WASHINGTON, DC– Representative George Miller (D-Calif.) today addressed the report released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee which detailed some of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s activites, yet did not address any of his damaging work blocking protections for workers in the United States Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands, despite rampant abuses of workers and documented immigration problems there. Miller’s statement is below.

“Today, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee released a report on some of Jack Abramoff's many contributions to the Republican culture of corruption. The report is an important contribution to our understanding of Abramoff’s illicit activities, but it is not complete. Congress must get more answers about Abramoff’s influence over its legislative affairs – in particular with regard to sweatshops in the Northern Mariana Islands.

“Abramoff's most damaging and most indefensible work was to protect Chinese sweatshops located in this U.S. territory. These new documents demonstrate that the head of the abusive Marianas garment industry paid for Tom DeLay's staff to travel to the islands. The report also shows that Abramoff worked with Ralph Reed and other conservative luminaries on staffing the Bush Administration's offices that are supposed to oversee the Mariana Islands.

“For years, many of my colleagues and I have tried to end the abuses in the Marianas, and for years we have been greeted by a stone cold indifference on the part of the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives and the House Resources Committee which is the committee with sole jurisdiction over the islands.

“No investigations, no hearings, and no legislative action, for over 10 years, while some of the poorest women in the world have been exploited in factories and the sex trade. Jack Abramoff was paid to stop Congress from acting and he found plenty of willing buyers under the dome. It's time for the stonewalling to stop. I have reintroduced my legislation to reform the laws governing the Marianas. It is time for the House Resources Committee to hold a hearing on my bill. It is time for the committee to fully investigate Jack Abramoff's influence over the Congress on this matter, and it is time for the House to vote on the Marianas Human Dignity Act.”

Additional Information:

1. Statement by Representative Miller
   
2. Legislative and Political Timeline of Republican Inaction on Issues Affecting the CNMI
   
3. Background Information on the bill
   
4. Bill Summary
5. Bill Text (pdf file)
6. Letters to Chairman Pombo, Speaker Hastert, and Majority Leader Boehner (pdf file)

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