Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I join with my colleague and the Ranking Member of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Lisa Murkowski, in re-introducing, by request, legislation to convey certain submerged lands to the Commonwealth of the North Mariana Islands, CNMI, that would give that territory the same benefits in its submerged lands as Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa have in their submerged lands. This bill is identical to H.R. 934 that was considered in the 111th Congress and which passed the House on July 15, 2009 and was reported by the Committee on May 6, 2010. Enactment of this legislation is time- sensitive because there is currently no Federal or local administrative regime in place to manage the lands from the mean high-tide line out to 3 miles surrounding the 14 islands of the CNMI. As a result, development and other near shore activities are on hold, or are conducted under a cloud of legal uncertainty. I refer those interested in additional information on this proposal to Senate Report 111-197. Included in that report, is the CBO estimate which states that enacting H.R. 934 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a letter of support be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: Congress of the United States, House of Representatives, Washington, DC, March 14, 2011. Hon.…”