ISSUES AFFECTING THE CNMI
FAVOR a self-sustaining and self-reliant CNMI.
FAVOR legislation to have the U.S. Congress transfer the jurisdiction and control of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and submerged lands surrounding the CNMI from the United States to the CNMI
FAVOR legislation to have a Veterans Administration medical facility built in the CNMI
FAVOR establishing and locating federal offices and agencies, such as Small Business Administration and other federal economic business incubator agencies, in the CNMI
FAVOR the granting of permanent residence and citizenship to non-American individuals who have immediate relative status in the CNMI and who have met all of the requirements for U.S. citizenship as if living in the United States, as well as the processing of those applications in the CNMI
FAVOR the expeditious processing in the CNMI of visas for non-resident workers, transferring from their CNMI job classification to the appropriate U.S. visa category for which they meet the requirements.
ISSUES AFFECTING AMERICANS ABROAD
Voting From Abroad
FAVOR the implementation of simplified and uniform procedures in all U.S. jurisdictions for registering to vote and casting absentee ballots from abroad.
FAVOR the elimination of various state administrative rulings and procedures that are non-essential to ensuring voting validity but have the effect of disenfranchising voters abroad.
FAVOR allowing the use of Federal Write-In Absentee Ballots for primary elections for federal office.
FAVOR the submission of Federal Post Card Applications (FPCA) by web-based communications.
FAVOR mandatory and timely notification of rejection of Federal Post Card Applications FPCA).
FAVOR establishing a minimum interval of 45 days between transmittal of ballots to voters abroad, and the deadline for voted ballots to be received by local election officials.
Citizenship Transmission
FAVOR legislation enabling every American parent to transmit U.S. citizenship to his or her children born abroad without any prior U.S. residency requirement.
FAVOR making the above change retroactive to include children under the age of 18 who were born abroad to a U.S.-citizen parent.
FAVOR a provision in such legislation guaranteeing that no child born abroad of a U.S.- citizen parent will ever again be stateless at birth.
FAVOR restoring U.S. citizenship to persons born abroad who lost it by failing to meet residency requirements in a section of the Immigration and Naturalization Act that was repealed in 1978.
Social Security, Medicare and Healthcare
FAVOR the extension of Medicare benefits to all eligible US citizens wherever they live in the world so that provision of local health services for retired overseas Americans is ensured.
FAVOR elimination of the provision that now cuts off Supplemental Social Security Income (SSI) for persons who live outside the United States for more than 30 consecutive days.
FAVOR survivors' benefits for nonresident foreign spouses of U.S. citizens.
FAVOR making any universal healthcare plan take into account Americans abroad and their families.
FAVOR provision of easy to access, affordable, quality medical care for our Veterans living overseas who do not have access to regular VA hospitals.
Freedom of Movement
FAVOR simplifying and expediting procedures for obtaining permanent U.S. residence permits and citizenship for non-American spouses and close family members of U.S. citizens.
FAVOR providing the immediate family members of US citizens living abroad who are seeking US visitor visas (B-1 and B-2) the maximum visa validity (currently 10 years).
Other Governmental Services and Benefits
FAVOR legislation requiring the application of all U.S. labor and employment laws to American citizens and "green card" holders working abroad for the U.S. government or its contractors.
FAVOR the renegotiation of Status of Forces Agreements that restrict the use of military facilities to those residing within the host country, with a view to permitting military retirees living in other countries to use all facilities allowed by military regulations.
FAVOR an increase in weight limit on packages that may be sent or received by military retirees abroad through the military postal system
AMERICAN FOREIGN AND DEFENSE POLICY
Global Good Neighbor Policy
FAVOR a constructive U.S. foreign policy that fosters engagement, rejects arrogance, and creates opportunities for dialogue rather than limits or shuts them down.
FAVOR cooperation, negotiation, diplomacy, reciprocity and mutual respect that will widen contact and interaction with other nations.
OPPOSE rhetoric that restricts negotiation with legally elected leaders of countries with which the U.S. has differences.
FAVOR U.S. approval of and participation in the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
FAVOR expansion of foreign aid for health and humanitarian purposes, enhancement of
institutions combating world poverty and promoting sustainable development.
FAVOR action to exercise moral leadership, including:
•_Rapid and effective responses to stop genocide even in countries of little strategic importance to the US.
•_Diplomatic efforts to end the violent suppression.
Int’l Agreements, Treaties & Obligations
OPPOSE imposition of trade barriers, tariffs, sanctions or other trade-distorting measures that are in contravention to relevant trade agreements.
FAVOR repeal of the American Service Personnel Protection Act of 2002, popularly known as the “Hague Invasion Act,” with the exception of those provisions that ensure the best possible legal defense for a U.S. service member charged by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. The “Hague Invasion Act” authorizes the use of military force to free any American held by the Court and/or to penalize any member of the Court.
FAVOR implementation of the long list of existing treaties involving control of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and similar weaponry, as well as manufacture, sale and distribution of small arms and anti-personnel land mines, and clearing of anti-personnel land mines in all areas of past conflicts.
FAVOR U.S. support of the United Nations, including payment of all past and current dues and assessments.
Control of WMDs & Similar Weaponry
OPPOSE U.S. alliances with authoritarian regimes that spread nuclear technologies to
terrorist and theocratic governments.
OPPOSE U.S. delivery of internationally banned and questionable weapons to the volatile Middle East region.
OPPOSE U.S. maintenance of weapons delivery systems ready for instant-strike operations.
FAVOR U.S. leadership of an international plan for phased reduction of nuclear weapons that will lead to their complete abolition.
FAVOR U.S. agreement to routine international inspections of nuclear arsenals, weapons programs and enrichment facilities of all states, including international monitoring and policing of sales and supply of CBRN weapons materials.
FAVOR full funding for safeguarding nuclear weapons of the former Soviet Union from falling into the hands of others.
FAVOR a U.S. call to enforce the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
FAVOR revival, full funding and implementation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, in force from 1972 until the U.S. unilaterally withdrew on June 13, 2002.
FAVOR clearing of anti-personnel land mines in all areas of past conflicts, including release by Israel of maps of land mines in southern Lebanon.
Supporting Our Military; Honoring Our Veterans
FAVOR clearer and more transparent budgeting by the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and other sources of military expenditure in order to permit better Congressional oversight.
OPPOSE the use of emergency supplemental budgets for ongoing wars, particularly supplemental budgets that completely underestimate funds needed for the year.
FAVOR restriction of policies that allow U.S. military reliance on private contractors engaged without competitive bidding.
FAVOR a severe restriction of the policy of outsourcing critical security and military functions to private contractors.
FAVOR requiring the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to submit to the requirements of the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act, which demands control of projected and real expenditures by independent outside auditors.
FAVOR providing our military personnel with the training and resources needed to meet the challenges they are most likely to face in today's world: peacekeeping missions, anti-terrorist operations and emergency humanitarian actions.
FAVOR permanent statutory funding of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
FAVOR a full review of military medical facilities, current treatment and conditions for veterans and wounded and impaired military personnel in order to bring about significantly improved new public policy.
FAVOR the implementation of policies that assure veterans a dignified return to civilian life.
FAVOR full healthcare for veterans.
FAVOR facilitation and expedition to citizenship for immigrants who have honorably completed their U.S. military service
FAVOR the right of every veteran to an appropriate military funeral.
FAVOR cessation of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and abolish discrimination against homosexuals in the Armed Forces.
The U.S. and the Middle East
FAVOR setting a defined timetable for bringing U.S. combat troops home rapidly, while launching a robust diplomatic effort to build an international support structure for stability in Iraq and the region, as indicated by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group (ISG), which recommends that every country with an interest in avoiding a chaotic Iraq, including Iran and Syria, should be included.
FAVOR provision of funds needed in Iraq for reconstruction, development, and refugee assistance, as well as targeted training economic development and employment opportunity for the Iraqi people.
OPPOSE maintaining permanent military bases in Iraq.
FAVOR the U.S. serving as an honest broker in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while maintaining a single standard when condemning violence, pressing Israel to stop expansion of settlements and the separation wall and both parties adhering to international law.
FAVOR an even-handed proactive U.S. commitment to a peace process, predicated on
Palestinian recognition of the State of Israel’s right to exist and Israel’s recognition of the Palestinian people’s right to an independent, sovereign and viable state within internationally recognized and secure borders, in the belief that this will lead to true peace and prosperity.
FAVOR recognition of relevant prior agreements by both the Palestinian Authority and the State of Israel.
FAVOR U.S. supporting and respecting Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence.
FAVOR a policy that deals with Iran’s enrichment of uranium and alleged aid and assistance to the insurgency in Iraq through diplomacy and direct U.S. talks with the government of Iran.
Latin America
FAVOR normalizing relations with Cuba, and call for an immediate lifting of all trade and economic sanctions and the ban on U.S. citizens traveling to and from Cuba, which inhibits American citizens’ ability to travel to and conduct business in all countries throughout the region.
FAVOR opening a dialogue with the government of Cuba.
OPPOSE the construction of the barrier along the border of U.S. and Mexico.
FAVOR the immediate passage of the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia.
Terrorism
FAVOR government policy decisions based on a full and public review, including the widest possible disclosure of documents to ensure that improper conduct for political advantage is avoided.
FAVOR U.S. actions against the occurrence and spread of terrorism that use “soft power” to regain the support of citizens and nations around the world.
FAVOR efforts to combat terrorism that not only address actual occurrences of terrorism, but also address conditions that terrorists exploit to spread chaos and confusion.
FAVOR U.S. policy toward the Middle East and other sources of terrorism that promotes self- determination, peace, and human rights,
FAVOR a U.S. policy based on internationally recognized legal processes to investigate and prosecute terrorists in national and international courts.
AMERICAN DOMESTIC ISSUES
Education, Arts and Sciences
FAVOR the federal government fully funding all mandated education programs, notably the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known as “No Child Left Behind.”
FAVOR restoration of public funding for education for states and territories, including the CNMI, that have recently cut back spending.
FAVOR increases in public funding in all states for better salaries for teachers, the hiring of more teachers, reductions in class size, and for the maintenance of school buildings.
FAVOR the reduction in class size to help students learn and for new assessment of student learning and school performance.
FAVOR more attention to equal opportunity in teacher hiring practices, thus ensuring better representation of the diverse age, ethnic and gender groups in American society in our schools.
FAVOR Internet access and training in new computer-based technologies, in all public schools, which will allow students from all backgrounds to join the information revolution and knowledge economy, and strengthen our global competitiveness.
FAVOR preschool programs that allow local community agencies to work closely with parents and educational providers to ensure children’s health and dietary needs are met, and, if needed, bilingual English-language tuition to ensure that all children entering kindergarten have adequate knowledge of English.
OPPOSE anti-immigrant sentiment in our schools.
OPPOSE federal funding of homeland security education curriculum in public schools for lack of clear mandate.
FAVOR the adoption of education policies and curricula that promote stronger awareness and appreciation of current events, global affairs, geography, foreign cultures, traditions, and foreign language in order to help the US in the increasingly globalized world.
OPPOSE school voucher or tax-credit programs that divert public funds to private schools.
FAVOR legislation to provide full funding through bonds to build and renovate public school buildings and playing fields throughout the United States and its territories.
FAVOR improved federal funding for programs of financial aid for students in higher education.
FAVOR improved federal support for international exchange and cooperation programs for students, skilled workers and professional people, in order to widen and enrich American knowledge of other countries and cultures.
FAVOR improved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as these organizations are critical to the encouragement of cultural and creative expression in our country.
FAVOR freedom of expression in the arts.
FAVOR increased funding for the National Science Foundation and additional grants and tax credits for universities and businesses for specialized training programs.
Economy and Tax Issues
A. Managing the Nation’s Budget
FAVOR the immediate repeal of fiscally unsound tax cuts, including the capital gains and dividend tax cuts.
FAVOR renewed efforts to control and gradually to reduce the federal budget deficit.
B. Maintaining the Nation’s Infrastructure
FAVOR federal assistance for the regular inspection, repair and modernization of integrated urban transport systems. This assistance should include a federal works and jobs creation program and, insofar as possible, employ recently unemployed, retrained industrial workers.
FAVOR comprehensive expansion and modernization of the national rail network, as well as the integration of Amtrak passenger and freight services, with a view towards cost reduction of rail based transport and enticement of more road and air travelers to trains.
