113 



COMMONWEALTH OF 



THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS 



Statement of Jesus C. Borja 



June 1, 1995 



mity with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 



24 



In 1983, however, Congress amended the Magnuson Act and made 



clear its intention that the Act apply to the Northern 



25 



Marianas. This amendment was made without consultation with 



the Northern Marianas and without affording the Commonwealth a 

 hearing on the matter. This amendment was very unpopular in the 

 Northern Marianas because the Magnuson Act then excluded tuna 

 from regulation as a highly migratory species. As a result, the 

 Commonwealth was precluded from regulating its most valuable 

 fishery resource. 



PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION RECOMMENDS POLICY CHANGES 



The Covenant established a presidentially-appointed commis- 

 sion to advise Congress on the application of federal laws to the 

 Commonwealth. Application of the Magnuson Act had been raised 

 with the Commission before the 1983 amendment. In August 1985 

 this bipartisan commission, the Northern Mariana Islands Commis- 

 sion on Federal Laws, without dissent and with the support of the 



24 



2 Commonwealth Code sees. 1101 et seq . 



25 House Report 97-549, at 17-18 (1982). 



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