Governor de Jongh returns to the territory today following two days of meetings with congressional leaders and lawmakers in which the governor explained the territory's position in the rum cover over. And while in Washington, de Jongh and VI Congressional Delegate Donna Christensen also discussed with congressional representatives the pending healthcare bill and the Omnibus Spending bill which awaits the President's signature any day now. The territory stands to gain $33 million in the federal legislation. 

de Jongh's message was that Congress should not second guess how the Virgin Islands has used the rum cover-over to spur economic growth in the territory. "The deals were a legal use of the funds and changing the law now to retroactively invalidate the agreements between the government and both Diageo and Fortune Brands endangers the entire economic development strategy for the Virgin Islands," de Jongh said last night.

The lawmakers de Jongh and Christensen met with included: Jon Kyl (R-AZ); Bill Nelson (D-FL); Robert Menendez (D-NJ); Jeff Bingaman (D-NM); Xavier Bercerra (D-CA); John Lewis (D-GA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY). The governor also met with the editorial board of the Washington Times and with reporters from Congress Daily and The Hill. 

Also on Wednesday, de Jongh received support from local labor leaders including the VI Labor Council and the Steelworkers local, which both sent letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi voicing support for the rum deals with Diageo and Fortune Brands.