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Banned
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by reconmike
Hail!!!! Dictator George!!!!! You have my utmost allegiance, cant wait till dissenters are taken into the woods and shot. Off with their heads all of em!!!
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What the hell kind of a political and economic system are you advocating for, reconmike? Your posted opinions and your tenacity in posting them, IMO, contradicts what you post that you embrace, as values....and so...is confusing to me....
From the WaPo reporting in this thread's OP:
Quote:
......In defending its argument, administration officials <b>point to a 1984 opinion by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, headed at the time by Theodore B. Olson, a prominent conservative lawyer who was solicitor general from 2001 to 2004</b>. The opinion centered on a contempt citation issued by the House for Anne Gorsuch Burford, then administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.....
.....It concluded: "The President, through a United States Attorney, need not, indeed may not, prosecute criminally a subordinate for asserting on his behalf a claim of executive privilege. <b>Nor could the Legislative Branch or the courts require or implement the prosecution of such an individual."</b>
In the Burford case, which involved spending on the Superfund program, the White House filed a federal lawsuit to block Congress's contempt action. The conflict subsided when Burford turned over documents to Congress.....
.....David B. Rifkin, who worked in the Justice Department and White House counsel's office under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, praised the position and said it is consistent with the idea of a "unitary executive." <b>In practical terms, he said, "U.S. attorneys are emanations of a president's will."</b> And in constitutional terms, he said, "the president has decided, by virtue of invoking executive privilege, that is the correct policy for the entire executive branch."....
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When the SCOTUS rejected Nixon's lawyers arguments, it recognized that there is a legitmate claim, under some circumstances, for assertion by the president of executive privilege, but the court, nonetheless, ordered the white house to surrender it's secret tape recordings
Quote:
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/...emocrac/72.htm
....This presumptive privilege must be considered in light of our historic commitment to the rule of law. This is nowhere more profoundly manifest than in our view that "the twofold aim [of criminal justice] <b>is that guilt shall not escape or innocence suffer.".....</b>
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The language in the SCOTUS ruling, against Nixon's privilege assertions, <b>refers to principles worthy of fighting to the death....to PRESERVE</b>....the bullshit from the whitehouse, and from Olson in 1984, asserts that the president determines what the DOJ can prosecute....and what the courts can determine. Those assertions threaten an independent judiciary and the principle that prosecutors are independent and that they have the authority and the obligation to insure that NO ONE is above the law, and that no one is prosecuted for political purposes, but solely because of law breaking
reconmike, a long time, ago, in post #74, on the page linked in the first quote box, you posted:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by reconmike
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...?t=1031&page=2
This veteran believes that these men would not allow anyone to burn a flag.<br>
<img src="http://www.americanfamilytraditions.com/Arlington_National_Cemetary_NR3_WEB.jpg">
<br>This veteran believes in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
This veteran believes that freedom has a flavor the protected will never taste.
This veteran hates Japanese car sales on memorial day.
So while your out BBQ'ing, chasing those BIG sales stop for a moment and atleast try and pay alittle homage to those who felt so strongly that freedom was
worth defending.
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reconmike, in post #40, in this thread, <a href="http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=93547"> Cindy Sheehan: What do you think of her situation?
</a>, you posted this:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by reconmike
08-19-2005, 01:29 PM
Oh my, her mother had a stoke. Where was Rove when this happened? Its all Bush's fault!!!! All that undue stress that came from Bush not meeting with her a
second time.
Impeach him!!! How dare he not meet with her, what she really needs is that fat ass Moore to hang out with her for a bit, maybe film it and make a
"documentary" about the whole thing.
She is dishonoring her son in the most tragic of ways, I really hope she wonders a weee bit too close Bush's ranch....ahhh you can figure out the rest.
And Host, Ill cut and paste this once more, the only justifaction needed to go into Iraq:....
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<b>reconmike</b>, considering that the officials who you have consistently defended in your posts in this forum, <b>(even after Abramoff's and Delay's abuses
and exploitations have been publicized, it was reported yesterday that Bush's former 2004 national campaign spokesman, Terry Holt, and Bush's former press
secretary, Trent Duffy, have agreed to be contracted to continue the "work" of Abramoff, and Delay, et al...)</b> have vigorously pursued a political
strategy that has turned the "free market" capitalist system, "unfettered" by government interference that you embrace, as it is practiced on Saipan, and, to
a lesser, but still abusive and exploitive extent, in the rest of "the America" that these officials "govern", into one of human rights abuse for the sole
purpose of maximizing "profits", what do you perceive is the result of their deliberate "abuse of office and of official duties" as the "outcome" relates to
the living conditions on Saipan....an island that is what it is....today, politically and economically....because more than 3500 US Marines died and another
9500 were wounded, fought successfully, 63 years ago, this month, to "take it" from the Japanese, for the United States, how do you explain (justify) your
political and your economic opinions?
In the past, you've posted about United States military war dead, if they had the opportunity, <b>"would not allow anyone to burn a flag"</b> and you've
posted that Cindy Sheehan was <b>".... dishonoring her son in the most tragic of ways"</b>...you followed with what seemed to be your wish that this grieving
mother of a US soldier KIA in Iraq, would advance close enough to Bush's ranch to be restrained by, or physically harmed by Bush's security detail....
....How would you explain, reconmike, if you could have a conversation with one of the 3500 US Marines killed taking Saipan, how you, a man convinced that US
war dead would not permit the burning of a US flag....explain to one of the 3500....how you have come to so strongly to support the political and economic
platforms, actions, policies, and agendas of a group of US federal officials, their political party, and their politcal operatives, and their contributors
from the "business community, on Saipan, and on the US mainland, <h3>who have deliberately turned...and still work to keep it that way the...the island of
Saipan into a place of human suffering and exploitation.....for the sake of profits?</h3>
You've posted that you "know" that our US military war dead would, if they could, prevent the burning of a US flag. Saipan was taken, and became a US
territory, because of the valor and sacrifices of so many US Marines. Do you think that Delay, Abramoff, Bush, Doolittle, Ashcroft (he fired Frederick Black,
the US Atty investigating the activities of Abramoff and his relationship with CNMI officials), <b>have worked to make those islands that those Marines gave
their lives to bring under US control, more of a place that those Marines would be proud to visit or to live on, today, or have those republican officials,
operatives, and contributors worked to make life for so many on the CNMI islands more similar to a burned US flag?
reconmike, consider that the contradiction of your opinions vs. what has been documented on this page, <b>is not solely (if you read it...) read by you. This
is an anecdotal example of what I see....are the flaws in the arguments that you have making here....for so long. I believe that you've provided unwavering
support for corrupt officials who have corrupted not only their political party, but their entire country and it's constitutional protections of it's people,
from it's government, using the cooperation of corrupt corporate and other business and financial interests, to a point where, in your zeal, you may not have
noticed that they turned, in exchange for money and political sujpport and control, a place where so many Marines gave their lives to make a part of the
United States, into islands of immense suffering, denigrating and disrespecting the sacrifice of the brave Marines who made it possible for these thugs to
corrupt the land they gave their lives to gain...for their country....
Quote:
http://infoshop.org/news_archive/marianas.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...arianaislands/
A 'Petri Dish' in the Pacific
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
<B>Wednesday, July 26, 2000; Page A10</B>
Last year, two close associates of one of the most powerful members of the U.S. House spent part of their New Year's holiday 8,000 miles from Washington in
the Northern Marianas. Although the islands are known for their balmy weather, golf courses and great snorkeling, the trip could hardly be described as a
junket--the advisers to House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) were there on a political mission.
.... Composed of 14 islands in the Pacific just north of Guam, the area now known as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or CNMI, was seized by
the United States from the Japanese during World War II. But it wasn't until 1986 that a covenant went into effect granting Northern Marianas residents U.S.
citizenship and all the benefits that flow from that, except the right to vote in federal elections.
For House Republicans, the territory embodies many of the ideals they promoted when they seized the majority in 1994. It is exempt from federal labor and
immigration laws, setting its minimum wage at $3.05 an hour; of the roughly 79,000 residents, many are low-wage workers from China or the Philippines. The
factories churn out clothes bearing the label "Made in the USA," which can be sent without tariffs or quotas to the mainland. <h2>"It is a perfect petri dish
of capitalism," DeLay said in an interview. "It's like my Galapagos island."</H2>
But Democrats and labor activists say the dearth of regulations has fostered abhorrent conditions for workers. They accuse the garment manufacturers of
forcing people to work long hours without overtime, failing at times to pay them at all, and requiring them to live in crowded "barracks." In 1995, when the
U.S. Senate adopted a bill to impose U.S. immigration standards on the Northern Marianas, then-Gov. Froilan Tenorio hired Preston Gates to block the measure
in the House.
The man Tenorio turned to, Abramoff, had impeccable GOP credentials. A former chair of the nation's College Republicans, Abramoff become so close with his
executive director, Ralph Reed, that he let the future Christian Coalition leader sleep on his couch for a time. These days, Abramoff is a top fundraiser for
DeLay and other House Republicans and a major fixture on the city's power lunch circuit.......
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Quote:
http://www.ilo.org/global/Themes/For...--en/index.htm
Forced labour
At least 12.3 million people around the world are trapped in forced labour. The ILO works to combat the practice and the conditions that give rise to it.
Forced labour takes different forms, including debt bondage, trafficking and other forms of modern slavery. The victims are the most vulnerable – women and
girls forced into prostitution, migrants trapped in debt bondage, and sweatshop or farm workers kept there by clearly illegal tactics and paid little or
nothing. The ILO has worked since its inception to tackle forced labour and the conditions that give rise to it and has established a Special Action
Programme on Forced Labour to intensify this effort.....
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Quote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abramoff/CNMI
.....In October 1996, the contract with Preston Gates expired. The CNMI government broke its own laws by continuing to pay the firm - The initial Preston
Gates contract with CNMI was from June 1, 1995 - June 30 1996, for about $860,000. After the expiration of the contract, then Governor Pedro Tenorio's office
continued to pay Preston Gates, despite the lack of a valid contract, until January 11, 1998, a grand total of $5.21 million. (Between October 1996 to
October 1997, the total was just over $3 million. [1]) The payment without contract was later judged illegal in an investigation by the CNMI Office of the
Public Auditor.
Abramoff later arranged an all-expenses paid trip to Saipan for Tom DeLay on New Year's Eve in 1997. Although House ethics rules at the time prohibited House
members from accepting such gifts from lobbyists, the trip was funded directly by Saipan and thus was technically allowable. An internal memo from Preston,
Gates, and Ellis stated that these sort of trips are "one of the most effective ways to build permanent friends on the Hill." [4] While on the trip, at a
benefit dinner for Willie Tan of Tan Holdings Corporation, DeLay was quoted as saying:
"When one of my closest and dearest friends, Jack Abramoff, your most able representative in Washington, D.C., invited me to the islands, I wanted to see
firsthand the free-market success and the progress and reform you have made." [5]
An undercover investigation by ABCNews captured Willie Tan speaking on a hidden camera about a conversation with DeLay about labor reform laws. According to
Tan, "[DeLay] said, 'Willie, if they elect me majority whip, I make the schedule of the Congress, and I'm not going to put it on the schedule.' So Tom told
me, 'Forget it, Willie. No chance.'" [4]
After the trip, Abramoff helped DeLay craft policy that extended exemptions from federal immigration and labor laws to Saipan industries, though the island
is part of the U.S. Commonwealth. Brian Ross at ABC News for 20/20 on March 13, 1998 pointed out that factories in Saipan have forced their workers to have
abortions in order to keep their jobs.
In addition, Abramoff's lobbying team helped Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) craft statements [6] attacking the credibility of "Katrina," a teenaged sex slave who
escaped from the CNMI and testified to federal investigators about the sex trade on that island. [7]
Abramoff also negotiated for a $1.2 million no-bid contract from the Marianas for 'promoting ethics in government' to be awarded to David Lapin, brother of
Daniel Lapin. [8]
Abramoff also allegedly paid the expenses for at least two other trips to the Marianas. In both cases, Abramoff was reimbursed by Preston Gates & Ellis,
which was then being paid by the Marianas government. [9]
The first trip involved two aides to Tom DeLay, Edwin A. Buckham and Tony Rudy, both who later joined the lobbying firm Alexander Strategy Group. Buckham and
Rudy traveled with Abramoff from December 4 to December 12, 1996. Abramoff paid at least $3,000 of the costs, according to a memo written by his assistant
Jennifer Senft Hamann. [9] The second trip involved James E. Clyburn (D-SC) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS). In a letter dated December 17, 1996, the National
Security Caucus Foundation invited the lawmakers to attend a trip to the island in January 1997, saying that the government would incur no expense. Non-
profits are allowed to pay for lawmaker travel, and Clyburn and Thompson said they believed the NSCF was doing so. Greg Hilton, the director of the NSCF at
the time, has said that Preston Gates & Ellis sent him the airline tickets and told him the government had paid for them. The cost of the trip was, according
to an Abramoff memo, $15,657. The lawmakers said that they never met Abramoff nor knew of his involvement. [9]
[edit] Contract suspended and renewed
Abramoff's lobbying contract with the CNMI was suspended in late 1998 due to a change in administration and financial problems. In December 1999, allegedly
at the request of CNMI politician Benigno Fitial, Edwin A. Buckham and Michael Scanlon visited the CNMI intending to convince two legislators to support
Fitial for speaker of the CNMI's 18-member House of Representatives. Scanlon was still a member of Tom DeLay's congressional staff, and was on unpaid leave
at the time. Buckham and Scanlon extended promises to help deliver federal aid to the legislators' districts, and succeeded in convincing the two Democratic
legislators to vote for Fitial, a member of the rival Covenant Party. After Fitial was elected speaker in 2000, he wrote the governor insisting that the
islands contract again with Abramoff at Preston Gates & Ellis. [10]
In August 1999, Abramoff's firm, Greenberg Traurig (which, all told received $4.04 million from 1998 to 2002 from the commonwealth), hired Millennium
Marketing (a division of the Ralph Reed-founded Century Strategies) to "sen[d] out a mailer to Alabama conservative Christians asking them to call then-Rep.
Bob Riley (R-Ala.) and tell him to vote against legislation that would have made the U.S. commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands subject to federal wage
and worker safety laws. "The radical left, the Big Labor Union Bosses, and Bill Clinton want to pass a law preventing Chinese from coming to work on the
Marianas Islands," the mailer from Reed's firm said. The Chinese workers, it added, "are exposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ" while on the islands, and
many "are converted to the Christian faith and return to China with Bibles in hand." [2]
In February 1999, a congressional delegation visited the islands in February of 1999; it included Representative John Doolittle, who would get significantly
more involved in 2001.[2] Doolittle and Representative Joel Hefley write in June 1999, a "Dear Colleague" letter, saying that a May 1999 show on ABC's
newsmagazine, 20/20, "The Shame of Saipan", had numerous inaccuracies, and that "Tom DeLay has consistently engaged government leaders in taking steps toward
reform in the Mariana Islands to ensure and maintain a vibrant economy under local control." [3]
By late July 2000, Abramoff and Preston Gates were hired again, for $100,000 a month.
In January 2001 Abramoff switched lobbying firms to Greenberg Traurig. "'Our standing with the new administration promises to be solid as several friends of
the CNMI (islands) will soon be taking high-ranking positions in the Administration, including within the Interior Department,' Abramoff wrote in a January
2001 letter in which he persuaded the island government to follow him as a client to his new lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig." [4] Patrick Pizzella joins
the Bush-Cheney transition team, and in April 2001 is nominated to Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management at the Department of Labor.
In January 2006, CNMI Governor Benigno Fitial demanded that Preston Gates & Ellis and Greenberg Traurig return much of the money originally paid for lobbying
services, claiming that "the positive benefits of those services have been undone by the wide scandal brought on by the criminal charges against
Abramoff."[11]
In August 2006, Roger Stillwell, formerly an employee of the Department of the Interior, pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failing to report gifts
received from Abramoff during the period that Abramoff was lobbying the Interior on behalf of the Commonwealth of the Marianas Islands.[12].......
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Quote:
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA...5/06140369.htm
JAPAN FIERCELY DEFENDED ITS GARRISON ON SAIPAN
{LEAD} Editor's note: Memorable events in World War II will be recounted week by week in this column by military researcher William R. Hawkins.
\ On June 15, 1944 - 50 years ago today - the 2nd and 4th Marine divisions, with air support from escort carriers and gunfire support from battleships,
cruisers and destroyers, landed along 4 miles of beach on Saipan's west coast.
{REST} In defense was the Japanese 43rd Division with its artillery carefully emplaced on the high ground in the center of the island. The Japanese had
anticipated the landing and had range markers set in the surf to guide their heavy fire.
Shells rained down among the 600 Amphtracs churning toward the shore. A number were hit, but within 20 minutes 8,000 Marines had landed, and by afternoon,
20,000 would be ashore. But the enemy guns had been accurate, and resistance had been stubborn.
By evening the 2nd Marine Division had nearly 600 men dead and more than 1,000 more wounded. 4th Marine Division casualties were almost as heavy.
The Japanese prevented any deep penetration and during the night launched a counterattack led by tanks. But as they massed for the assault, star shells burst
above them, turning the night into day. The Marines opened up with everything they had, and they had plenty. As the enemy fell back, artillery and naval
gunfire chased them on their way.
The next day, the Army's 27th Infantry Division landed to join the Marines. Tanks led the U.S. advance - but the Japanese were far from finished. A platoon
of M-4 Shermans ran into a battery of enemy 77 mm guns.
