releases: https://sablan.house.gov/week-congress-december-18-2020
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://sablan.house.gov/week-congress-december-18-2020 | THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS - December 18, 2020 | 2020-12-21 | 2020 | 2020-12 | Democrat | House | MP | Gregorio Sablan | S001177 | sablan.house.gov | legacy | In this issue COVID-19 vaccine is here Not yet on COVID relief NMC wins $10.7m EDA grant Larger grants for vets cemeteries 18,608 PUA/FPUC claims pending Congratulating young artists A room with a view Visitors Kilili Time Capsule Opportunities Legislative highlights COVID-19 vaccine is here The Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation received an initial 4,875 of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine early Thursday morning. This first shipment is comparable to what Vermont, Wyoming, and other smaller population states are receiving. CHCC plans to give priority to healthcare workers, first responders, and high-risk patients, but the goal is to have everyone in the Marianas inoculated as vaccine deliveries continue over the coming months. To ensure that happens, CHCC officials have asked me to take the new vaccine to show the public it is safe. I agreedas long as everyone in the priority groups is taken care ofand will get my first shot next week.If we want to keep our community healthy and get our economy moving again, all of us will need to get vaccinated. Not yet on COVID relief Talks continue, as we go to press, on an omnibus appropriation for the remainder of fiscal year 2021 and for additional economic relief as our nation struggles with the COVID pandemic. The bipartisan group of eight Senators, who have taken the lead on COVID relief, released two draft bills this week. The first contains an extension of unemployment benefits and the Paycheck Protection Program, additional food aid including extra money for the Marianas, and funding for schools, housing assistance, airports, and broadband expansion. The second draft bill is a holding place for two, more controversial proposals: funding to help states pay for policing and other basic services and liability protections for businesses. Republicans generally oppose helping states. Democrats are skeptical of shielding businesses that do not protect workers and customers from the coronavirus. Your congressional office is in direct communication with leadership, who are negotiating a final package, and with the bipartisan Senate Gang of 8, advocating for inclusion of the Marianas in all forms of relief. NMC wins $10.7m EDA grant Congratulations to Northern Marianas College on the award of $10,681,796 from the 2019 Disaster Supplemental Appropriation, US Public Law 116-20. The money will be used for a Workforce Development and Training Center at the College with fully-equipped classroom, laboratory, and office spaces. The typhoon-resilient Center will be powered by solar panels and be used for teaching and research in food science, plant biotechnology, entomology, and anthropometry. EDA says the project will spur private investment and increase employment opportunities. This grant has been a long time coming. NMC applied on July 3, 2019, just one month after Congress made the disaster recovery funds available for Super Typhoon Yutu recovery. But it has taken the Trump administration 18 months to issue approval two years after Yutu struck. EDA still has six more disaster recovery grant applications from the Marianas it has not acted on, worth about $85 million. Larger grants for vets cemeteries The Marpi cemetery and veterans cemeteries across America stand to receive more federal maintenance funds now that my Veterans Cemetery Grants Improvement Act has been sent to the President for signature. My bill, H.R. 5487, was wrapped into a larger package of veterans measures, H.R. 7105, which the House passed on Wednesday. It doubles the current grant limit of $5 million for cemetery maintenance and should help the Commonwealth keep our Marianas veterans' final resting place clean and beautiful. 18,608 PUA/FPUC claims pending 18,608 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation applications remain unprocessed by the Commonwealth as of December 12, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL). This is a down from the 27,446 pending applications the Commonwealth's Department of Labor self-reported to the federal agency in November. USDOL tells the congressional office up to 18,000 of the unprocessed applications are under investigation for potential fraud, because they were filed from outside the Marianas. USDOL expects the Commonwealth to conclude review of the suspected fraudulent claims by the end of December. The PUA and FPUC programs cover unemployment that occurs in 2020, but Congress has provided enough funding so claims for that period can still be processed and paid in 2021. USCIS extends response times The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced today it is extending the response time flexibilities for certain Requests for Evidence and Notices of Intent. The agency originally announced the extra time on March 30, 2020 in consideration of the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. USCIS will continue to consider a response to the following requests and notices received within 60 calendar days after the response due date set in the request or notice before the agency takes any action: Requests for Evidence; Continuations to Request Evidence (N-14); Notices of Intent to Deny; Notices of Intent to Revoke; Notices of Intent to Rescind; Notices of Intent to Terminate regional centers; Motions to Reopen an N-400 Pursuant to 8 CFR 335.5, Receipt of Derogatory Information After Grant; Filing date requirements for Form N-336, Request for a Hearing on a Decision in Naturalization Proceedings (Under Section 336 of the INA); or Filing date requirements for Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion. This flexibility applies to the above documents if the issuance date listed on the request, notice, or decision is between March 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2021, inclusive. OPPORTUNITIES Grants A note to those receiving or applying for federal grants during the coronavirus crisis: The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) may extend for up to 12 months certain grants set to expire between March 31 and December 31, 2020. OMB is also providing some deadline flexibility for grant applications. Check out these links for OMB's March 9 and March 17 memo on these extensions. Public Comments Intercountry adoption rule changes Coral critical habitats LEGISLATIVE HIGHLIGHTS THISWEEK S. 2174 - Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act of 2020, as amended (passed by voice vote) NEXTWEEK The House is in recess. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |