House delegate for Northern Mariana Islands
June 1, 2008
On May 8, 2008, President Bush signed into law Senate Bill 2739, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (CNRA). Section 711 of the CNRA gives the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands a “Resident Representative” to serve as a nonvoting Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. According to section 712, the first Delegate shall be elected during the 2008 general election and take office on January 3, 2009.
The Delegate from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands will join five other nonvoting Delegates in the U.S. House of Representatives, including American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands.