Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, H.R. 7309, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2022, makes significant improvements to WIOA, the law that is the backbone of our nation's workforce development system. Since 2014, WIOA has provided training and career services to help working people across the country get the skills they need and help employers secure a qualified workforce.

H.R. 7309 also includes legislation I authored that extends three crucial workforce development programs to the Marianas: the Wagner- Peyser grant, the Integrated English Literacy and Civic Education grant, and the Job Corps program. Under my Employment Services and Jobs Parity Act, the annual $300,000 Wagner-Peyser grant would provide skill assessment, career guidance, and referrals to training to job seekers in the Marianas. The legislation additionally allows the Commonwealth government to apply for Employment Service formula grants, at the same percentage share as Guam, to set up One-Stop Career Centers that can help workers find jobs and employers find workers. Under my Integrated English Literacy and Civic Education Nationwide Act, English language learners would acquire the proficiency needed to obtain employment. And under my Job Corps Nationwide Act, Job Corps centers can be established in all insular areas. This means our young people would not have to leave the Marianas to get necessary training and local business would benefit from a skilled workforce connected to our community and committed to remaining. All my bills support the overall goal of H.R. 7309: to help job seekers nationwide access quality employment, education training, and support services.

By reauthorizing and strengthening WIOA's programs, H.R. 7309 will help Americans get back to work. In addition to my provisions, the legislation expands summer and year-round jobs programs for youth, codifies partnerships between employers and community colleges, and provides funding for innovative approaches to workforce development.

At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has diminished the resources necessary to train new workers, the improvements to WIOA under H.R. 7309 will continue to develop the workforce pipeline and expand access to services for the people who need them the most.

I urge my colleagues to support the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2022.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 5129, the Community Services Block Grant Modernization Act, improves and expands access to the only federal program with the overarching goal of reducing poverty, regardless of cause or condition. Since Congress established the predecessor of the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's ``War on Poverty,'' the program has helped people achieve economic stability, secure meaningful employment and education, gain and improve job-related skills, and obtain housing. Such support is particularly crucial for communities in the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa-- where poverty rates are significantly higher than in the rest of America. In the Marianas, 52.3 percent of the population is considered low-income, according to census data.

The Community Services Block Grant Modernization Act helps alleviate such poverty by increasing overall funding for the program, updating eligibility guidelines, and eliminating the arbitrary grant allocations to the insular areas. H.R. 5129 provides an increased annual funding level of $1 billion for the first five years. The bill also permanently raises income eligibility to 200 percent of the poverty line, as temporarily provided in the CARES Act, so more people can get the help they need.

To better align funding allocations to the insular areas to meet its anti-poverty mission, the Community Services Block Grant Modernization Act mandates a data-based formula and transparency in how that formula is calculated. Under current law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services possesses total discretion to allocate CSBG funding based on what he or she ``believes'' the need is in each insular area. This changes under H.R. 5129. Language I included in the bill during the Education and Labor Committee's markup requires the Secretary to base its grant allocations on the most recent census poverty data available. That allocation formula must be published publicly and updated no less frequently than any time new applicable census data are available. Using a regularly updated, poverty-based formula will help ensure communities receive the support necessary to serve individuals and families in need.

At a time when communities nationwide continue to be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, the improvements to the CSBG program under H.R. 5129 will increase help for the most vulnerable in our communities.

Madam Speaker, Elias Jacobo Parong Sablan was a visionary, linguist, and pioneering leader of the people of Saipan, guiding them out from under the 400-year rule of foreign powers to the beginnings of our self-government under the trusteeship of the United States after World War II.

Born on November 8, 1899, to Felix Delos Reyes Sablan and Luisa Malug Parong, Elias was the fourth child in a family of six. He learned our native languages at home: Chamorro from his father Felix and Carolinian from his mother Luisa.

Felix also taught his son to speak, read, and write the English language. In his own youth, Felix served as a cabin boy aboard the Charles W. Morgan, an American whaling ship out of New Bedford, Massachusetts. From his crewmates he learned English and about life in the United States of America. He also collected English textbooks on navigation, United States history, and other subjects, books he shared with his son Elias as the boy grew.

The year before Elias' birth, Germany purchased the Northern Mariana Islands from Spain, which had ruled the islands for some 377 years. Elias attended the German school on Saipan, and then was sent to the island of Yap, also under German control, to be educated in communications. By the time he was 15, Elias had learned the international Morse code and added Yapese and German to his linguistic skills.

Japan seized control of the Northern Mariana Islands from Germany at the outset of World War I and after the war was granted a mandate to govern by the League of Nations. This occupation provided Elias the opportunity to learn one more language, Japanese, while working at the Japanese sugar mill. He also married during this Japanese period, wedding Carmen Romolor Mangarero on January 23, 1921. Together they would have 13 children.

Elias' heritage, his upbringing, his education, and experience all prepared him well for the life-threatening events of World War II and what came after. In fact, Elias' knowledge of English would save his life and the lives of his family.

World War II came to the Mariana Islands on June 10, 1944, when the United States attacked the Japanese military forces on Saipan. After a brutal and destructive battle, killing tens of thousands of Japanese and American soldiers, as well as non-combatant civilians, the United States took control of the island on July 9, 1944.

Throughout the battle, Elias and his family hid in a cave in the hills, listening as bombs dropped on the island and watching as Japanese and American airplanes fought in the skies overhead. One day, spotting movement near the cave's entrance, U.S. battleships just outside the island's reef aimed their fire at the family's hiding place.

When the shelling subsided, those sheltered in the cave could hear voices outside speaking a foreign language. It was U.S. Marines talking in English and combing the area for

Japanese. Suddenly, a baby started crying within the cave and the entrance was discovered. The Marines yelled into the cave, and Elias immediately came out with his hands up and said in English, I surrender. If he had not responded as he did, the Marines were ready to toss grenades into the cave rather than risk Japanese soldiers were hiding there.

Because he spoke English, the Marines asked if he was Elias Sablan. They had been on the look-out for him because they were told Elias was one of only two Chamorros who knew English and could help translate for the U.S. military forces. Everyone in the cave was escorted down the hill to the camp where other survivors had been gathered and were being fed, clothed, and treated for injuries.

When the battles in the Marianas had ended, the American Military Government wanted to put the islanders on the road to independence and self-government. In December 1944, they held the first election for a Head Chief, the forerunner of today's Mayor. Barely five months into office, however, that first elected official passed away.

The military then appointed Elias to be interim Head Chief, until a new election could be held. Elias was working as the leader of the police force and continued in that position until being elected in his own right at head chief/mayor on July 4, 1945. Women voted in that July election, although they had not been able to vote the previous December.

Elias was an excellent representative of his constituents. He embodied Saipan's history and culture, because by blood he was both Chamorro and Carolinian, the two local communities of the island. He spoke those two languages, as well as the languages of all the foreign powers that had ruled and were now ruling Saipan: Spanish, German, Japanese, and English. Bringing this background and linguistic ability to his work as Mayor, Elias could understand and be understood by everyone on Saipan.

In coordination with the U.S. military the new Mayor went about the business of bringing life on the island back to normalcy. He appointed a building supervisor, a sanitation commissioner, an Educational Officer, and a replacement Police Chief. The infrastructure for the new island government was now started.

Every person living in the camps set up after the battle of Saipan was identified and accounted for. Repairs were made to the classrooms of the Chalan Kanoa school, so children could have a place to study. And working with the U.S. military, Elias helped interested families return to work farming.

In 1947, the United Nations created the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The United States was charged with governing the TTPI and with helping its people transition from being colonies to being sovereign nations. As Mayor, Elias worked with the TTPI administration. He even traveled to New York City in 1955, along with delegates from the other Micronesian islands in the Trust Territory to report on the status of that transition.

Elias wanted to model self-government in the islands after American democracy, which he had read about in the textbooks his father gave him. There had been no political parties, when he was first elected, and no specific candidates. Each voter simply wrote in the name of his or her choice on a printed ballot. So, to foster competitive elections after the American practice, Elias, together with other community leaders, started the islands' first political party: the Territorial Party.

Elias served for three consecutive terms (twelve years) as the Mayor of Saipan, from 1945 through 1956. Even after stepping down as Mayor, though, he continued serving the people in various other government and civic positions until his death on October 29, 1968.

Sadly, his passing came too soon for him to witness the realization of his vision of a happy and prosperous life for his people as members of the American political family. Saipan and the other Northern Mariana Islands became a Commonwealth of the United States in 1978.

Madam Speaker, as climate change accelerates, it is more important than ever that we put our infrastructure in good working order, hardened against the powerful typhoons and other natural disasters that are associated with a warming planet.

Today, I am introducing legislation that will ensure we have an adequate workforce in the Northern Mariana Islands to finish repairs from the typhoons that struck our islands in recent years and to build new infrastructure able to withstand future storms.

Congress made the decision that additional foreign workers would be needed for this purpose, when we passed the FY20 omnibus appropriation, U.S. Public Law 116-94. Title IX provided up to 3,000 permits for Commonwealth-only Transitional Workers (CW-1s) specifically for disaster-related construction projects during fiscal 2020, 2021, and 2022.

In the succeeding years, however, more funding has become available-- for the Marianas public water in the American Rescue Plan Act, for better roads in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, for solid waste systems on the islands of Rota and Tinian in the 2019 Disaster Relief Act--and those projects will all require skilled labor.

Those projects will also occur in a timeframe beyond 2022. Not only do large-scale infrastructure projects take time to design, bid, and build, but the money is scheduled over a five-year period in many cases. Add to that the impact of the pandemic on business capacity and the supply chain and the need for workers stretches for years ahead.

How many workers will be necessary and when projects will be ready to proceed is not easily predicted. So, the legislation I have introduced today simply authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Governor of the Marianas to make the determination when construction workers are needed. The Governor will request the foreign workers to augment the Marianas labor force. The Secretary will then decide whether the request is justified, whether qualified U.S. workers are truly not available, and whether adding foreign workers would in any way reduce the wage-setting power of local, U.S. workers in our islands.

Congress has made an historic investment in the Mariana Islands in the form of disaster recovery assistance and in funding infrastructure that can withstand future disasters. But that funding will need labor. The legislation I am introducing today will help ensure that labor needs are met, that projects are built, and that the Marianas is in a stronger position to withstand the corning climate change.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, the America COMPETES Act makes landmark investments to ensure our people, research, innovation, and manufacturing remain competitive globally. The legislation includes several of my bills supporting these goals: by providing Marianas students pathways to well-paying jobs through access to STEM courses and apprenticeships, by ensuring math and science teachers in the Marianas are recognized at the national level along with their peers in education, and by protecting the ocean life that has always been so important to the people and culture of the Marianas.

To be specific the America COMPETES Act includes my bill, the Outlying Areas Apprenticeship Expansion Act, which provides $2.8 million to establish an apprenticeship program. Our school systems already equip students with the skills employers seek. Now we need to build a connection between that classroom learning and the real-world workplace. Apprenticeships provide that link. And with our economy still struggling to recover due to the pandemic, that link is needed now more than ever.

We also need to recognize the teachers who are giving those students the skills they need. My bill, the STEM Educator Awards Equity Act, has also been incorporated in the COMPETES Act and expands the annual Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching so a teacher in each of America's insular areas can be recognized. Selected teachers receive $10,000 from the National Science Foundation and participate in expert-led training and collaboration opportunities in Washington. Currently, teachers from the Marianas, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands must compete against each other for two awards. This defeats the purpose of the program, which is to inspire excellence and provide a role model in every area of our nation.

Lastly, the America COMPETES Act protects our environment, which is the foundation of economic activity. The bill addresses the sharp decline in shark populations by banning the commercial trade in shark fins. This matches the ban in my legislation, H.R. 2811, which has 240 cosponsors in the House of Representatives, and which follows the lead already established by law in the Marianas and U.S. state governments. The COMPETES Act will also protect the Marianas' coral reefs through increased funding for conservation activities. These provisions support our tourism economy by maintaining the natural beauty of our islands to showcase to visitors from around the world.

With historic investments in job training, STEM education and the environment, the America COMPETES Act supports communities in the Marianas and around America in this time of economic challenge. I ask my colleagues to support the America COMPETES Act.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 5376, the Build Back Better Act, provides critical investments to lower the everyday costs that face working families in the Marianas and across America--from health care to education to job training to child care and more.

The Act appropriates $1 billion for critical infrastructure in the Marianas and other insular areas which could create new jobs and improve the quality of life for all in our islands.

The bill helps more Marianas families access the health care they need by increasing base funding for Medicaid to $70 million and making permanent the current 83 percent federal/17 percent local shares for Medicaid, a ratio better than any State in the Nation.

Dental, vision, and hearing services are also added as mandatory Medicaid benefits.

The over 2,000 seniors and others in the Marianas who are insured through Medicare would be eligible for hearing aids, a new program benefit. And for those who also participate in the Medicare Part D drug program out of pocket costs are capped at $2,000.

As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, I strongly support the transformative investments the Act makes in education from birth, universal pre-kindergarten and all the way to placement in a rewarding career.

Our youngest learners in the Marianas will have access to high- quality, child care up to age 5 and universal free pre-kindergarten.

And 10,800 Marianas students, who receive free lunches in school, will qualify for a supplemental summer feeding program of $65 per month.

The Build Back Better Act includes my College Access Act which provides bachelor's degree students from the Marianas up to $15,000 per year to make up the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition at public colleges.

Moreover, the Act increases the maximum annual Pell grant for low- income students to $7,045. The White House estimates there are 1,032 students in the Marianas who rely on Pell to cover tuition, books, housing, and other expenses.

The legislation helps job seekers in the Marianas get placed with career and training opportunities with the inclusion of provisions from my Employment Services and Jobs Parity Act and Job Corps Nationwide Act making funding from these federal programs available for the first time.

The Build Back Better Act extends the Child Tax Credit that has already provided $28.7 million this year to Marianas families. Parents would also benefit from funding that ensures they pay no more 7 percent of their income for high quality child care and a new paid family leave policy, providing four weeks of paid leave in the case of birth or illness.

And money in the bill will help the Marianas reduce its reliance on fossil fuels by opening offshore wind lease sales and cover the full cost of new tax credits for electric vehicles and residential solar and wind systems.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5376 to help all communities in our country build back better.

Mr. Speaker, my bipartisan legislation, H.R. 3730, creates a VA advisory committee for marginalized veterans living in the Marianas, the other United States insular areas, and in the freely associated States. Veterans in my district, especially, and in the other insular areas, too, face barriers to VA services no vet should be forced to endure.

In Northern Marianas, there are no VA clinics and no Vet Centers.

Veterans in my district sometimes fly 3,700 miles to Hawaii or over 6,000 miles to California to access VA services. And that is why my bill, establishing a committee to educate the Secretary on the obstacles insular area veterans face, is so important.

Each U.S. insular area and each of the freely associated States would have a seat on the advisory committee. Each would be able to describe the barriers their veterans face in receiving VA services.

Establishing an advisory committee will not solve every logistical problem for veterans who live in geographically remote areas of America, but at least those veterans on the margins will have a way to communicate directly with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. And when the Secretary hears about the barriers to service these insular veterans face, maybe, just maybe, change will occur.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minority Veterans of America, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America for their support of this bipartisan bill, H.R. 3730.

I also thank Chairman Takano, Ranking Member Bost, Congresswoman Radewagen, and my fellow members of the Committee on Veterans Affairs for their unanimous support to report my bill favorably to the House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 3730 to give marginalized veterans in the insular areas a voice in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, my amendment No. 363, which is included in En Bloc 3, ensures the 1,700 small businesses in my district can access financing through the Small Business Administration's micro loan program.

The program is targeted specially to help women, low-income, veteran, and minority entrepreneurs.

The Marianas is the only place in the U.S. not included in the program, which provides loans, typically not offered by banks, of up to $50,000.

My bipartisan amendment would correct that by ensuring access to microloans on the same basis as their counterparts across the nation.

I thank Representatives Garbarino, Kahele, and Radewagen for their cosponsorship of the amendment.

I ask my colleagues to support En Bloc 3.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduced two bills that give this House an opportunity to provide more funding for career education.

My Job Corps Nationwide Act does this by allowing the establishment of Job Corps centers in all U.S. insular areas. Job Corps centers offer disadvantaged youth training in more than 70 career paths and participants can also work toward earning secondary school diplomas or recognized postsecondary credentials. However, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act only authorized these training sites in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Allowing Job Corps centers in all U.S. insular areas would mean our young people would not have to leave to get the training they need, and local businesses would benefit from a skilled workforce connected to our community and committed to remaining.

My second bill, the Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE) Nationwide Act, will help put people to work by providing support to increase their English proficiency. It is not unusual for my constituents to grow up in homes that speak one of the indigenous languages of the Marianas: Chamorro or Refaluwasch. By including all U.S. insular areas in the IELCE program, my bill will make grant funding available for programs that help English language learners acquire the proficiency needed to obtain employment.

By fixing these inequities in career education funding for the U.S. insular areas, we can help all in our nation receive the training and education they need to enter and succeed in the workforce.

The gentlelady from American Samoa, Mrs. Radewagen, and the gentleman from Guam, Mr. San Nicolas, are original cosponsors of the bills.

I urge my colleagues to support both bipartisan pieces of legislation.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce legislation that gives this House an opportunity to provide more funding for policing.

