Speech #1050145643

Mr. Speaker. the following column by the highly respected writer Mark Shields appeared in the Seattle PostIntelligencer on May 18. 1998 and describes the debate in Congress to reform the outrageous practices in the U.S. territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands that conflict with core American ethics and values. "Made in the USA Is at Heart of the Second Battle of Saipan" describes the continuing. widespread labor abuses and problematic immigration policies in the US/CNMI that have prompted a bipartisan group in Congress to support legislation to bring these local laws in conformity with those that apply throughout the rest of our country. Like the battle of Saipan during World War II when American troops fought for 25 days to capture the island chain. the clash in Congress is an uphill battle between those who are working to instill humanitarian reforms in the islands labor and immigration policies and those who hail the existing policies as a cornerstone of "free enterprise." At the root of this "second battle of Saipan" is the local control over minimum wage and immigration policies that was temporarily granted to local authorities over twenty years ago when the US/CNMI first became a part of the United States. However. since this local control was granted. the US/CNMI has not made any serious attempts to either increase the local minimum wage to the federal level or closely control its borders to prevent an influx of immigrants as it had promised. Rather. the US/CNMI maintains an artificially low minimum wage of $3.05 per hour and has opened its borders to a flood of foreigners who provide the labor pool for menial. laborintensive jobs. Currently. foreign workers compose 91% of the private sector workforce and significantly outnumber U.S. citizens in the US/CNMI. Local labor controls and law enforcement are severely lacking. company housing is squalid. abuse is common and this lowcost foreign workforce is easy prey for exploitation. And the nearly $1 billion in garments produced in these conditions by foreign workers bears the "Made in USA" label. although the labor protections normally associated with this label are nonexistent. Foreign workers in the US/CNMI can be deported at a moments notice if they complain about conditions and are forbidden from changing jobs if they have a problem with their employer. Clearly. the experience of these workers in the US/CNMI is not representative of a work experience anywhere else in America. According to Mr. Shields. "toiling 12 hours a day. seven days a week. without any of the worker protections Americans are guaranteed. is tragically common." Congress has the power and the duty to ensure that basic fundamental principals of labor and immigration law are adhered to throughout the United States and its territories. I urge my colleagues to read this column and decide for themselves how they would like to see the "Second battle of Saipan" play out. I think youll agree that if our efforts to apply federal labor and immigration controls to the US/CNMI are successful. as Mr. Shields notes. "the United States and humanity will win." [From the Seattle PostIntelligencer. May 18. 1998]