[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 2, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E202-E203]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ENSURING WE ARE PREPARED

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                  HON. GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN

                    of the northern mariana islands

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 2, 2022

  Mr. SABLAN. Madam Speaker, as climate change accelerates, it is more 
important than ever that we put our infrastructure in good working 
order, hardened against the powerful typhoons and other natural 
disasters that are associated with a warming planet.
  Today, I am introducing legislation that will ensure we have an 
adequate workforce in the Northern Mariana Islands to finish repairs 
from the typhoons that struck our islands in recent years and to build 
new infrastructure able to withstand future storms.
  Congress made the decision that additional foreign workers would be 
needed for this purpose, when we passed the FY20 omnibus appropriation, 
U.S. Public Law 116-94. Title IX provided up to 3,000 permits for 
Commonwealth-only Transitional Workers (CW-1s) specifically for 
disaster-related construction projects during fiscal 2020, 2021, and 
2022.
  In the succeeding years, however, more funding has become available--
for the Marianas public water in the American Rescue Plan Act, for 
better roads in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, for solid 
waste systems on the islands of Rota and Tinian in the 2019 Disaster 
Relief Act--and those projects will all require skilled labor.
  Those projects will also occur in a timeframe beyond 2022. Not only 
do large-scale infrastructure projects take time to design, bid, and 
build, but the money is scheduled over a five-year period in many 
cases. Add to that the impact of the pandemic on business capacity and 
the supply chain and the need for workers stretches for years ahead.
  How many workers will be necessary and when projects will be ready to 
proceed is not easily predicted. So, the legislation I have introduced 
today simply authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security and the 
Governor of the Marianas to make the determination when construction 
workers are needed. The Governor will request the foreign workers to 
augment the Marianas labor force. The Secretary will then decide 
whether the request is justified, whether qualified U.S. workers are 
truly not available, and whether adding foreign workers would in any 
way reduce the wage-setting power of local, U.S. workers in our 
islands.
  Congress has made an historic investment in the Mariana Islands in 
the form of disaster recovery assistance and in funding infrastructure 
that can withstand future disasters. But that funding will need labor. 
The legislation I am introducing today will help ensure that labor 
needs are met, that projects are built, and that the Marianas is in a 
stronger position to withstand the corning climate change.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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