Gunnery Sgt. Bob McCard's tank was hit, and the crew abandoned it. McCard was the last out, covering his men by throwing grenades at attacking Japanese
infantry. Hit by enemy fire, McCard knew he could not get away. He grabbed the tank's machine gun and faced the enemy. He killed 16 before being swarmed
under and won a posthumous Medal of Honor.....
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Quote:
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/...as-5.html#cn33
D-Day Bombardment and Ship-to-Shore Movement
On the night of 14-15 June most of the support ships retired, leaving a handful to continue harassing fire along the coast line. Meanwhile the Western
Landing Group, commanded by Admiral Hill and consisting mostly of transports and LST's carrying the 2d and 4th Marine Divisions, was slowly approaching the
island from the east. As dark fell the marines could observe fires burning ashore and the glow of star
--78--
shells fired by the naval ships left in the area. Shortly after 0500 the gigantic convoy moved into the transport area off the west coast of Saipan. In
the early dawn, Mount Tapotchau lay silhouetted in the east. Streaks of fire from the armada of naval support ships colored the sky and the shore was blurred
in a haze of smoke and dust. As the light improved, the town of Charan Kanoa became visible. To the north lay Garapan, the capital city. In its harbor,
called Tanapag, lay several Japanese ships, beached, half-sunken, and smoking.
Naval bombardment commenced about 0530. Heavy close support ships were ordered not to approach closer than 1,500 yards from the reef. Destroyers were
permitted to move in as far as 1,000 yards. Two old battleships, two cruisers, and seven destroyers were assigned the duty of last-minute preparation of the
landing beaches themselves.31 At dawn these ships took station and shortly thereafter the two battleships commenced main battery fire at the beach defenses;
less than an hour later the two cruisers opened up with their 12-inch guns.
In spite of the apparent intensity of this barrage, the Japanese high command was not overly impressed--at least not officially. From 31st Army
headquarters came the report: "They did not carry out large scale shelling and bombing against the positions on the landing beach just prior to landing. When
they came to the landing, even though we received fierce bombing and shelling, our basic positions were completely sound."32
But to other less exalted defenders of the island, the shelling appeared more formidable. One member of the 9th Tank Regiment observed fairly effective
results from the shelling of the Magicienne Bay area. A naval supply warehouse was hit, causing a considerable number of casualties, and a nearby ammunition
dump was set off. "There was no way," he reported, "of coping with the explosions. We could do nothing but wait for them to stop."33 Somewhere in the same
vicinity, the Japanese naval officer mentioned above took to the bottle again to calm his nerves against the shock of the shelling. "I quietly opened the
quart I brought along," he noted in his diary, "and took my first 'shot' from it. There is something undescribable about a shot of liquor during a
bombardment."34
At 0545 the word was passed throughout the American task forces that H Hour, the moment at which the first troops were supposed to land, would be 0830,
as scheduled. Guns and winches were manned; boats were lowered into the water from the transports.
Shortly after 0700 the thirty-four LST's carrying the Marine assault battalions moved into position and dropped anchor about half a mile off the line of
departure. The line, the starting point from which the assault landing craft would take off, was located 4,250 yards offshore. Bow doors swung open; ramps
lowered, and hundreds of amphibian tractors and amphibian tanks crawled into the water and commenced to circle. In all, 719 of these craft would be employed
in the operation.
Astern of the assault landing ships lay twelve other LST's carrying light artillery,
--79--.....
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/...as-5.html#fn58
.........Before dark the 2d Marine Division's commander, General Watson, had established his command post on RED Beach 2. By this time the division was
digging in for the night and consolidating its positions against counterattack. Amphibian tanks and tractors had set up a defensive net against possible
counteramphibious attacks from the sea. Division casualties were estimated to amount to 1,575--238 killed, 1,022 wounded, and 315 missing in action....
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Quote:
http://mysite.verizon.net/res71z3x/index.html
"The Fighting Fourth"
....The 4th Marine Division landed on Saipan 15 June 1944. The severity of this battle was indicated by the 2,000 casualties suffered in the first two days
of battle. The Flag was raised on Saipan after 25 grueling and bitter days of combat. The Division sustained 5,981 casualties killed, wounded and missing.
This represented 27.6 percent of the Division's strength. The Japanese count was 23,811 known dead and 1,810 prisoners were taken.....
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<b>...and the CNMI, of which Saipan is a principle part of, as found on web pages, these days:</b>
Quote:
http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/cnmipage.htm
OIA Field Office in Saipan
....In 1947, the Northern Mariana Islands became part of the post-World War II United Nations'Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI). The United
States became the TTPI's administering authority under the terms of a trusteeship agreement. In 1976, Congress approved the mutually negotiated Covenant to
Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in Political Union with the United States. The CNMI Government adopted its own constitution
in 1977, and the constitutional government took office in January1978. The Covenant was fully implemented on November 3, 1986, pursuant to Presidential
Proclamation no. 5564, which conferred United States citizenship on legally qualified CNMI residents.
