[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 30, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E797]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN U.S. TERRITORY

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                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 30, 1997

  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, over two dozen Members of 
Congress have joined in introducing H.R. 1450, urgently needed 
legislation to stop the inexcusable pattern of labor and human rights 
abuses in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands [CNMI]. The full extent of those systematic abuses was detailed 
in the report released last week by the Democratic staff of the 
Committee on Resources, Economic Miracle or Economic Mirage: The Human 
Cost of Development in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands.
  Prominent human rights and religious groups including Human Rights 
Watch, the Asia Pacific Center for Justice and Peace, and the United 
States Catholic Conference, as well as national labor organizations, 
are unified in their support of the Insular Fair Wage and Human Rights 
Act of 1997. This bill would mandate needed reforms in the CNMI's 
minimum wage and immigration policies. H.R. 1450 sends a strong message 
to the CNMI Government that these continued abuses will not be 
tolerated on United States soil.
  I welcome the following April 28, 1997 editorial from the Honolulu 
Star-Bulletin in support of this important legislation. The editorial 
accurately refers to reports that mistreatment of CNMI laborers has 
been well documented for years, and the CNMI Government has been 
unwilling to provide satisfactory protections to these thousands of 
guests to the United States.
  This editorial as well as the strong support of the Hawaii 
congressional delegation and the many organizations in Hawaii including 
the Filipino Coalition for Solidarity, the United Filipino Council of 
Hawaii, the Oahu Filipino Community Council, the Aloha Medical Mission, 
and the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, Local 5, is critical to 
achieve reform in the CNMI.
  The Department of the Interior has urged Congress to take swift 
action on this issue. It is my hope that the administration, the 
Congress, and the strong coalition of interest groups will be 
successful in bringing about reform in the CNMI this session of 
Congress.

           [From the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 28, 1997]

                Congress Should Act on Northern Marianas

       Patience with the Northern Marianas government is running 
     out in Washington. A group of Democratic members of the House 
     of Representatives, including Hawaii's members, is seeking 
     expansion of federal control of the islands to deal with 
     abuses of foreign labor. These reportedly include forced 
     prostitution, drug activity and labor practices likened to 
     slavery.
       Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., has introduced a bill to 
     raise the minimum wage in the Northern Marianas to the 
     federal level, institute federal control over immigration and 
     require garment manufacturers to comply with federal labor 
     laws. Hawaii Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Patsy Mink are among 
     the 25 co-sponsors.
       The Northern Marianas were formerly part of the Trust 
     Territory of the Pacific Islands. They became a U.S. 
     commonwealth in 1976 after the people approved that status in 
     a plebiscite. As a commonwealth, the islands have limited 
     autonomy but are still under U.S. control.
       Complaints about employer mistreatment of foreign labor 
     have been heard for years. Two years ago an official of the 
     Interior Department's Office of Territorial and International 
     Affairs told a meeting organized by Hawaii Filipino leaders 
     that the reported violations of human rights in the Northern 
     Marianas ``have no place in a place that flies the U.S. 
     flag.'' The official spoke in Honolulu en route back to 
     Washington from an inspection trip to Saipan, capital of the 
     Northern Marianas.
       Miller charges that the human-rights violations continue in 
     the islands despite criticism by Congress and federal 
     agencies. He says, ``These workers are not free.'' His bill 
     has the support of Filipino organizations in Hawaii. 
     Filipinos comprise the largest group of foreign workers in 
     the islands, but there are also workers from China, South 
     Korea and Japan.
       A bill to federalize the Northern Marianas' minimum wage 
     passed the Senate last year but died in the House. Miller's 
     bill is worthy of support in view of the inability of the 
     commonwealth government to deal with the problem. These 
     abuses need not and should not be tolerated because the 
     Northern Marianas have commonwealth status.

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