[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 26595-26596]
[From the U.S. 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.
  Common sense dictates that our country must have a single, national

[[Page 26596]]

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.

                          ____________________