Will Rocky report Bush reform of Marianas worker program Schaffer backed?

Summary: The Denver Post and The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction reported that in a May 12 news conference, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall directly criticized opponent Bob Schaffer over Schaffer's reported involvement as a U.S. Congressman in labor issues regarding the Northern Mariana Islands. Now that President Bush has signed a bill to reform the U.S. protectorate's labor and immigration laws, will the Rocky Mountain News -- which has reported Schaffer's responses to criticism of his involvement in Marianas labor issues -- note Udall's announcement or the enactment of the legislation?

As The Denver Post reported in a May 13 article and The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction noted in a May 13 "Political Notebook" blog entry, U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall (D) held a news conference call to discuss the enactment of legislation that "includes reform of the immigration policies and working standards in the Northern Marianas Islands," as his announcement noted. The Post further reported that the role of Udall's opponent, former Congressman Bob Schaffer (R), in opposing reforms "has been a campaign issue for weeks" and that Udall "for the first time took him to task on the issue" during the call with fellow U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA). Similarly, the Daily Sentinel reported that "[f]or the first time," Udall "directly criticized" Schaffer for "his work on labor issues" in the Marianas. Will the Rocky Mountain News, which has published incomplete reports featuring Schaffer's response to a series of Post articles about his controversial involvement in Marianas issues, report on the enactment of S. 2739 and its significance for the campaign?

As of the afternoon of May 13, the News had not reported, in either its print or online editions, on President Bush's May 8 signing of S. 2739 or on Udall's news conference.* Controversy over Schaffer's 1999 trip to the Northern Mariana Islands, made when he was a U.S. Congressman, arose after an April 7 Post profile in which Schaffer "pointed" to the islands "as a successful model for a guest-worker program that could be adapted nationally." Follow-up Post articles on April 10, April 11, and April 13 have raised questions about Schaffer's trip and its purported connections to now-jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whom the government of the U.S. protectorate reportedly hired "to fight congressional attempts at worker reforms."

As Colorado Media Matters has noted, in previous articles about the controversy the News has failed to report that, according to the Post, Schaffer met with several of Abramoff's clients during the Marianas "fact-finding" trip that was partially arranged by Abramoff's firm. Additionally, the News did not report that afterward Schaffer "was one of the key players" in a House Resources Committee hearing in which Republican members shifted the focus of the investigation from charges of labor abuses to questions about the motivations of those making the charges.

Further, the News has failed to report that, according to the Post, after the trip Schaffer was "among several Republican U.S. lawmakers who stepped in to lend their support "at key junctures to Benigno Fitial, "governor of the Northern Mariana Islands and a powerful former ally" of Abramoff." The Post further claimed that "Schaffer was part of a concerted and public campaign by Republicans on the House Committee on Natural Resources to boost Fitial's public career when he became key to extending a multimillion-dollar lobbying contract for Abramoff from the island's government."

From The Denver Post's May 13 article "Bush's signature gives Dems target: The bill is designed to end sweatshops in the Marianas. Udall uses the opportunity to criticize GOP opponent Schaffer":

Democrats Monday used President Bush's recent signing of a bill that supporters say will eliminate sweatshops on the Northern Mariana Islands to settle a few political scores, including one in Colorado.

Democrats have been trying since the mid-1990s to revoke the protectorate's exemptions from U.S. labor and immigration laws but had long been outflanked by powerful Republicans in the House and the islands' now-jailed lobbyist, Jack Abramoff.

Former Congressman Bob Schaffer's role in those efforts has been a campaign issue for weeks, and Monday his Democratic opponent for the first time took him to task on the issue.

"I know that from what I read and the people I listened to, it was clear that there were abuses there .... I don't understand how you could leave the Marianas thinking everything was perfect," said Rep. Mark Udall, referring to a fact-finding trip Schaffer took in 1999 that was partly arranged by Abramoff's lobbying firm. Schaffer said he found problems in only one out of 20 factories he visited.

Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, and Republican Schaffer are vying for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Wayne Allard.

Udall made his comments in a press call Monday with Rep. George Miller, the California Democrat who has made a personal crusade out of reforming the islands' textile industry.

Udall's comments and even more harsh words from Miller virtually guarantee that the Mariana sweatshops will be a salient issue in what's expected to be a bitterly fought campaign, and the Schaffer campaign immediately struck back.

From the entry "Udall directly confronts Schaffer on the Northern Mariana Islands," by reporter Mike Saccone, published May 13 on the "Political Notebook" blog of The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction:

For the first time this election cycle, U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall, D-Colo., directly criticized his opponent, Republican Bob Schaffer, R-Colo., for his work on labor issues in the Northern Mariana Islands.

"I know that from what I read and the people I listened to, it was clear that there were abuses there. ... I don't understand how you could leave the Marianas thinking everything was perfect," Udall said, according to The Denver Post.

Udall and Congressman George Miller, D-Calif., held a press conference Monday to celebrate President George W. Bush's decision to sign into law a bill to reform worker and immigration policies for the U.S. commonwealth. [boldface in original]

*Searches of Nexis database and Rocky Mountain News.com for: "Bush" AND "Miller" AND "Mariana"; "Bush" AND "Miller" AND "Marianas"; Miller" AND "Mariana"; "Miller" AND "Marianas" for the month ended May 13.

—E.B.