I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2876

To provide for a nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives to

represent the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 24, 1996

Mr. UNDERWOOD (for himself, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. FRAZER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr. ABERCROMBIE,

and Ms. PELOSI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To provide for a nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives to represent the Commonwealth of the

Northern Mariana Islands.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Northern Marianas

5 Delegate Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DELEGATE TO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM

2 COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARI3 ANA ISLANDS.

4 The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

5 shall be represented in the United States Congress by the

6 Resident Representative to the United States authorized

7 by section 901 of the Covenant to Establish a Common8 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union

9 with the United States of America (approved by Public

10 Law 94–241 (48 U.S.C. 1681 note)). The Resident Rep11 resentative shall be a nonvoting Delegate to the House of

12 Representatives, elected as provided in this Act.

13 SEC. 3. ELECTION OF DELEGATE.

14 (a) ELECTORS AND TIME OF ELECTION.—The Dele15 gate shall be elected—

16 (1) by the people qualified to vote for the popu17 larly elected officials of the Commonwealth of the

18 Northern Mariana Islands; and

19 (2) at the general election of 1996, on the day

20 and month set by Article VIII, section 1, of the Con21 stitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar22 iana Islands, and at such general election every 2d

23 year thereafter.

24 (b) MANNER OF ELECTION.—The Delegate shall be

25 elected at large, by separate ballot, and by a majority of

26 the votes cast for the office of Delegate. If no candidate
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1 receives such majority, on the 14th day following such

2 election a runoff election shall be held between the can3 didates receiving the highest and the 2d highest number

4 of votes cast for the office of Delegate.

5 (c) VACANCY.—In case of a permanent vacancy in the

6 office of Delegate, by reason of death, resignation, or per7 manent disability, the office of Delegate shall remain va8 cant until a successor is elected and qualified.

9 (d) COMMENCEMENT OF TERM.—The term of the

10 Delegate shall commence on the 3d day of January follow11 ing the date of the election.

12 SEC. 4. QUALIFICATIONS FOR OFFICE OF DELEGATE.

13 To be eligible for the office of Delegate a candidate

14 shall—

15 (1) be at least 25 years of age on the date of

16 the election;

17 (2) have been a citizen of the United States for

18 at least 7 years prior to the date of the election;

19 (3) be an inhabitant of the Commonwealth of

20 the Northern Mariana Islands; and

21 (4) not be, on the date of the election, a can22 didate for any other office.

23 SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF ELECTION PROCEDURE.

24 Acting pursuant to legislation enacted in accordance

25 with the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the North-
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1 ern Mariana Islands, the Government of the Common2 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands may determine

3 the order of names on the ballot for election of Delegate,

4 the method by which a special election to fill a vacancy

5 in the office of Delegate shall be conducted, the method

6 by which ties between candidates for the office of Delegate

7 shall be resolved, and all other matters of local application

8 pertaining to the election and the office of Delegate not

9 otherwise expressly provided for in this Act.

10 SEC. 6. COMPENSATION, PRIVILEGES, AND IMMUNITIES.

11 Until the Rules of the House of Representatives are

12 amended to provide otherwise, the Delegate from the Com13 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands shall receive

14 the same compensation, allowances, and benefits as a

15 Member of the House of Representatives, and shall be en16 titled to whatever privileges and immunities are, or herein17 after may be, granted to any other nonvoting Delegate to

18 the House of Representatives.

19 SEC. 7. LACK OF EFFECT ON COVENANT.

20 No provision of this Act shall be construed to alter,

21 amend, or abrogate any provision of the covenant referred

22 to in section 2 except section 901 of the covenant.
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1 SEC. 8. DEFINITION.

2 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘Delegate’’ means

3 the Resident Representative referred to in section 2.

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