[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 1, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT ON 902 CONSULTATIONS

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                  HON. GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN

                    of the northern mariana islands

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 1, 2017

  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to memorialize the Report to 
the President on 902 Consultations and in so doing recognize the 
vitality of the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America.
   The Covenant is the fundamental agreement that brought the Marianas 
into this nation. It was approved by 79 percent of island voters in a 
1975 plebiscite and by the U.S. Congress in U.S. Public Law 94-241 the 
following year. President Ronald Reagan brought the Covenant into full 
force and effect in 1986, pursuant to his Proclamation 5564.
   The Covenant lays out in detail the nature and conditions of the 
relationship between the Northern Mariana Islands and the United 
States. There is recognition embedded in this agreement, however, that 
matters may arise periodically affecting the relationship, and the 
Covenant provides a mechanism for their examination. Section 902 
requires that the President of the United States and the Governor of 
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands will appoint special 
representatives at least every ten years to meet and consider these 
matters and then make a report and recommendations regarding them.
   In January of this year, special representatives of the President 
and the Commonwealth, having met pursuant to Section 902, issued their 
Report to the President. Today, I include in the Record a web address 
to that report, so that it will be available to all Members of Congress 
and to the public at large, and so that the work and recommendations of 
all involved in producing this document will be memorialized and widely 
accessible. The address is: http://sablan.house.gov/sites/
sablan.house.gov/files/documents/902%20Final%20Report.pdf.

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