Meet the newest nonvoting members of the House

WASHINGTON — It can be tough starting a new job; there’s all the new co-workers to meet, loads of paperwork to fill out, a new office layout to learn and a new commute to figure out.

But those challenges grow exponentially when you’re the delegate for the Northern Mariana Islands, and your new commute is roughly 8,000 miles.

“It’s almost a whole day,” said Delegate-elect Kimberlyn King-Hinds. “I have to fly from Tinian to the capital island, which is Saipan, and then Saipan to Japan, [then] Japan to Denver, [and then] Denver to D.C. But on the way here there was a medical emergency, and we had to divert to Anchorage. So it took us longer than normal.”

The long commute isn’t the largest hurdle King-Hinds faces in her new gig. That would be the lack of a floor vote. She in many other regards will be treated just like a regular U.S. representative — she can vote in committees, introduce bills and join debates on the House floor — but as a delegate lacks that ultimate say of voting on final passage of legislation.

Five U.S. territories send an elected official to Congress, though they are often overlooked by observers in Washington. Next year, two of them will be newcomers: King-Hinds and Pablo José Hernández Rivera of Puerto Rico. (Instead of “delegate,” Puerto Rico uses the title “resident commissioner,” and elections are held not biennially, but every four years.)

They come from different sides of the globe and affiliate with different parties — King-Hinds is a Republican, while Hernández Rivera is a member of the Popular Democratic Party who will caucus with Democrats in D.C. — but they share some things in common. Both flipped their seats to get here. And as they navigate the proverbial halls of power without the full power of their peers, both aim to elevate certain issues for the islands they call home.

Per tradition, they can likely expect seats on the House Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over the territories. Beyond that, both said they’d like to sit on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, citing big investment needs back home.

“The cost of utilities back home is insane. My mom’s biweekly pension is around $1,200 and her average utilities is $1,200,” said King-Hinds. “One of the reasons for that is because our power plant is over 40 years old. The parts are obsolete [and must be custom ordered].”

“The energy infrastructure needs a major overhaul,” said Hernández Rivera of Puerto Rico’s own electric woes and hurricane recovery. “Accelerating the disbursement of [federal] funds will be a priority.”

Hernández Rivera would also happily accept a seat on the Agriculture Committee, “because the farm bill is important for Puerto Rico,” while King-Hinds is eyeing the Judiciary Committee due to particular immigration concerns.

With a population just shy of 50,000, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands relies heavily on guest workers from abroad to fill jobs. But the current visa program is phasing down toward a 2029 expiration date, King-Hinds said. “We’re looking to … pass legislation that is particularized to the economic needs of the CNMI, one that allows for more localized control of the program.”

Similarly, travel restrictions enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic have limited flights from China, hurting the tourism industry, which draws primarily from Asia. Fixing that, and securing more localized control over labor and immigration matters in general, are King-Hinds’ biggest priorities, she said.

King-Hinds will become just the second person (and the first Republican) to ever hold the seat, after inaugural delegate Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan decided to retire. He has served since 2009.

As for Hernández Rivera, he will work hand-in-hand with his predecessor, Jenniffer González-Colón, who won Puerto Rico’s gubernatorial election in November. While she’s a Republican and (more importantly) pro-statehood, Hernández Rivera supports continuing the island’s status quo as a territory.

“She said that status is only 10 percent of the resident commissioner’s agenda in her case, so we can work together on the other 90 percent,” Hernández Rivera said. “In the meetings and conversations we’ve had so far, the topic has not come up. So, I am optimistic that we can work together in spite of that.”

And the two see eye-to-eye on some of the island’s other issues, like securing more federal funding for health care. They both want to keep fighting to gain some federal benefits that Puerto Ricans on the island are currently denied, such as Supplemental Security Income, under the reasoning that many there are not required to pay income taxes.

Blocking those benefits only leads to older and poorer Puerto Ricans moving to states like Florida so they can take advantage of the programs, Hernández Rivera said. “What the federal government is not paying on the island it ends up paying in Florida,” he said. “It’s not really going to be a big cost to the United States, and it’s a matter of fairness and also good policy and pragmatism.”

The remaining delegates in the House will stay unchanged in the 119th Congress. Delegates Stacey E. Plaskett of the Virgin Islands, James C. Moylan of Guam and Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen of American Samoa all won reelection, as did the District of Columbia’s delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton.