Speech #1050084457

For these reasons. the people of the Northern Mariana Islands willingly entered into a unique covenant with the United States in 1976. The people overwhelmingly voted to accept their selfgovernment status. along with the responsibilities of being part of the American family. I am here to tell you that the CNMI Government and its people are living up to their responsibilitiesthey have established a selfreliant economy enabling the local government to fund its own operations without the assistance of Federal dollars through free enterprise. enforcement of local labor and immigration laws in the last 5 years has improved significantly and are continuing to be addressed stringently today. and the CNMI is promoting democratic values in Southeast Asia. where the American way of doing things is beginning to become the norm. Unfortunately. the Federal Government is not fully living up to their Federal law enforcement responsibilities in the Northern Mariana Islands. The CNMI does not have authority to enforce U.S. laws.