October 18, 1998 - PRESS RELEASE-

CONGRESSIONAL WITNESSES ADDRESS SGMA

SAIPAN. Using the analogy of a telephoto lens that focuses on only one part of a picture while the rest is out of focus, Reverend Raymond Kinsella told the Saipan Garment Manufacturer’s Association (SGMA) last week that he testified against a "federal takeover" after seeing a 20/20 television program that gave a damaging, one sided view against the CNMI.

At a recent general membership meeting of the SGMA, Kinsela was the guest speaker along with Saipan Chamber of Commerce Vice President Lynn Knight, who also delivered testimony last September 16 in Washington D.C. against a federal takeover of immigration, minimum wage and trade advantages that were granted the CNMI under the Covenant.

"I’m more comfortable in front of a congregation preaching the word of God, but the 20/20 story was so unfair it compelled me to go to the Washington and help bring a more accurate perspective of the CNMI," said Kinsella, who is president of Grace Christian Ministries. "In an attempt to seek out the truth… I personally visited garment factories and surveyed workers. I do not believe that we have persecution or repression of rights, so much as issues that can be resolved through mediation and consciousness-raising." Kinsella offered to work closely with factory owners and resident managers of the SGMA to help bring religious services and support to the factory workers. "If everybody will come together and begin to start focusing, we can fix our problems together right here in the islands. I think we need Washington’s help, but a federal takeover is not the answer," Kinsella said in the hearing.

The SCC's Knight cited, during the hearing, a recent economic study funded by the U.S. Department of Interior that described an employment multiplier of nearly 1.5 created by the CNMI garment industry. "The industry certainly creates a lot of government jobs, jobs for people that own mom-and-pop stores, local residents that are leasing their land where the factories are located, transportation companies, shipping companies, jobs in telecommunications, retail and wholesale, insurance, you name it."

According to statistics offered by the CNMI government at the Washington D.C. hearing, the industry directly generates $85 million out of the $210 million annual budget for the CNMI. This represents 39% of the CNMI’s total government budget. Based on the employment multiplier, the industry creates approximately 7,500 jobs in the community outside of the factories, including some 900 of which are in government service.

"The Association is undertaking an industry-wide economic survey for use in responding to various data requests we receive," said SGMA Executive Director Richard A. Pierce. "The Bank of Hawaii's Economic Report on the Commonwealth, a United States General Accounting Office's congressional appropriations report, the CNMI's Public School System and Commonwealth Ports Authority bond rating information gathering, and SGMA's new website at www.sgma-saipan.org are just some of the places where this vital information will be reported."