Political Quotes

“the House prides itself on being the House of the people and all of the people, and, indeed, all Americans are represented here, most fully through representatives, some 435, and the rest, somewhat, through delegates, numbering five. But there is one group of Americans that is not represented at all, and those are the people of the Northern Marianas. Today, I am reintroducing the Northern Marianas Delegate Act, an Act to provide for a nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives to represent the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas. It is important that the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas be accorded representation in Congress, not just for fair and just representation of an American community, whose interests are directly affected by the actions of Congress, but more importantly, for what the people of the CNMI can contribute to the Nation through their delegate. A delegate for the Northern Marianas will advance their cause and work to resolve situations and conditions as they develop, not subsequently. We should leave no other citizens behind or alienate them from a lawmaking and policymaking process. Perpetual denial of a delegate for the CNMI is a denial of the basic right to represent oneself.”