FAVOR expansion of light-rail transport as a means of reducing the use of cars.
FAVOR federal support for research into alternative fuel use in integrated mass transit systems.
C. Ensuring Opportunity for All
OPPOSE any attempts to deny the Earned Income Tax Credit to working families in order to pay for tax credits awarded to the wealthiest claimants.
FAVOR improved provision of childcare for low-income working families.
FAVOR retention and enhancement of the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act to provide employees with 24 hours of unpaid leave per year to participate in school activities directly related to the educational development of their children, or to take or accompany their children, or elderly relatives, to medical and dental appointments.
FAVOR providing tax incentives to businesses that provide on-site child care centers for working parents, compensated healthcare coverage, flexible work schedules, job sharing and on the job training with internship and apprenticeship programs.
FAVOR strengthening of Equal Pay legislation to ensure that workers receive equal pay for equal work and to eliminate pay discrimination against women.
OPPOSE the slashing of funding for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
FAVOR expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and more active efforts by the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) to inform eligible Americans, including Americans abroad, of how they might claim this credit.
FAVOR the award of tax concessions or credits to small businesses, especially those owned by women and individuals from economically disadvantaged groups, including disabled persons.
D. Strengthening Corporate Transparency and Accountability
FAVOR legislation that mandates improved accounting and auditing practices. This will enable stakeholders, to restore confidence and pride in America’s largest corporate enterprises.
FAVOR full funding of company pensions, and legal sanctions against firms that undermine retirement security through mismanagement or fraudulent use of pension funds.
FAVOR fully portable pensions.
FAVOR tax credits to assist families that budget for retirement by expanding access to tax-deferred IRAs or 401(k) retirement savings accounts.
FAVOR initiatives to make it easier for private pension plans to be provided by small businesses.
E. Supporting Free and Fair Trade
FAVOR sanctions against U.S. companies shifting production lines overseas in order to evade fair and reasonable standards of pay and conditions of work, or who employ child or indentured laborers.
FAVOR efforts to develop new markets abroad for U.S.-made products and services.
OPPOSE imposition of any new trade barriers or tariffs.
FAVOR restoration of stability to global exchange rates for the dollar and other major currencies, because rapidly fluctuating rates of exchange have a deleterious effect on jobs, terms of trade and global prosperity.
Healthcare
FAVOR the provision of Universal Health Care for every American man, woman and child wherever they live.
FAVOR reduced, fairer prices for prescription drugs for everyone, and restoration of the right of the federal government to negotiate drug prices on behalf of Medicare recipients.
FAVOR nationwide regulation, already adopted in several states, of pharmaceutical company marketing campaigns, which restrict unethical practices, such as the giving of gifts and promotional incentives to healthcare practitioners.
FAVOR quality assurance and cost-control measures in the administration of universal health care, with a view to containing overall health costs and, if possible, gradually reducing costs per capita.
FAVOR a federal Patient’s Bill of Rights with legal guarantees to protect the rights of patients to confidentiality in relation to medical treatment, health status and genetic predisposition.
FAVOR federal funding of stem-cell research.
Electoral and Legal Systems
A. Elections and Representation.
FAVOR full public financing of all presidential, senatorial and congressional elections.
FAVOR adoption of legislation regulating the length of campaigns for federal office together with regulated, equitable access to free advertising and debate in the national media.
FAVOR an amendment to the Constitution that will establish the right of all citizens of the US irrespective of place of residence or permanent domicile, to vote in federal elections and to have their votes verifiably counted.
FAVOR legislation and an amendment to the Constitution allowing residents of the District of Columbia to be represented by one voting member of the House of Representatives and two voting Senators (with no commensurate loss of representation to the existing states).
FAVOR an amendment to the Constitution to abolish the indirect election of the president by the Electoral College and to allow direct elections.
FAVOR the right of residents of the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to vote for President without prejudice to their future independence or statehood.
FAVOR legislation requiring that US citizens whose names have been deleted from voting rolls be notified in writing at least 45 days before the state’s registration deadline to ensure that such voters have an opportunity to re-register.
B. Criminal Justice.
FAVOR abolition of the death sentence.
