[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 132 (Monday, September 29, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1883]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED 
                   AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1998

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. NEIL ABERCROMBIE

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 26, 1997

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2267) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and 
     State, the Judiciary, and related agencies for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 1998, and for other purposes:


  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Miller 
language adopted into H.R. 2267, the Departments of Commerce, Justice 
and State appropriations bill. These instructions will set aside a 
small amount of funding for the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys to 
provide assistance to the victims of human rights abuses in the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands.
  Since at least 1984, Federal officials have expressed concern about 
the CNMI alien labor system. Worker complaints over wages and working 
conditions are continuing undiminished according to the third annual 
report of the Federal-CNMI Initiative. The Governments of the 
Philippines and China have expressed concerns about the treatment of 
their citizens in this U.S. Commonwealth and allegations persist 
regarding the CNMI's inability to protect workers against crimes such 
as illegal recruitment, battery, rape, child labor, and forced 
prostitution.
  Without Representative Miller's language in H.R. 2267, individuals 
who have been the subject of human rights abuses--right here in the 
United States--have only the charity of private relief organizations to 
rely upon for help. In Hawaii, the Filipino Solidarity Coalition is 
currently providing sanctuary to a young girl named Katrina who came to 
Hawaii as a Government witness. When Katrina was 14 she was brought to 
the CNMI by an employer who promised her a good job and fair wages in 
the restaurant industry. When she arrived in the CNMI her hopes for a 
better life were destroyed. She discovered that the employer had lured 
her to the CNMI under false pretenses. Not only was she confined to her 
assigned living quarters but she was also forced into service as a 
prostitute. Katrina had few options and even less money but she escaped 
her confines and filed suit against her employer with the help of the 
local Philippine consulate. When Katrina's actions were revealed to her 
employer, her life was threatened. To escape the abusive situation, the 
consulate helped her to find refuge in Guam. However, Guam's close 
proximity to her former employer still put Katrina in a dangerous 
situation.
  Through the help of the Filipino Solidarity Coalition, Katrina 
managed to escape to Hawaii where local donations and a small grant 
from the Department of Labor helped to provide her shelter, food, and 
further legal assistance. However, there are many others who remain in 
the CNMI still suffering the abuse and indignity that Katrina managed 
to escape. I appreciate the Chairman's support of the Miller language 
which will help those like Katrina who are victims of human rights 
abuse, not faraway in a foreign country, but right here in the United 
States of America.

                          ____________________