Democratic challenger Brown attacks Doolittle over Marianas

[ck4829]

Democrat Charlie Brown accused GOP Rep. John Doolittle on Monday of ignoring abuses on the Northern Mariana Islands, as controversy over the small island chain shadowed the re-election campaigns of two powerful California Republicans.

Brown stumped with an activist who helped write a 1998 report for the Interior Department documenting forced abortions, exploitation of foreign workers and other grim conditions on the Marianas, a U.S. commonwealth near Guam. Residents there have nonvoting citizenship, but the islands are exempt from many federal labor laws and the minimum wage is $3.05 an hour.

The Marianas hired now-disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff in the mid-1990s to block reform legislation, and Abramoff lobbied lawmakers, including Doolittle and Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, for help.

Doolittle, who traveled to the Mariana Islands in 1999, subsequently spoke favorably of conditions there and opposed bills to raise the minimum wage and impose U.S. immigration laws.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/15888105.htm

[acmejack]

1. High time somebody excoriated these POS over this disgrace!

These abuses are outrages to human dignity that simply must be answered for. All who were in collusion need to be prosecuted.