I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 873
To provide for a nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives to 
represent the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 17, 2005
Mr. POMBO (for himself, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. 
BURTON
of Indiana, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mrs. 
CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CASE, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. DOO-
LITTLE, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. WALDEN of Oregon, Mr. FORTUN˜O, Mr. 
REHBERG, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. COLE of Oklahoma, Mr. GILCHREST, 
and Mr. CANTOR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Resources 
A BILL 
To provide for a nonvoting delegate to the House of Rep-
resentatives to represent the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Northern Mariana Is-
lands Delegate Act’’.
SEC. 2. DELEGATE TO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM 
COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MAR-
IANA ISLANDS. 
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 
shall be represented in the United States Congress by the 
Resident Representative to the United States authorized 
by section 901 of the Covenant to Establish a Common-
wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union 
with the United States of America (approved by Public 
Law 94–241 (48 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.)). The Resident Rep-
resentative shall be a nonvoting Delegate to the House of 
Representatives, elected as provided in this Act. 
SEC. 3. ELECTION OF DELEGATE. 
(a) ELECTORS AND TIME OF ELECTION.—The Dele-
gate shall be elected—
(1) by the people qualified to vote for the popu-
larly elected officials of the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands; and 
(2) at the Federal general election of 2006 and 
at such Federal general election every 2d year there-
after. 
(b) MANNER OF ELECTION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Delegate shall be elect-
ed at large and by a plurality of the votes cast for 
the office of Delegate.
(2) EFFECT OF ESTABLISHMENT OF PRIMARY 
ELECTIONS.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if the 
Government of the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands, acting pursuant to legislation en-
acted in accordance with the Constitution of the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
provides for primary elections for the election of the 
Delegate, the Delegate shall be elected by a majority 
of the votes cast in any general election for the of-
fice of Delegate for which such primary elections 
were held. 
(c) VACANCY.—In case of a permanent vacancy in the 
office of Delegate, the office of Delegate shall remain va-
cant until a successor is elected and qualified. 
(d) COMMENCEMENT OF TERM.—The term of the 
Delegate shall commence on the 3d day of January fol-
lowing the date of the election. 
SEC. 4. QUALIFICATIONS FOR OFFICE OF DELEGATE. 
To be eligible for the office of Delegate a candidate 
shall—
(1) be at least 25 years of age on the date of 
the election; 
(2) have been a citizen of the United States for 
at least 7 years prior to the date of the election;
(3) be a resident and domiciliary of the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for at 
least 7 years prior to the date of the election; 
(4) be qualified to vote in the Commonwealth of 
the Northern Mariana Islands on the date of the 
election; and 
(5) not be, on the date of the election, a can-
didate for any other office. 
SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF ELECTION PROCEDURE. 
Acting pursuant to legislation enacted in accordance 
with the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the North-
ern Mariana Islands, the Government of the Common-
wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands may determine 
the order of names on the ballot for election of Delegate, 
the method by which a special election to fill a permanent 
vacancy in the office of Delegate shall be conducted, the 
method by which ties between candidates for the office of 
Delegate shall be resolved, and all other matters of local 
application pertaining to the election and the office of Del-
egate not otherwise expressly provided for in this Act. 
SEC. 6. COMPENSATION, PRIVILEGES, AND IMMUNITIES. 
Until the Rules of the House of Representatives are 
amended to provide otherwise, the Delegate from the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands shall receive 
the same compensation, allowances, and benefits as a
Member of the House of Representatives, and shall be en-
titled to whatever privileges and immunities are, or herein-
after may be, granted to any other nonvoting Delegate to 
the House of Representatives. 
SEC. 7. LACK OF EFFECT ON COVENANT. 
No provision of this Act shall be construed to alter, 
amend, or abrogate any provision of the covenant referred 
to in section 2 except section 901 of the covenant. 
SEC. 8. DEFINITION. 
For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘Delegate’’ means 
the Resident Representative referred to in section 2.
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