Non-voting House members have their say on defense bill

“A statutory remedy is required, so that our Northern Marianas military personnel never have to face the embarrassment of returning from service overseas and seeing their flag forgotten in welcome home ceremonies,” he said.

{mosads}His amendment was approved by voice vote as part of a package of en bloc amendments to the bill, H.R. 4310.

Despite this success, another of Sablan’s amendments failed. This second proposal would have made the Northern Mariana Islands an eligible location for the repair and maintenance of naval vessels. It failed 118-303.

Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico (D) had two of his amendments approved by voice vote, also as part of an en bloc package.

The first is a sense of Congress on the importance of removing unexploded ordnance from the island of Culebra, Puerto Rico, and the second states that all steps should be taken to ensure that the tethered aerostat radar system (TARS), a system of balloon-borne radar stations, is working to provide coverage in the Caribbean region.