[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6948-6949]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




AMENDMENT TO PUBLIC LAW 93-435 WITH RESPECT TO NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS

  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 573) to amend Public Law 93-435 with respect to the 
Northern Mariana Islands, providing parity with Guam, the Virgin 
Islands, and American Samoa.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:
                                H.R. 573
       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. AMENDMENT.

       (a) In General.--The first section and section 2 of Public 
     Law 93-435 (48 U.S.C. 1705, 1706) are amended by inserting 
     ``the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,'' after 
     ``Guam,'' each place it appears.
       (b) References to Date of Enactment.--For the purposes of 
     the amendment made by subsection (a), each reference in 
     Public Law 93-435 to the ``date of enactment'' shall be 
     considered to be a reference to the date of the enactment of 
     this section.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Utah (Mr. Bishop) and the gentleman from the Northern Mariana Islands 
(Mr. Sablan) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Again, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on this bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Utah?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  This bill is a great bill that treats the Northern Marianas the same 
way as other colonies by expanding their submerged territorial miles. 
That would be the same as with American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin 
Islands. It is compatible with all other acts. It's a great bill that 
we passed last year by a very close vote of 397-0.
  I urge adoption of this bill again. I hope this time the Senate will 
be wise enough to pick it up. With that, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. SABLAN. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I also rise in support of H.R. 573. The bill conveys to 
the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas the 3 miles of submerged 
lands surrounding each of our 14 islands. I want to thank leaders from 
both sides of the aisle, Chairman Doc Hastings and Ranking Member Ed 
Markey of the Natural Resources Committee, and my good friend, Dr. John 
Fleming, chairman of the Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular 
Affairs Subcommittee, and my good friend, Mr. Bishop from Utah, for 
managing today's bill, all for their support of H.R. 573.
  The Northern Marianas is the only coastal jurisdiction that does not 
have ownership of the submerged lands off its coasts. H.R. 573 corrects 
that irregularity. It provides the same ownership rights over the 
submerged lands as are provided by Federal law to Guam, the United 
States Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.
  Today will be the third time that the House will vote to convey these 
lands. In both the 111th and the 112th Congress, we approved this 
transfer unanimously. I hope that the House will make the same decision 
again today.
  And I hope that the other body will this time, finally, also agree 
that the Northern Mariana Islands should have the rights of ownership 
of our offshore submerged lands and natural resources as other coastal 
areas of America enjoy.
  For thousands of years, the people of the Northern Marianas certainly 
believed these resources were ours. It was not until a 2005 ruling by 
the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that we were informed that these 
were not our lands but instead belonged to the Federal Government. We 
were grateful that there were Members of Congress who quickly responded 
to our plight, for at the time we had no representation here. Then-
Congressman, now-Senator Jeff Flake, introduced a bill conveying these 
lands shortly after the Ninth Circuit ruling.
  New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici introduced a companion to the Flake 
measure. As the first representative from the Northern Mariana Islands, 
I have continued their work on this issue, as I have said, in the 
111th, the 112th, and now in the 113th Congress.
  In summary, H.R. 573 costs nothing. Congress has the constitutional 
authority to enact it. The bill will simply provide parity--the 
ownership and responsibility for submerged surrounding lands and waters 
that every other coastal area of our Nation enjoys.

[[Page 6949]]

  I want to thank all 36 Members who are cosponsors of this bill, and I 
ask that my colleagues here today support H.R. 573.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, it's a great bill. Let's hope the 
third time is the charm in the process. I urge support of this bill and 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 573.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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