pool and thirty yards from the beach. The courtroom itself was set up at the end of the banquet room, which could be closed off from the rest of the room and then opened for jury trials,'' according to the research of Ms. Guiao-Seng.

Mr. Howard K.K. Luke, Judge Laureta's law clerk, recalled this scene when he and the judge first arrived:

Saipan had just had the heaviest rainfall in recent

recorded history. The first thing we saw upon arriving at the

Saipan Intercontinental Inn was a car that was mostly

underwater. The District Court was in a small room that had

been hastily repaired, as it was heavily damaged from a fire

from the kitchen area next to it not long before our arrival.

We found a metal desk that served as the federal bench for

the next several months.

Despite these less than imposing circumstances, the court got to work. And for the next eight years, the District Court heard both federal cases and the most serious local cases, including criminal cases with penalties of five years imprisonment or more and civil cases dealing with amounts in controversy of over $5,000. All jury trials also fell under the jurisdiction of the District Court.

As Ms. Guaio-Seng recounts, the Federal District Court also served as the appellate court for the Commonwealth Trial Court. ``Cases appealed from [the Trial Court] were heard by a panel of three judges on the `Appellate Division' of the District Court. The panel included the U.S. district judge for the NMI, a judge of the Commonwealth Trial Court, and another federal district judge assigned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The opinions rendered by this appellate arm of the District Court for the [Northern Mariana Islands] were appealable to the Ninth Circuit.''

The federal government also had begun negotiations for a more appropriate setting in which the District Court could convene. In 1981, after three makeshift years at the hotel, space was rented at the newly opened Nauru Building, a seven-story commercial venture of the Republic of Nauru, to accommodate the needs of the federal court, including a small courtroom, library, judge's chambers, and staff offices.

Judge Laureta's 10-year term ended in 1988 at which time President Ronald Reagan nominated Alex R. Munson to be District Court judge for the Northern Mariana Islands. Judge Munson was familiar with the region having served as the Chief Judge for the High Court of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which encompassed the Marianas as well as Palau, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae, and the Marshall Islands. Munson also initiated a relocation of the court to more spacious accommodations in the Horiguchi Building. The courtroom was located on the ground floor, the Clerk's Office and Judge's Chambers on the second floor, and a grand jury room on the third floor.

Within ten years, however, this space, too, proved inadequate. ``In the wake of the 1998 Oklahoma City federal courthouse bombing, a Federal Assessment Board determined that the courtroom in the Horiguchi Building was the least safe courthouse in the nation,'' Ms. Guaio-Seng reports. As a result, the General Services Administration decided to build a new federal building in Saipan, but Congress balked at the cost.

Not until 2010, when a drunk driver veered off the road and crashed a 16-passenger van into the Horiguchi Building courtroom, did the federal government agree that a more secure facility was required. Yet seven more years passed before the General Services Administration finally contracted with the Marianas Management Corporation on a construct/ lease arrangement for a new federal court building. Construction dragged out in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yutu in 2018 and during the COVID-19 pandemic; but in early 2020 the District Court began its move to the new courthouse. The first judicial proceeding there took place on July 14, 2020. And this week we celebrate the official grand opening.

Throughout the last four decades, the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. judicial system have played a pivotal role in the life of our community. The case of Commonwealth v. Atalig established the right to a jury trial for defendants facing a substantial period of incarceration. Wabol v. Villacrusis let stand the land alienation restrictions in the Commonwealth Constitution. And the court presided over the conviction of a Lt. Governor on charges of corruption.

The court is also the venue for the swearing in of new U.S. citizens, a regular and inspirational event I have many times attended.

The federal court is a focal point of local pride, too. Though the first two judges were off-islanders, in 2011 President Barack Obama nominated Ramona V. Manglona, a person of Northern Marianas descent, to the bench; and the U.S. Senate confirmed her that year. It is my sincere hope that President Biden will acknowledge the exceptional work of Chief Judge Manglona and nominate her for a second, 10-year term.

In the meantime, I join Judge Manglona, her staff, and the members of the U.S. Pretrial and Probation Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and the Federal Protective Service in celebrating their new workspace.

