<home> -- <press releases> -- <February 22, 2008>
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—Thursday, April 10, 2008– Earlier this afternoon by a vote of 91 to 4, the United States Senate passed S. 2739, the “Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008.” This omnibus bill includes over forty separate public lands related bills that have passed the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources by separate votes during this Congress. It also includes the “Northern Mariana Islands Immigration, Security, and Labor Act,” which is Title VII, and which was passed in the form of House bill, H.R. 3079, on December 12, 2007. The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources passed its version of the legislation, S. 1634, introduced by United States Senator Daniel Akaka of The CNMI provisions included in S. 2739, as passed by the Senate today, match the version of the CNMI legislation previously passed by the House of Representatives with the exception of technical amendments. The bill federalizes immigration in the CNMI, and among other provisions, unifies Guam and the CNMI under a regional visa-waiver program to allow tourists entering Because the CNMI bill is part of a larger, omnibus package, the bill must come back to the House of Representatives to be passed in the same form as passed by the Senate before it can be sent to the President for his action and become law. Congresswoman Bordallo said “The passage of the CNMI bill by the Senate today reaffirms the broad bipartisan support for it. It is part of a package of a number of bills important to many Members of the House. It is expected to return to the House as part of this entire package, which has support. I will continue to work with the leadership, including Congresswoman Christensen and Congressman Rahall, to move it forward toward enactment. This bill has provisions that will help ### Contact: Joseph E. Duenas in joseph.duenas@mail.house.gov or audreya.taitano@mail.house.gov |