On December 22, 1990, the Security Council of the United Nations terminated the TTPI as it applied to the CNMI and five other [the Marshall Islands and the
Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap)] of the TTPI's original seven districts.
Under the Covenant, in general, Federal law applies to CNMI. However, the CNMI is outside the customs territory of the United States and, although the
internal revenue code does apply in the form of a local income tax, the income tax system is largely locally determined. According to the Covenant, the
federal minimum wage and federal immigration laws "will not apply to the Northern Mariana Islands except in the manner and to the extent made applicable to
them by the Congress by law after termination of the Trusteeship Agreement:"
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Quote:
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/...-bitch-at.html
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Here it is, take it
by Dover Bitch
At 9:30 ET this morning, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to discuss a bill that would federalize immigration for
the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). It should be available via webcast.
Why is this hearing important? After all, it's not on the evening news. It's not even scheduled to be broadcast live on C-SPAN.
The truth is, this hearing is only important to people who believe that America shouldn't be a place like this:
Using its immigration authority, the Commonwealth has created an economy that relies upon the wholesale importation of low-paid, short-term
indentured workers. Foreign workers pay up to $7,000 to employers or middlemen for the right to a job in the CNMI. When they finally reach the Commonwealth,
they are assigned to tedious, low paying work for long hours with little or no time off. At night they are locked in prison-like barracks. If they complain,
they are subject to immediate deportation at the whim of their employer. Some arrive in the islands only to find that they were victims of an employment
scam. There are no jobs waiting for them, and no way to work off their bondage debt.....
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Quote:
http://doverbitch.blogspot.com/2007/...testimony.html
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
CNMI Testimony
SenateC ommitteeo n Energy and Resources
304 Dirksen SenateB uilding
Washinglon,D C 20510
July 12,2007
Dear Chairman Bingaman:
I am requestingt hat the attacheds tatementb e included in the CongressionaRl ecord as
testimonyf or the July 19, 2007S enateH earingo n the U.S . Commonwealtho f the
Northern Mariana Islands. I am unablet o attendt he hearingb ecauseI am a foreign
contract worker in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Sincerely,
The UndersignedC NMI foreign contractw orkers
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July 12,2007
Dear Chairman Bingaman:
We are foreign confract workers in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands(CNMI). We have lived and worked in this community for
5, 10, 15, or 20 or more years. We have served the community as nurses, security guards, technicians, mechanics, accountants, engineers farmers, domestic
workers, entertainers, construction workers, fishermen, hotel workers, garment workers, restaurant workers, office staff and other positions. We were invited
here to work and have contributed much to the commumty. We are the threads that hold the economic fabric of the CNMI together.
We make up the majority of the population in the CNMI, but we have no vote. We pay taxes and many of us have social security and Medicare taxes taken
from our pay, yet most of us will never receive those benefits. We are often victims of criminal acts, but we cannot serve on juries. We are voiceless.
The illegal alien workers in the mainland United States have had their voices raised by the U.S. Senate who created a bill to raise their status. As
legal non-resident workers also laboring and living on U.S. soil, don't we deserve to have our voices raised by the United States Senate also? An estimated
3,000 of us are documented as having United States citizen children who have lived in the CNMI all of their lives. Presently, we have no way to be united
States citizens ourselves. Once we have completed with our contracts we are forced to return to our home countries. <h2>How will we be able to provide our U.S.
citizen children with education, healthcare and nutrition?</h2>
<h3>We do believe CNMI is not only a part of the U.S., but is really U.S. soil. As workers, we have seen that the U.S. Constitution is not followed here in
the CNMI. </h3>We do not understand this. The U.S. Constitution states that all residents of the United States are treated equally and given freedom, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness. The CNMI and United States are one country, but has two systems -- one democratic and one that supports indentured servitude and
refuses to enforce U.S. law.
We need to have federalization of U.S. immigration laws. For years we have suffered with an insecure status and are in the islands only as indentrued
servants. Many of us have been victims of illegal recruitment and labor and human rights abuses. Many of us had labor cases that have never been resolved,
backwages never recovered, and criminal attacks never prosecuted. We were told that the United States was a democracy, but we do not live in a democratic
society here. We urge you to pass legislation that would federalize immigration and help us to achieve the stability and United States citizenship we
deserve.
Here are some bits from Doromal's statement:
Thank you for the opportunity to express my views to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which has jurisdiction over matters affecting
territories of the United States. From 1984 to 1995 I lived and worked as a teacher in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). I
witnessed appalling labor and human rights abuses of contract workers who came from their homelands to work in the United States. They came from the
Philippines, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Russia, Pakistan, and other Asian countries. They sold their land, houses, and businesses to pay up
to $7,000 in recruitment fees for a chance to live the American dream. But too many of these workers lived a nightmare instead. In 1993, I wrote a report
that detailed the labor and human rights abuses in the CNMI and offered solutions. It was submitted to CNMI officials, to selected U.S. members of Congress,
congressional committees, and the U.S. Departments of Labor, Justice and State.
My family left the islands in 1995 due to threats and terrible harassment that came about because of our human rights work on behalf of these victims. I
testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in May 1995 and submitted an updated report on the status of the guest workers and
problems with the CNMI labor and immigration laws.
Before I left the CNMI, I promised the workers that I would continue to appeal to U.S. government leaders to extend United States minimum wage,
immigration, labor and customs laws to the CNMI. I am ashamed to tell you that 12 years after I made this promise I continue to plead with US government
officials to fulfill this promise and finally put an end to the abuses and systemic corruption, and to give a voice to the foreign contract workers. That is
why I am in the CNMI this month to evaluate the current status and conditions of the foreign contract workers.
The United States Congress has known about the seriousness of the labor and immigration problems in the CNMI for two decades. Although there have been
attempts over the years to enact effective reform legislation, ultimately the Congress has failed again and again its responsibility to ensure human rights
and enforce U.S. law on United States soil. Legislation is long overdue, and S. 1634 offers some solutions to the existing problems. With needed revisions,
it could be effective in addressing ongoing problems in the CNMI.
[...]
Census figures reveal that the nonresident worker population has grown from 3,709 or 22% of the total population in 1980, to 39,089 or 56% of the total
population in 2000. Today there are an estimated 84,000 people in the CNMI and only 20,000, or one-third of the adult population, can vote.<h2> The last time
guest workers with no voting privileges or political rights outnumbered the citizens on U.S. soil it was called slavery.</h2>
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Quote:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...&type=politics
Marianas governor and Doolittle ally says cooperating in probe
By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, July 19, 2007
....The governor of the Northern Mariana Islands said Thursday he's cooperating with the Justice Department's corruption investigation around jailed GOP
lobbyist Jack Abramoff, which is focused in part on GOP Rep. John Doolittle of Rocklin, Calif.....
<h3>....Fitial, who in past years pushed to extend Abramoff's contract to represent the Marianas, did not distance himself from the disgraced lobbyist, or
from Doolittle.</h2>
"When I have a friend that friend always remains a friend," said Fitial, who became House speaker of the Marianas in 2000 after intervention from two aides
to former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. After becoming speaker <h3>Fitial pushed for Abramoff's contract to continue.....</h3>
"Doolittle, he's also a friend," said Fitial.
"I feel the same way," <h3>Doolittle later told reporters on a conference call.
"I have no regrets about trying to help the Marianas in the past. It was right then and it's right now," he said.....</h3>
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Quote:
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/282501.html
Brighter day for islands bill
<H3>Approval's likely for Marianas plan opposed by Doolittle in 2000.</H3>
By David Whitney - Bee Washington Bureau
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, July 20, 2007
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A4
WASHINGTON -- Benigno Fitial, governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, said Thursday that he still regards jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff
and Rep. John Doolittle as "good friends."
But the hearing at which Fitial had just testified revealed just how much some friendships can cost.
Abramoff's jailed for political corruption, in part because of his dealings while representing the commonwealth. Doolittle, R-Roseville, is under
investigation because of his relationship with Abramoff.
Abramoff's jailed for political corruption, in part because of his dealings while representing the commonwealth. Doolittle, R-Roseville, is under
investigation because of his relationship with Abramoff.
Fitial said he is "cooperating" with prosecutors but would say no more on the advice of his Los Angeles attorney, Thomas Pollack....
.... David Cohen, deputy assistant secretary of the Interior Department for insular affairs, said the commonwealth's lax immigration policies pose a
national security threat to the United States.
Labor abuses on the islands -- dismissed by Republican defenders a decade ago -- are still there, though shrinking with the decline of the garment
industry, Cohen said. Also still around is the trafficking in humans and forced prostitution.
