Schaffer/Marianas scandal explodes
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Categories: Effective & Ethical Government, Corporate Accountability / Workers' Rights, Immigration
Categories: Effective & Ethical Government, Corporate Accountability / Workers' Rights, Immigration
UPDATE: Coincidentally, the Senate TODAY passed legislation to bring CNMI under federal labor laws. This legislation is in response to the horrific human rights abuses that have persisted for decades under the current guest worker system in CNMI -- that very same system that Schaffer believes should be a model for the rest of the country. I've included a statement by Rep. George Miller, Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, in the extended entry.
Two days ago, questions surfaced about the relationship between Senate candidate Bob Schaffer and Jack Abramoff's storied efforts to stall human rights and immigration reforms in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory.
Today, the Denver Post's homework is complete, and it's utterly devastating:
You have to read all of this--reporter Michael Riley goes on to detail the horrific labor conditions widely reported in the Northern Marianas, Schaffer's ridiculous Abramoff-arranged vacation that never even attempted to veer from its Potemkin script, and (best of all) Dick Wadhams completely slobbering himself trying to defend the indefensible.
And there's more--we've been going through contribution records looking for ties between Schaffer and other CNMI corporate interests. I previously mentioned donations to Schaffer's Senate campaign from the pro-business governor of the territory, and here's another bit:
Two $1000 contributions to Schaffer on 3/31/1997 from Jerry Tan, brother of sweatshop owner of scandalous record Willie Tan, who hired Abramoff to lobby to preserve the "Made in the USA" status quo in CNMI. The entire Tan family, through Tan Holdings and affiliated businesses, were key figures in the CNMI/Abramoff scandal. They were assessed the largest fine ever levied by the US Dept of Labor, approximately $9,000,000, and after that they hired Jack Abramoff to protect their "interests."
Here's a .PDF of donors from Saipan's ZIP code (remember, US territory) to Schaffer.
Coming up: Greenberg Traurig, anyone?
UPDATE: Help us stay on this story: Make a quick donation of any size to ProgressNowAction, a 501(c)4 organization.
Chairman George Miller's Statement on Senate Approval of Northern Mariana Islands Immigration Reform Legislation
WASHINGTON, DC - 4/10/08 - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee who has sought reform of the laws governing the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) for more than 15 years, issued the following statement today on the Senate's approval of S.2739. That legislation, which was approved by a vote of 91-4, incorporates a provision that will bring the CNMI within the federal immigration system:
"Today, the Senate passed a bill to end the broken immigration system in the CNMI and help begin to restore human rights to individuals working there. The Senate's good work today marks the first time that both the House and Senate have approved legislation closing the legal loopholes that have allowed some of the poorest men and women in the world to be lured to the CNMI, abused, and exploited in sweatshops in this American territory.
"For more than a decade, a lobbyist by the name of Jack Abramoff joined then-Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-TX) and others in Congress to block our reform efforts. We sought these changes so that we could put a stop to the well-documented and widespread abuse of poor men and women in the garment and tourism industry in the CNMI and to better secure America's borders.
"Jack Abramoff is now in prison and Tom Delay has resigned in disgrace. Very few people would defend the status quo in the CNMI, which has done such damage to workers and their families over the years.
"Coupled with the increase in the minimum wage that we enacted last year, this bill will help put an end to the old practices and, I hope, will help the CNMI open a new chapter of economic prosperity in compliance with American law."
Two days ago, questions surfaced about the relationship between Senate candidate Bob Schaffer and Jack Abramoff's storied efforts to stall human rights and immigration reforms in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory.
Today, the Denver Post's homework is complete, and it's utterly devastating:
Just before boarding a plane to the Mariana Islands in 1999, then-Congressman Bob Schaffer announced he was embarking on a fact-finding mission to get to the bottom of repeated allegations of labor abuse in the American protectorate.
"I plan to walk right into those factories and living quarters to see for myself what conditions exist," Schaffer said in a news release in August of that year.
What he didn't say was that the trip was partly arranged by the firm of now-jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who represented textile factory owners fighting congressional efforts to reform labor and immigration laws on the islands and who was being handsomely paid to keep the islands' cherished exemptions.
Schaffer and his wife stayed for free at a palm-studded beach resort and, besides factories, also toured historical sites and met with clients of Preston-
Gates, Abramoff's firm, according to a copy of the trip's agenda archived in Schaffer's congressional papers.
He left believing that allegations of widespread abuse were largely unfounded -- blaming them on Big Labor's efforts to shut down a booming textile industry allowed to use the "Made in USA" label but dependent on tens of thousands of imported workers.
In a recent interview with The Denver Post, the Republican candidate for Colorado's open Senate seat described the protectorate's guest-worker program as a "model" lawmakers could use as they overhaul the U.S. immigration system...
You have to read all of this--reporter Michael Riley goes on to detail the horrific labor conditions widely reported in the Northern Marianas, Schaffer's ridiculous Abramoff-arranged vacation that never even attempted to veer from its Potemkin script, and (best of all) Dick Wadhams completely slobbering himself trying to defend the indefensible.
And there's more--we've been going through contribution records looking for ties between Schaffer and other CNMI corporate interests. I previously mentioned donations to Schaffer's Senate campaign from the pro-business governor of the territory, and here's another bit:
Two $1000 contributions to Schaffer on 3/31/1997 from Jerry Tan, brother of sweatshop owner of scandalous record Willie Tan, who hired Abramoff to lobby to preserve the "Made in the USA" status quo in CNMI. The entire Tan family, through Tan Holdings and affiliated businesses, were key figures in the CNMI/Abramoff scandal. They were assessed the largest fine ever levied by the US Dept of Labor, approximately $9,000,000, and after that they hired Jack Abramoff to protect their "interests."
Here's a .PDF of donors from Saipan's ZIP code (remember, US territory) to Schaffer.
Coming up: Greenberg Traurig, anyone?
UPDATE: Help us stay on this story: Make a quick donation of any size to ProgressNowAction, a 501(c)4 organization.
Chairman George Miller's Statement on Senate Approval of Northern Mariana Islands Immigration Reform Legislation
WASHINGTON, DC - 4/10/08 - U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee who has sought reform of the laws governing the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) for more than 15 years, issued the following statement today on the Senate's approval of S.2739. That legislation, which was approved by a vote of 91-4, incorporates a provision that will bring the CNMI within the federal immigration system:
"Today, the Senate passed a bill to end the broken immigration system in the CNMI and help begin to restore human rights to individuals working there. The Senate's good work today marks the first time that both the House and Senate have approved legislation closing the legal loopholes that have allowed some of the poorest men and women in the world to be lured to the CNMI, abused, and exploited in sweatshops in this American territory.
"For more than a decade, a lobbyist by the name of Jack Abramoff joined then-Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-TX) and others in Congress to block our reform efforts. We sought these changes so that we could put a stop to the well-documented and widespread abuse of poor men and women in the garment and tourism industry in the CNMI and to better secure America's borders.
"Jack Abramoff is now in prison and Tom Delay has resigned in disgrace. Very few people would defend the status quo in the CNMI, which has done such damage to workers and their families over the years.
"Coupled with the increase in the minimum wage that we enacted last year, this bill will help put an end to the old practices and, I hope, will help the CNMI open a new chapter of economic prosperity in compliance with American law."
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