FAVOR federal government ratification of the Second Protocol to the United Nations
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as a means of informing the world community of our commitment to the abolition of the death penalty.
FAVOR a nationwide moratorium on executions despite the Supreme Court judgment on lethal injection. Executions are particularly difficult to justify when legal processes are marred by error and discrimination on racial or socioeconomic grounds.
OPPOSE the withdrawal of rights to habeas corpus in the 2006 Military Commissions Act in the firm and certain belief that the Writ of Habeas Corpus is fundamental to the rule of law. Habeas Corpus protects the practice of presumption of innocence and protects rights to legal defense.
OPPOSE privatization of any prison or any other correctional institution.
OPPOSE mandatory minimum sentences that curtail judicial discretion.
FAVOR the immediate repeal of “three strikes, you’re out” laws, which result in excessively long sentences for nonviolent offenders
OPPOSE the incarceration of juveniles with adults and note with concern the understaffing and closing of juvenile correctional institutions in Texas and elsewhere.
FAVOR a lowering of sentences for non-violent drug possession and support legislation that would eliminate the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine.
CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Women’s Issues
SUPPORT the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women around the world, including the right to education, healthcare, legal protection and legal standing before the law.
FAVOR welfare reform that does not penalize women with children, and women who become pregnant while receiving public assistance, including a commitment to include family planning, emergency contraception and abortion for women in all national healthcare plans and a commitment to provide high-quality sex education and confidential reproductive healthcare for adolescents.
DEPLORE the “Global Gag Rule” and its proposed extensions, which censors the provision of family planning and public health information around the globe, resulting in the denial of healthcare to impoverished women (approximately 1,600 of whom die from pregnancy- and childbirth-related causes each day), the spread of HIV/AIDS and restricts scientific research into women’s reproductive health issues. We call for its immediate reversal in order to allow U.S. foreign aid again to support these vital global public health needs.
The Rule of Law at Home and Abroad
FAVOR the immediate revocation of all provisions of the misnamed “Patriot Act” that infringe upon basic Constitutional rights an liberties, and to replace the Act with legislation that specifically addresses gaps in the current security system of the United States to protect against terrorism without compromising constitutional rights.
FAVOR rejection all forms of torture.
FAVOR demand for accountability from, and where necessary to indict, all those, including those at the very top of the command chain, whose policies condoned, allowed, or encouraged the practice of torture and violation of international conventions and who have been involved in systematic assaults on all human rights and civil liberties.
FAVOR rejection of the role of religion or “faith-based” institutions of any kind in the forming of national policy, in keeping with the First Amendment’s ban on the establishment of state religion.
The Public’s Right to Information: Misuse of
Presidential Power
OPPOSE any encroachment on the public’s access to documents produced in the public interest, at public expense, by officials elected by the public.
FAVOR legislation to insure openness and preservation of U.S. government at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
Promoting Equal Rights
OPPOSE any efforts to amend the Constitution to deny any state the authority to grant legal rights to same-sex couples and, in particular, strongly oppose the Federal Marriage Amendment, which seeks to amend the Constitution to legally define marriage as a “union between a man and a woman.”
OPPOSE the use of Constitutional Amendments to remove civil rights.
Children and Family Rights
FAVOR the immediate ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which obliges its signatory states to ensure adequate protection of children within their borders and recognizes the principles of the child’s best interest, of equality before the law, of the rights and responsibilities of parents, of the child’s right to be protected from economic exploitation and from work likely to be hazardous or to interfere with a child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development, and of subsidiary state assistance to families.
FAVOR, when a child must work from economic necessity anywhere in the world, the enactment and enforcement of effective measures to ensure safe working conditions, healthcare and compulsory quality education.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
FAVOR that the US government energetically commit the creative, scientific and capital resources to seek solutions to US environmental sustainability, and take positive actions to protect the environment and improve quality of life.
FAVOR supporting national energy policies that provide major funding and sound fiscal incentives for clean energy research and development, including new materials, solar power, wind power, hydrogen, fuel cells, batteries and other electricity storage devices, and carbon dioxide capture and sequestration.
FAVOR more compelling financial incentives to industry, as well as the general public, to invest and apply greater energy efficiency techniques and products.
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