[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 25 (Thursday, February 11, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


            INTRODUCTION OF THE U.S.-CNMI HUMAN DIGNITY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 11, 1999

  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, today forty seven of 
our colleagues join Mr. Spratt and myself in introducing the Insular 
Fair Wage and Human Rights Act of 1999 which will permit the U.S. 
territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (U.S./
CNMI) to be treated more like a state under certain provisions of law.
  Along with the privilege of flying the American flag, the CNMI has 
the responsibility to live within the mores of the United States; and 
the United States has the responsibility to assist the territory with 
its growth in becoming a strong member of the American family. The 
taxpayers of America have supplied the U.S./CNMI with tens of millions 
of dollars in assistance over the years. The U.S./CNMI has failed to 
live up to its pledge to create a responsible government and a just 
society.
  The U.S./CNMI has morphed into an offshore sweatshop, wrapping itself 
in the American flag to circumvent quota restrictions and escape 
payment of hundreds of millions of dollars in duties on imported 
garments. The Congress cannot continue to irresponsibly ignore the 
worsening crisis or the exploitation of tens of thousands of foreign 
workers on American soil.
  The local U.S./CNMI government was granted temporary control over 
immigration and minimum wage in the 1970s. The U.S./CNMI has exploited 
this temporary authority to import tens of thousands of low-paid, 
contracted, destitute, workers from Asian nations to staff garment 
factories and virtually all other private sector jobs. The contract 
workers now substantially outnumber the number of local U.S. residents.
  These foreign workers pay between $3,000--$7,000 to recruiters in 
their homelands for promised jobs. They are led to believe they are 
coming to work at good jobs in ``America'' only to arrive in the U.S./
CNMI to find the jobs are not what they believed and in many cases that 
the jobs never even existed. Over 90 percent of all private sector jobs 
are held by foreign contract workers.
  The bill I introduce today will crack down on the enormous, mostly 
foreign-owned garment industry that employ thousands of foreign workers 
to sew foreign fabric into garments bearing the ``Made in USA'' label 
which is then shipped to the U.S. mainland quota and duty free. There 
is nothing about the U.S./CNMI garments that is made in America yet 
this year well over $1 billion worth of garments will flood the U.S. 
market, depriving the U.S. Treasury of $300 million and unfairly 
competing with stateside garment factories that pay the U.S. minimum 
wage to workers who work in safe factories under the protections of all 
U.S. labor and immigration laws.
  Numerous reports by journalists and the media, human rights workers, 
Federal agencies, religious organizations, and the administrations of 
Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton have documented widespread human 
rights abuses suffered by indentured workers in the U.S./CNMI. After 
traveling to the U.S./CNMI last year and meeting with local government 
representatives, federal officials, private business owners, and 
foreign workers, I issued my own report, Beneath the American Flag, 
which details systematic exploitation that would be tolerated no where 
else in this country. That report can be found on the Resource 
Committee Democrats' web page at www.House.Gov/Resources/105Cong/
Democrat/Democrat.htm.
  And yet, despite this mountain of evidence, repeated requests to 
Chairman Young of the Resources Committee, and over 80 cosponsors, we 
have been unable to secure even a hearing on my reform legislation, let 
alone a markup.
  No Member of Congress would permit this situation to exist in his or 
her congressional district for one day. Yet we stand by, year after 
year, report after report, expose after expose, as the problems persist 
in the U.S./CNMI.
  The legislation I have introduced today will extend Federal 
immigration and minimum wage laws to the U.S./CNMI as well as require 
that the integrity and intent of the ``Made in USA'' label and duty and 
quota waivers be reinstated. Additionally, this bill will permit U.S. 
Customs agents the authority to inspect cargo and persons entering the 
U.S./CNMI for suspected illegal activity.
  I am hopeful that the delegation led by Congressman Young, which 
leaves for the U.S./CNMI and other Pacific destinations tomorrow, will 
meet with those who have experienced these deplorable conditions and 
that, upon the Chairman's return, he will finally agree to conduct 
impartial hearings on my legislation. We owe it to the taxpayers of the 
United States, to the textile workers of this country who are enduring 
unfair competition, and to the garment workers and other foreign 
workers in Saipan who are being forced to experience a distasteful and 
unrepresentative side of America.

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