In the past year, Cohen said, 36 female victims of human trafficking were served by a Catholic nonprofit organization. "All of the victims were in the
sex trade," Cohen said. [snip]
"The CNMI's immigration system must be federalized as soon as possible," said the Bush administration official in support of the legislation. [snip]
Doolittle said he had not seen the revived legislation but assumed it was "some punitive bill that takes back their right to control immigration."
<h2>"It's the only territory that is free-enterprise oriented," Doolittle said. "It's a shame to hurt them rather than help them."</h2> [snip]
"A number of foreign nationals have come to the federal ombudsman's office complaining that they were promised a job after paying a recruiter thousands
of dollars to come there, only to find, upon arrival in the CNMI, that there were was no job," Cohen said. "Secretary Kempthorne met personally with a young
lady from China who was the victim of such a scam, and who was pressured to become a prostitute."
These charges were common during Abramoff's heyday, too, but were dismissed, along with the reform legislation.
At a 1999 House hearing, Doolittle said that any abuses were the result of the failure of the U.S. government to enforce its laws there. But Cohen said
the problem is that the commonwealth controls its own borders, and the sieve-like texture of its enforcement is a threat to the security of mainland America.
.......
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<h3>The corrupt CNMI officials who Abramoff and Doolittle shilled for, have hired former National spokesman for the Bush-Cheney 2004 Campaign, Terry Holt and
former Deputy White House Press Secretary, Trent Duffy:</h3>
Quote:
http://www.mvariety.com/frontpage/front02.htm
http://www.saipantribune.com/newssto...1&newsID=70546
Friday, July 20, 2007
Gov’t hires PR firm in Washington
By Gemma Q. Casas
Variety News Staff
THE cash-strapped government has hired a major public relations firm in Washington, D.C. to help beef up the efforts of its lobby firm in opposing the
passage of S. 1634, the CNMI immigration federalization bill.
Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said Holt Strategies and its partner, Duffy PR Strategies, are now the commonwealth’s media agent and public relations
counsel in the nation’s capital.
Reyes said the firms will be retained for an unspecified period of time and will be paid about the same fee — $15,000 a month plus extras — that the CNMI
government is paying its “consultant” Oldaker, Biden & Belair LLP.
He said Gov. Benigno R. Fitial who is in Washington, D.C. to testify against S. 1634 decided to hire a public relations firm to assist the commonwealth in
building up its image as an economically struggling U.S. commonwealth with a rich historical past.
“We need a professional and reliable firm to tell our story,” Reyes told Variety in an interview yesterday at his office.
Holt’s major clients include the U.S. retail supermarket giant Wal-Mart and Earthlink, an Internet service provider.
Holt Strategies and Duffy Public Relations collaborate on projects, providing media relations, media training and strategic communication services to
corporate and associate clients.
Reyes said the fees for its PR firm and lobbyist will cost the cash-strapped government much needed resources but “in this case, we believe it’s a
necessity.”
Terry Holt of Holt Strategies issued a statement saying their firm is pleased to represent the commonwealth.
“The CNMI can be an American success. They are struggling to rebuild their economy and have initiated reforms to put immigration and labor problems in the
past,” said Trent Duffy of Duffy PR Strategies.
Duffy said they will rebuild the commonwealth’s image.
“Too often, the only time policymakers have heard about the CNMI, it’s been in the context of the Jack Abramoff story. It is time to move on,” said Duffy.
The administrations of Govs. Froilan C. Tenorio and Pedro P. Tenorio hired the now disgraced lobbyist Abramoff to block federalization measures in Congress.
“Northern Mariana Islanders are American citizens and we share an important history, forged stated battle for the Pacific in World War II. And their place on
the map makes them a significant national security asset. It’s time people hear about some of these facts too,” Duffy said.
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...and, if you do "get it"....if you really believe that Cindy Sheehan <b>"dishonor[ed] her son in the most tragic of ways"</b>, merely by publicly questioning Mr. Bush and by protesting near his vacation home, why does it not follow, that by turning Saipan into a place where foreign workers are trapped, exploited, and permanently kept as an underclass with no representation and no chance for citizenship, in exchange for "lobbying fees", even though the exploited were admitted to a US territory legally, and by violating our rights to privacy, to habeas corpus protections, and by shitting on our constitution, on our DOJ, and on our congressional leaders as they carry out their constitutionally mandated duties of inquiry and checks and balances, shouldn't it follow that you're supporting officials and a political party that have done the same thing to all US military war dead, that you've accused Ms. Sheehan of doing to her son?
Last edited by host; 07-21-2007 at 03:25 AM..
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