[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8437]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS

  (Mr. SABLAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, it's ``getting ridiculous.'' That's what 
Saipan Chamber of Commerce President Doug Brennan said about the 
Department of Homeland Security's failure to issue regulations 
implementing Federal immigration in the Northern Mariana Islands. And I 
agree, it is getting ridiculous.
  Three years since the law was enacted, 18 months since it took 
effect, two oversight hearings, letters from congressional leaders, 
meeting after meeting, and still no regulations. Workers don't know 
what their status will be 5 months from now. Businesses can't plan for 
the future. ``It's putting the brakes on the economy,'' the chamber 
president says. And what does DHS say? The regulations will be released 
when the regulations are released.
  That is no way for a Federal agency to fulfill its responsibilities. 
We will get to it when we get to it? Federal immigration was supposed 
to benefit the Marianas, improve the economy. Instead, it's making 
things worse. As we think about funding Homeland Security today, 
Homeland Security should be explaining why it isn't doing its job 
issuing these long-overdue regulations for the Northern Mariana 
Islands.

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