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“DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1998” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1883 on Sept. 29, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED
AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1998
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speech of
HON. NEIL ABERCROMBIE
of hawaii
in the house of representatives
Friday, September 26, 1997
The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2267) making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1998, and for other purposes:
Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Miller language adopted into H.R. 2267, the Departments of Commerce, Justice and State appropriations bill. These instructions will set aside a small amount of funding for the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys to provide assistance to the victims of human rights abuses in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands.
Since at least 1984, Federal officials have expressed concern about the CNMI alien labor system. Worker complaints over wages and working conditions are continuing undiminished according to the third annual report of the Federal-CNMI Initiative. The Governments of the Philippines and China have expressed concerns about the treatment of their citizens in this U.S. Commonwealth and allegations persist regarding the CNMI's inability to protect workers against crimes such as illegal recruitment, battery, rape, child labor, and forced prostitution.
Without Representative Miller's language in H.R. 2267, individuals who have been the subject of human rights abuses--right here in the United States--have only the charity of private relief organizations to rely upon for help. In Hawaii, the Filipino Solidarity Coalition is currently providing sanctuary to a young girl named Katrina who came to Hawaii as a Government witness. When Katrina was 14 she was brought to the CNMI by an employer who promised her a good job and fair wages in the restaurant industry. When she arrived in the CNMI her hopes for a better life were destroyed. She discovered that the employer had lured her to the CNMI under false pretenses. Not only was she confined to her assigned living quarters but she was also forced into service as a prostitute. Katrina had few options and even less money but she escaped her confines and filed suit against her employer with the help of the local Philippine consulate. When Katrina's actions were revealed to her employer, her life was threatened. To escape the abusive situation, the consulate helped her to find refuge in Guam. However, Guam's close proximity to her former employer still put Katrina in a dangerous situation.
Through the help of the Filipino Solidarity Coalition, Katrina managed to escape to Hawaii where local donations and a small grant from the Department of Labor helped to provide her shelter, food, and further legal assistance. However, there are many others who remain in the CNMI still suffering the abuse and indignity that Katrina managed to escape. I appreciate the Chairman's support of the Miller language which will help those like Katrina who are victims of human rights abuse, not faraway in a foreign country, but right here in the United States of America.
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