{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://sablan.house.gov/press-release/insular-area-bill-funding-federal-government-passes-us-house", "Insular area bill funding the federal government passes U.S. House", "2014-12-12", "2014", "2014-12", "Independent", "Senate", "MP", "Gregorio Sablan", "S001177", "sablan.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The U.S. House of Representatives has approved H.R. 83, an insular areas bill that was used as the vehicle to fund most of the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2015. Passage at 9:38 p.m. followed a day of dramatic uncertainty as both Republicans and Democrats found reasons to object to provisions included in the bill. In the end the vote was a narrow 219 to 206. Included in the measure is language authored by Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, extending for five years certain immigration policies crucial to the Northern Mariana Islands economy. The Senate, which remained in session after the House vote, must now act on the bill. The White House issued a statement earlier today saying the President supports enactment.\n\u201cWe have been working on passage of this legislation for two years,\u201d said Congressman Sablan. \u201cThe last few weeks have been touch and go. And we are not finished yet.\n\u201cBut I am very grateful to everyone who has assisted in getting us to this point, including Congresswoman Donna Christensen, who wrote H.R. 83, Senator Lisa Murkowski, who added my language to H.R. 83 in the Senate. And particularly to our Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, who took a special interest in making sure my language passed the House.\n\u201cI also want to thank Northern Marianas Governor Eloy Inos, who understands well the importance of extending these immigration policies and made his views known to Speaker of the House John Boehner and to Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. I very much appreciate the Governor\u2019s partnership.\u201d\nWithout enactment of H.R. 83 three policies important to the economy of the Northern Marianas will expire on December 31. The policies bar claims of asylum from the Northern Marinas, which is critical to the islands tourist industry; protect a small number of foreign investors, who were allowed to enter under Northern Marianas immigration law prior to 2009; and exempt the Northern Marianas and Guam from the cap on foreign workers, who may enter for temporary jobs, such as construction connected with the U.S. military build-up in the islands and resort development.\nIf H.R. 83 is enacted into law, the policies will now be terminated at the end of 2019.\nAs well, H.R. 83 provides tens of millions of dollars in annual grant funding for the Northern Mariana Islands, including about $7 million in water and sewer construction money as a result of a formula change that Sablan and other insular area representatives have successfully placed in appropriation bills since 2010.\nH.R. 83 also adds the insular areas to the places in the United States that can be promoted as part of the national tourism advertising campaign, BrandUSA, and renews the program for another five years.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://sablan.house.gov/press-release/insular-area-bill-funding-federal-government-passes-us-house"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9838619735091925, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}