Bill to Reform Northern Marianas Moves to Senate

Unbelievably, there’s still some unfinished business from the Jack Abramoff years. From ABC News:

A bill to reform the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) immigration system will be introduced on the Senate Floor today, addressing more than a decade of mounting concerns about the exploitation of workers, sex trafficking and porous borders and years of political maneuvering by convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

“After fighting for these reforms for many years, we are now closing the legal loopholes that had allowed some of the poorest men and women to be abused and exploited in sweatshops in this American territory,” said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who has championed the fight for CNMI reform since the 1990s.

The bill would extend U.S. immigration laws to the CNMI and establish a federally administered guest worker program in the American territory.

If you’re wondering where Abramoff is these days, he’s still serving out his sentence for defrauding investors in his purchase of a fleet of gambling boats, but has yet to be sentenced for his bribes to lawmakers. That’s because he’s still cooperating with prosecutors, who’ve repeatedly requested a delay for his sentencing since he’s got more to give (as Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) and Tom DeLay know full well).