What’s it like trying to explain the needs of a community 15 time zones away from D.C. to her colleagues in Congress?
“Sometimes I just want to bash my head against the wall,” said Del. Kimberlyn King-Hinds, a Republican representing the Northern Mariana Islands.
Only the second delegate to represent the Northern Mariana Islands and the first Republican to represent the territory since the seat was created in 2008, King-Hinds said being so far from home adds an extra layer of difficulty.
“When the office is shutting down here, the district is just opening up, which means I’m leaving here, getting to my studio apartment, and I’m on the phone with constituents who are just waking up,” she said. “It’s early mornings, long nights.”
Her first year in Congress has been eye-opening, she said.
“I came here with the assumption that people would be a lot more knowledgeable, given the fact that everybody’s talking about China and geopolitics. But in reality, most people have very superficial knowledge and too often speak on behalf of my community in rooms that don’t include us.”
King-Hinds recently sat down with Roll Call to talk about the challenges of being a non-voting delegate and what Congress is doing — or not — to support the needs of U.S. territories.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Q: You asked President Donald Trump to declassify files related to the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Some of those were released starting in November. What motivated you?
A: There’s this one woman, her name is Marie Castro, who has made it her mission to recognize Amelia Earhart’s presence in the Marianas, because the people she grew up with often talked about seeing this American woman and this American man during the Japanese time.
During my time as the chairperson of the ports, she wanted to have the ports designate space to build a statue honoring Amelia Earhart. I try to help her as much as possible. If there are so many people in our community who believe, who am I to not believe when I was not there?
In my culture we honor our elders, and I wanted to give her that respect. Good on President Trump for releasing the files. People are still sifting through the documents, and they’re hoping more will be released that will shed some light.
Q: In the Northern Mariana Islands, there’s only one hospital, and you’re not eligible for the rural health fund under the GOP’s signature tax and domestic policy law. So what does Congress need to do?
A: Congress needs to do a lot. We’re not even at the same level, with regards to [our annual funding cap for Medicaid], as American Samoa. And you have a high poverty rate, which means a lot of people qualify for Medicaid.
Given the fact that our economy is so depressed, we’re so reliant on federal funds. But what we really need to do is expand our infrastructure so we don’t have to send our people abroad to have access to critical care. We’ve been very fortunate to finally have, like, one oncologist on the ground who has been able to provide cancer treatment, but for any critical surgery, you have to go to either Guam, Hawaii or the mainland United States, which is incredibly expensive.
I think the approach needs to be multipronged. How do you build an economy so the government can afford some of these services, but also, how do you change these policies so they’re up to par with the states and other territories?
Q: What is one of the biggest things people get wrong about the Marianas?
A: We have three senators, and these are my Republican colleagues on the Senate side, who wrote a letter to [Homeland Security Secretary Kristi] Noem and [Interior Secretary Doug] Burgum basically saying that we need to end the loophole with the China visa waiver program.
This visa waiver program was created because it recognized our remote and unique challenges and the tyranny of distance. This is not like folks hopping on a plane to Hawaii. It’s extremely cost-prohibitive to travel from the United States. So, where is our tourism market? Our market is Asia, three hours away. All we’re trying to do is keep the lights on, but they’re saying it’s a national security threat.
I understand national security threats, living on the westernmost border in the Pacific. I think the larger question is, what do we need to do to ensure these bad actors are not coming in? We do that by creating strong policies — but also ensuring we have the ability to economically survive.
Q: How do you advocate for the needs of a territory that many Americans may be unfamiliar with, especially without having a vote?
A: That’s what I do every day. I’m not just talking to my colleagues. I’m on the phone, talking to agencies, all our federal partners, writing letters. And when the actual secretary can’t talk to me? I’ll talk to anybody who is in the queue. And it’s tough, because most of the time when you talk to folks on the federal side, if you’re not talking about Department of War types of scenarios, they don’t know.
Q: You and other delegates in Congress started a new Territories & Commonwealths Caucus last year. Why now? And do you all talk a lot?
A: When you’re put together as a group, some of our issues are not political, they’re just regional. So why now? I think it’s about damn time.
The Pacific territories have a pretty good relationship. Reps. [Aumua] Amata [Coleman Radewagen], Jim Moylan. Jim Moylan [and] I hang out quite often. You know, he’s from the island of Guam. We’re both of Chamorro descent, so we have a lot in common. But Stacey Plaskett, she’s cool people. So is Pablo José Hernández Rivera. We have good lines of communication, and I think that’s key: being able to support each other, regardless of whether it’s impacting all of us or just one.
When you look at the political breakdown of the territories, you’ve got three Democrats, if you count D.C., and then you have the three Republicans. Being able to elevate these concerns and push from both sides of the aisle I think is very useful.
Quick hits
Last book you read? Probably a romance novel.
In politics, can the ends justify the means? Sometimes. There’s a lot of people who look at me and say, “How could you be a woman of color and be Republican, especially during the times that we’re living in?” But for me, I couldn’t imagine being a part of a minority [party] at such a critical juncture in our history, where the Marianas are economically collapsing as we speak.
What’s the most meaningful thing you display in your office? The commonwealth flag, which I’m incredibly proud of.
Your least popular opinion? I’ve been pushing back on some of the narratives that are being perpetuated here in Washington, D.C., about border security. Border security does not mean shutting down the border to a particular class of tourists — it means you actually enforce the rules, and you give it the necessary funding to effectively do the job.
Something your friends know about you that your constituents might not? That I’ve lost 100 pounds. I used to be 245 pounds.
The post King-Hinds on long commutes and the ‘tyranny of distance’ appeared first on Roll Call.