As so many Americans individually did and our governmental and civil institutions, as well, the U.S. District Court made substantial adjustments in practice to continue functioning during the pandemic. In-person proceedings were discontinued, trials and grand jury sessions were held remotely. Eventually, however, and with the cautions we have become accustomed to--N95 masks and other personal protective equipment--the court was able to hold an in-person jury trial last year, In part, the 35,696 square-feet of space provided by the new Gualo Rai courthouse made the necessary social distancing feasible. The design is also forward-looking in its incorporation of innovative lighting and landscaping; and energy efficient fixtures and wastewater technologies are projected to realize future cost savings and conserve resources.

So, the grand opening celebration this week is more than just a ribbon cutting. It has the feel of a return to normalcy. It is a new normal, however, enhanced by a fine new facility ready to serve the cause of justice in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Mr. Speaker, my amendment No. 606, which is included in En Bloc 5, creates a VA advisory committee for veterans living in the U.S. insular areas and in the Freely Associated States. Veterans in my district, especially, and in the other insular areas, too, face barriers to VA services no vet should be forced to endure.

My amendment creates a Department of Veterans Affairs advisory committee representing veterans living in the U.S. insular areas of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands as well as the Freely Associated States of Palau, Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

In my district, the Northern Mariana Islands, there are no VA clinics and no Vet Centers. Veterans there sometimes fly 3,700 miles to Hawai'i or over 6,000 miles to California to access VA services. Even reaching VA services in nearby Guam is a challenge.

That is why my amendment, establishing a committee to educate the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on the obstacles insular area veterans face, is so important. Each U.S. insular area and each of the three Freely Associated States would have a seat on the advisory committee. They would be able to describe the barriers their veterans face in receiving VA services.

Establishing an advisory committee will not solve every logistical problem for veterans who live in geographically remote areas of America. But, at least, those veterans on the margins will have a way to communicate directly with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on how to improve VA programs and services in their communities.

This amendment is, with minor technical changes, the same legislation as H.R. 3730, which passed in the House last fall with strong bipartisan support. The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans, and Minority Veterans of America have endorsed the legislation.

I ask my colleagues to support En Bloc 5.

Madam Speaker, Aleia Hofschneider Santos, a senior at Mt. Carmel School, Mikhaela Paige Reyes Mendoza, an eighth grader also at Mt. Carmel School, are the winners of this year's Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Essay Contest. I began this contest for middle school and high school students two years ago to give students in the Northern Mariana Islands, my district, the opportunity to showcase their writing skills and reflect on their unique experiences as American Asian and Pacific Islanders. The contest also is a way to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

This year's essay prompt encouraged students to write about the issues facing the Asian and Pacific Islander community that are particularly important to them and to think about how they can inspire their community to action.

I commend the 22 students from schools throughout the Northern Marianas who participated in this year's essay contest. A volunteer panel of judges reviewed the essays and chose Ms. Mendoza and Ms. Santos as this year's winners. In recognition of their achievement, I include in the Record the essays they wrote, where they will remain available to read in perpetuity.

Mikhaela Paige Reyes Mendoza, Middle School Winner, Mount Carmel

School, 8th Grade: The Problem with ``Linguistic Racism''

A problem that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

(AAPIs) face is linguistic racism. It is a big problem

because English might not be their first language. Therefore,

they would not get treated the same way as English native

speakers.

English is one of the main global languages spoken in many

places. The English Language is a dominant language in a lot

of places such as in business, work, science, research,

school, government, and politics. The language is constantly

evolving and adapting to new ways of saying different words

and phrases. It's transforming in different ways because

there are people who speak the language that use English in

diverse ways.

However, there are still people that struggle with English.

AAPIs struggle with English because it may not be their first

language. They are considered non-native English speakers.

Nonnative English speakers have this mindset that English is

a higher language than their mother language. Which means

that those who speak English, speak differently from what is

considered ``the standard way of speaking.'' These speakers

can find themselves being judged and even penalized for the

way their English sounds.

In many countries, there are forms of English that can

bring fewer benefits to a person. One example is African

American English in the United States, the language is often

misunderstood and discriminated against. On an international

level, certain types of speakers face judgments based on any

perceptions of their nationality, rather than their

communication skills with people from that area. When English

is spoken by Asians, Africans, or Middle Easterners, they are

viewed as challenging and unpleasant to listen to as opposed

to some Europeans such as French, Germans, and Italians when

they speak English.

Linguistic racism can lead to the deprivation of education,

employment, and health. AAPI with certain accents get openly

harassed or excluded from specific opportunities in the

workforce. For example, a Puerto Rican customer service

worker was told by a customer that ``his stupid accent makes

me sick.'' An Arabic bus driver in London had a manager who

kept him out of many conference calls.

Of course, not every person is intentionally a linguistic

racist. People who think that they are being inclusive are

not aware of their judgements because of their ingrained

biases. Yet, whatever the cause of these incidents, people

are still affected. With these kinds of ongoing and

unrecognized situations, workers will be side-lined and

excluded.

In what way can we stop linguistic racism and have a more

functional way of using the language to benefit native and

nonnative speakers? The best way to combat linguistic racism

is to continue to stay in school, learn about different

cultures, and to be a role model to others. We all speak

different languages and it is important to embrace the

diversity that we have in our islands. We can also be

digitally responsible and respectful in speaking to others

online.

Aleia Hofschneider Santos, High School Winner, Mount Carmel

School, 12th Grade:

Color

Peach is the name of the crayon shade that my classmates

always used in their portraits when I was in kindergarten at

Chinook Elementary in Washington from 2008-2009. I was told

that Tinian tanned skin was too dark to be using Peach, and

that I should try using the dark brown crayon, called

Chocolate. Peach was the color of the skin on the man I

remember seeing through the windows of our first car in the

states, as he screamed to my parents to ``Go back to wherever

the f*** you came from''. Peach was the skin tone of all the

cops who came, as they patted myself and my family down,

searching for the weapon that the first Peach man had lied

about us having over the phone.

The choice that my parents made in raising our family in

the states is better described as a sacrifice, especially

considering how we continued to be discriminated against

beyond my Kindergarten days. Years later, at one of my older

brother's football games, a group of Peach toned boys told me

to ``Hop back over the border fence''. After I told my Mom

about it, she held my hand tightly as we wiped our tears on

the way back to the crowd filled bleachers. When my older

sister came to pick me up for an appointment during a school

day in fourth grade, the Peach colored front desk secretary

told her ``People like you don't attend a school like this''.

I remember how it reminded me of how an after-school ice

cream treat from my Dad turned into Peach colored Dairy Queen

workers calling us ``stupid Mexicans'' through the drive

through window.

There are still many memories I cherish despite the

challenges we faced during our stay in the U.S., but I will

never forget the events of that fateful fall day, nor will my

Mom or Dad. I will never forget the look on my parents' faces

as they were told to exit the vehicle, nor will I forget how

scared I was when I saw them pointing guns at all of our

faces. All of the fear and confusion from that day that we

still feel years later is owed to one thing and one thing

only: hatred. It was pure, unadulterated hatred that the

Peach colored man felt toward not my family, but the color of

our skin that caused it to happen. Yet, the worst part about

all of this is things like this continue to happen around the

world--hate crimes and other acts of discrimination are

committed against countless other Asian American and Pacific

Islander families in countless other ways every single day.

Yet, every time I reflect on the question of how we can

combat the hate many AAPis face overseas, another question

persists in my head: How can we stop the spread of hate out

there if we struggle to combat it here, in our very own home

islands?

After moving back to the CNMI in seventh grade, I quickly

gained an understanding of the stereotypes that plague our

own community. With each race came a heinous generalization:

all Chamorros were lazy, all Carolinians were uneducated, all

Filipinos were judgmental, all Koreans were terrible drivers,

and the list, unfortunately, goes on. After hearing my

classmate casually describe a person's eyes as ``chinky'', I

realized that while prejudice may be a catalyst for hate--the

root of prejudice itself is ignorance. The ordeal led me to

wonder how we, as AAPis, are expected to remain silent in the

face of deafening hatred.

While I may never be able to answer my own question, I can

answer the question posed by this year's prompt: I hope to

inspire our community to take action against racial

discrimination and acts of hate by taking three simple steps.

First, I encourage all victims and witnesses of AAPI

discrimination to not only speak out about what they've

experienced, but against prejudice of any kind. In this

pursuit, I implore others to speak loudly about the deeply

damaging and disheartening effects of racial discrimination

when they feel that they are ready to. Most importantly, I

ask that we all try to speak proudly of one another and what

we have accomplished despite all the obstacles. Imagining the

power that our community could hold in taking those steps

fills me with a deep sense of faith in a better future for

all of our families--no matter the color of our skin.