Win some, lose some: Sablan provides a congressional wrap-up

Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan Photo by Bryan Manabat

By Bryan Manabat

Saipan-  Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan summed up what he has accomplished for the Northern Mariana Islands during his long stint as the commonwealth’s delegate to the U.S. Congress, while pointing out the unfinished business his successor will inherit. After completing his eighth and last term, Sablan hands over the baton to Kimberlyn King-Hinds, a Republican.

Sablan championed the CNMI’s interests for the past 16 years. “It's the legislature of the most powerful nation in the world. It's huge and I am humbled by the opportunity to have had the chance to represent the Northern Marianas in Congress,” he said. “It's unlike anything I've ever done before.”

Sablan became the CNMI's first delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives when the commonwealth stood at a historic crossroads after losing its fight against the federal takeover of its labor and immigration affairs.

Sablan has been a Democrat throughout his life but ran as an Independent when the Democrats nominated another candidate. After campaigning for more federal funding for education, healthcare and alternative energy resources, Sablan won the first CNMI delegate election in 2008.

He was reelected in the seven subsequent races.  He ran unopposed in 2016, 2020 and 2022. Sablan has been caucusing with the U.S. Democrats, but it was only in 2022 that he ran as a Democrat. Turning 70 this month, Sablan did not seek another term in the 2024 election.

One of Sablan’s most notable accomplishments was the passage of his submerged lands legislation, which gave the CNMI economic rights and regulatory control over submerged lands and waters extending 200 miles from the islands.

In 2014, the CNMI received title to submerged lands, providing the local government authority over the seabed, subsoil, water column and surface water resources in the three-mile coastal zone, including jurisdiction over all mineral, energy and fishing development.

Sablan stayed on as a member of the education and labor committee throughout his entire term in Congress. He successfully advocated for increasing the maximum Pell Grant award for low-income students and expanding grant eligibility for the CNMI. “The best investment we can do for our people is to educate and train our children and our workforce,” he said.

 In the health care area, Sablan succeeded in getting a one-time payment of $27.1 million for the Marianas Medicaid program tacked onto the federal spending measure.

Although not a fan of food stamps, Sablan has successfully increased funding for the CNMI’s Nutrition Assistance Program. In 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service released a $30 million grant for NAP, supplementing the annual block grant for the CNMI. There are 5,364 households currently enrolled in the program.

For Sablan, getting more food stamp funds for the CNMI was a reluctant success, if not an indication of an unpleasant situation. "I don't like welfare, but there's hunger here. The numbers tell me there's hunger in the Marianas,” he said.

While he managed to win some fights, Sablan faced an uphill battle in his advocacy for long-stay foreign workers in the CNMI. In 2023, Sablan introduced H.R. 560, the Northern Mariana Islands Population Stabilization Act, which proposes to grant CNMI-only permanent status to qualified long-term foreign workers in the Commonwealth. “These are good people,” he said. “I really worked hard —swear to God— for the passage of HR 560, but it didn’t go through.”

He said he hopes King-Hinds will carry on with HR 560.

As for the tourism industry, Sablan reiterated his support for the reinstatement of Annex VI, a halted federal policy that exempted the CNMI from the cap on round-trip flights between the U.S. and China. Industry stakeholders are banking on this exemption to boost arrivals from China. “I've taken my position all the way to the U.S. assistant secretary of transportation," he said.

However, Sablan added, the clashing views between the United States and China hamper the policy reinstatement. He said the federal government alleged that “China violated the agreement during the pandemic,” hence the qualms for reinstatement. "My job, as I see it, is to try and get the USDOT to agree to reinstate Annex VI," he said.

Advocating for Annex VI reinstatement is now in the hands of King-Hinds.

Sablan told the Pacific Island Times that he would retreat from politics but would continue his community engagements by volunteering for an education-related organization.

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