Delegate Donna Christian-Christensen announced today that the unanimous passage of HR 2841 by the U.S. Senate brings the Virgin Islands one step closer to obtaining the me "general borrowing authority as authorized by the V.I. Legislature."
     
     "Last night, the U.S. Senate voted for HR 2841 which will now be sent to President Clinton for his signature. The bill passed by unanimous consent," Christensen said.
     
     "Now that the our local Legislature has also passed a borrowing bill for the Territory, we can proceed with the business at hand of working through our strategy to eliminate the fiscal deficit before us."
     
     "I am also happy to announce that we have made another step forward in the process to lift the cap on rum taxes returned to the Territory today,with the vote in the Senate Finance committee to lift the cap for eighteen months beginning retroactively in July of this year. The measure must still be passed by the full Senate, and go to the Conference Committee. Even though it was not included in the House version, we are cautiously optimistic because of the Committee's action and the strong White House support. If passed, it would still only be a partial victory, and so we are
     still continuing to work to have the cap lifted permanently," the Delegate concluded.