[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 145 (Friday, October 22, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13046-S13047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SLAVERY IN AN AMERICAN TERRITORY
Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise to call attention to a recent
announcement by Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for
Civil Rights. The Justice Department announced the conviction of three
individuals charged with luring women from China into slavery and
forced prostitution in the Northern Mariana Islands. The three pled
guilty in Federal district court in Saipan.
The defendants pled guilty to extortion, transportation for illegal
sexual activity, and conspiracy to violate the right of women to be
free from involuntary servitude. I ask unanimous consent that a copy of
the Justice Department announcement be printed in the Record following
my remarks.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(See Exhibit 1.)
Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, regrettably, this is not the first incident
of such behavior in the Northern Mariana Islands. As Bill Lann Lee said
in announcing the pleas:
We have seen too many cases of modern-day slavery.
Nor is it the first incident of sexual slavery in the Northern
Mariana Islands. Indeed, slavery and prostitution are endemic to the
islands' economy.
According to the Department of the Interior's latest report on
working conditions in the Commonwealth ``many workers are virtually
prisoners, confined to their barracks during nonworking hours.'' There
are documented reports of Chinese female workers becoming pregnant and
who are pressured to have abortions.
The grave situation in the Northern Marianas is captured by the
headlines in the Department of the Interior's report. Here are a few of
them: ``Local Control Over Immigration Has Led to an Unhealthy,
Pervasive Reliance Upon Indentured Alien Workers,'' ``The CNMI Garment
Industry Has Abused Current Trade Privileges to the Detriment of U.S.
Workers,'' ``U.S. Companies and U.S. Taxpayers.''
Another one: ``Worker Exploitation in the Form of Recruitment
Fraud,'' ``Payless Paydays & Coerced Abortions, Ineffective Border
Control,'' and ``Smuggling of Aliens and Increased Criminal Activity.''
This is not a pleasant picture, and it only gets worse. In another
report earlier this year, an undercover investigative team sponsored by
the Global Survival Network detailed the sex trade and slavery in these
once idyllic Pacific islands.
According to their report, ``Trapped: Human Trafficking for Forced
Labor in The Commonwealth of The Northern Mariana Islands'':
Many of the Chinese women working in clubs with local
clientele, for example, said they had come to the CNMI
ostensibly to work as waitresses, unaware that they would
have to work in a nightclub and/or be forced into sexual
slavery. These women had been trafficked into the CNMI
specifically for sex work without their knowledge or consent.
Given this environment, is it any wonder three people have pled
guilty to forcing women into slavery and prostitution?
No. The wonder is that more people have not been so found. Hopefully
this will change. As the Department of Justice notes, this prosecution
was the result of a new effort to increase resources and oversight in
the Commonwealth.
Fortunately, some American clothing retailers are beginning to react
to sweatshop conditions in the Northern Marianas. Just the other day,
five major retailers--Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, Phillips-Van Heusen,
Bryland L.P., and The Dress Barn--agreed to settle a class-action
lawsuit about this deplorable working environment. The settlement with
these businesses follows a similar settlement agreed to last June with
Nordstrom, J. Crew, Cutter & Buck, and Gymboree. Hopefully this marks a
trend toward ending indentured servitude in the Commonwealth.
More needs to be done. The central cause of the slavery and
prostitution on this American territory is the lack of any controls on
immigration.
For my colleagues who may not be familiar with this U.S. territory,
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is located 4,000 miles
west of Hawaii. In 1975, the people of the CNMI voted for political
union with the United States. Today the CNMI is a U.S. territory.
A 1976 covenant enacted by Congress gave U.S. citizenship to
residents of the CNMI. However, the covenant exempted the Commonwealth
from the Immigration and Nationality Act. As we now know, that omission
was a grave error.
I want my colleagues of the Senate to know that the chairman of the
Senate Energy Committee, Mr. Murkowski, and I have introduced
legislation to correct fundamental immigration problems in the
Commonwealth, such as the ones that led to the convictions obtained by
the Justice Department. It was only yesterday, that the Energy
Committee approved our CNMI reform bill. I hope that the full Senate
will act on our legislation soon.
Our bill stands for the simple proposition that America is one
country and we must abide by a single, uniform immigration law.
Congress must terminate an immigration system that is fundamentally
wrong and incorporate the CNMI under Federal immigration law.
[[Page S13047]]
Common sense dictates that our country must have a single, national
immigration system. If Puerto Rico, or Hawaii, or Oregon, or Washington
could write their own immigration laws--and grant work visas to
foreigners--the U.S. immigration system would be in chaos. That is
exactly what is happening in the CNMI.
Over the past 20 years, the number of citizens in the Commonwealth
doubled. During the same period, however, the population of alien
workers exploded by 2,000 percent. Today, the CNMI has twice as many
indentured laborers as citizens in its work force.
A decade ago, in response to a growing concern about the large number
of guest workers employed in the CNMI, the Reagan administration
demanded change. Since then, the Bush and Clinton administrations have
repeatedly criticized CNMI immigration and demanded reform.
The Commonwealth is simply unable to control its borders. One CNMI
official testified that they have ``no effective control'' over
immigration.
The INS reports that the CNMI has no reliable records of aliens
entering the Commonwealth, how long they remain, and when, if ever,
they depart.
A bipartisan commission labeled the Commonwealth's immigration system
``antithetical to American values.''
It is not just the number of workers that prompt concern; alien
workers in the CNMI serve as indentured laborers. In a civilized
society, indentured servitude, we believe, is immoral. The United
States outlawed indenture over a century ago, but it continues today in
the CNMI. The Commonwealth is becoming an international embarrassment
for the United States. We have received complaints from the
Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh about immigration abuses
and mistreatment of workers. Countries around the world watch--and
wait--for Congress to act.
The CNMI system of indentured immigrant labor violates basic
democratic principles. It is time for Congress to enact CNMI
immigration reform.
Mr. President, I yield back the remainder of my time and yield the
floor.
Exhibit No. 1
Three Plead Guilty to Forcing Women Into Slavery and Prostitution in
Northern Mariana Islands
Washington, D.C.--Three individuals who were indicted last
November on charges that they lured women from China, held
them in slavery and forced them into prostitution pled guilty
today in federal district court in Saipan, Northern Mariana
Islands, the Justice Department announced.
Soon Oh Kwon, president of Kwon Enterprises, Inc., which
does business in Saipan, pled guilty to one count of
conspiracy to violate rights, specifically the right to be
free from involuntary servitude. Kwon's wife, Ying Yu Meng
pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate federal
laws that prohibit involuntary servitude, extortion, and
transportation for illegal sexual activity. Kwon's son, Mo
Young Kwon, who is an officer of Kwon Enterprises, also
entered a guilty plea to one count of transportation for
illegal sexual activity.
``Sadly, we have seen too many cases of modern day
slavery,'' said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney
General for Civil Rights. ``Today's guilty pleas, should put
those who exploit workers on notice that the Justice
Department will be relentless in bringing them to justice.''
The charges arose out of allegations that the three lured
women from China to the CNMI and then held them in slavery
and forced them to work as prostitutes in K's Hideaway
Karaoke, a bar owned by Kwon Enterprises. ``This kind of
abuse of guest workers is intolerable'' said Frederick A.
Black, U.S. Attorney for the District of the Northern Mariana
Islands. ``No matter where someone is from, once they come to
the United States, they should be free from slavery.'' As
part of his guilty plea filed with the court, Soon Oh Kwon
admitted that, in 1996 and 1997, Kwon Enterprises, in
collaboration with Kwon's mother-in-law, recruited and
brought women from China to Saipan to work at the karaoke
club, where they were forced to have sex with customers. The
women were not allowed to stop working for Kwon Enterprises
until they had paid debts owed to Kwon and his family for
bringing them to Saipan. In order to discourage the women
from leaving without permission, the women were subjected to
mental and physical coercion, which included threats to their
lives, and their families' reputations in China. Soon Oh Kwon
also admitted to brandishing a pistol at some of the women.
Kwon and his wife also admitted that they threatened the
women in order to prevent them from making complaints to the
CNMI Department of Labor and Immigration.
Kwon's wife admitted that she had general oversight
responsibility for the women who were employed by Kwon
Enterprises and made sure that they did not leave without
permission by intimidating and instilling fear in them.
Kwon's son admitted that he made arrangements with customers
of the karaoke club to have sex with the women, collected the
money, and directed the women to leave with the customers in
order to engage in illegal sexual activity.
Sentencing is set before Judge Alex R. Munson on January
11, 2000. Soon Oh Kwon is facing a maximum prison term of ten
years; Ying Yu Meng, a maximum prison term of five years; and
Mo Young Kwon, a maximum prison term of ten years.
The prosecution was the result of a cooperative
investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part
of the Clinton Administration's CNMI Initiative on Labor,
Immigration and Law Enforcement, a broad based multi-agency
initiative designed to increase resources and oversight in
the CNMI, a U.S. Commonwealth located in Micronesia.
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