My bill does this by allowing the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa to be treated as two separate entities for the purposes of the Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program. Currently, the Marianas and American Samoa are lumped together for funding, unlike the other U.S. insular areas--Puerto Rico, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands--which are treated as individual jurisdictions, as are all fifty States.

By fixing this inequity in funding for police in the Northern Marianas and American Samoa, we can help our men and women in blue receive the necessary training and equipment they need to keep our communities safe. Making this change will also provide more funding to support prosecutors and the courts, as well as justice-related initiatives aimed at crime prevention.

Local law enforcement is increasingly the first line of defense against the evolving security threats our country faces. We must do all we can to recognize the vital role of our police in maintaining public safety.

The gentlelady from American Samoa, Mrs. Radewagen, and the gentleman from Hawaii, Mr. Kahele, are original cosponsors of the bill.

I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2225, the National Science Foundation for the Future Act, includes my bill, H.R. 3795, to ensure educators from the Northern Mariana Islands, Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa are represented in the annual Presidential Awards for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching.

Established by Congress in 1983, the Presidential Award is the highest recognition that an elementary or secondary school mathematics or science teacher may receive in the United States. Over 4,800 teachers have been recognized for their contributions in the classroom and to their profession.

Unlike the fifty States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Department of Defense schools, each of which may recognize a STEM educator, no more than two awards in total can go to teachers from the four insular areas: the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. This limitation has resulted in many years in which no teacher from one of those four areas is selected. No teacher from the Marianas, for instance, was selected last year. And this lack of recognition defeats the purpose of the program, which is to inspire excellence within each area and provide a role model for other local STEM educators to emulate. These statutory limits, also, unfairly deny deserving educators in the insular areas the national recognition and professional development opportunities we provide to STEM educators elsewhere in our nation.

My bill provides a more equitable process by requiring awards to at least one teacher from each of the four areas. By ensuring teachers from all parts of America are represented, more students and schools will benefit from the expert-led training programs and collaboration opportunities available to awardees during their visit to our nation's capital.

I thank Chairwoman Johnson and Ranking Member Lucas for all their support to include into H.R. 2225 this important measure.

I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 2225.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the STEM Educator Awards Equity Act to ensure educators from the Northern Mariana Islands, Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa are represented in the annual Presidential Awards for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching.

Established by Congress in 1983, the Presidential Award is the highest recognition that an elementary or secondary school mathematics or science teacher may receive in the United States. Over 4,800 teachers have been recognized for their contributions in the classroom and to their profession.

Unlike the fifty States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Department of Defense schools, each of which may recognize a STEM educator, no more than two awards in total can go to teachers from the four insular areas: the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. This limitation has resulted in many years in which no teacher from one of those four areas is selected. No teacher from the Marianas, for instance, was selected this year. And this lack of recognition defeats the purpose of the program, which is to inspire excellence within each area and provide a role model for other local STEM educators to emulate. These statutory limits, also, unfairly deny deserving educators in the insular areas the national recognition and professional development opportunities we provide to STEM educators elsewhere in our Nation.

My bill provides a more equitable process by requiring awards to at least one teacher from each of the four areas. By ensuring teachers from all parts of America are represented, more students and schools will benefit from the expert-led training programs and collaboration opportunities available to awardees during their visit to our Nation's Capital.

The gentlewoman from American Samoa, Mrs. Radewagen and the gentleman from Guam, Mr. San Nicolas, are original cosponsors of the bill.

I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation.

Madam Speaker, this year, I hosted the first-ever Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Essay Contest for Northern Mariana Islands middle school and high school students. This contest gives students in my district the opportunity to showcase their writing skills and reflect on their unique experiences living in the Northern Mariana Islands. This year's essay prompt encouraged students to share how the Asian and Pacific Islander community has impacted them, and what the Marianas community can do to best celebrate and respect the diversity in our islands.

I would like to congratulate the 44 students who participated. A volunteer panel of judges reviewed the essays and chose Jia Ross Nicdao and Camille Torres Hocog as this year's winners of the middle school and high school division, respectively. Jia, an 8th grade student at Admiral Herbert G. Hopwood Middle School, wrote about her experience as a young Asian American in the Northern Mariana Islands. Camille, a sophomore at Marianas High School, wrote about diversity and unity.

I am proud to include in the Record the essays submitted by Jia and Camille:

Middle School Winner, Jia Ross Nicdao, Admiral Herbert G. Hopwood

Middle School, 8th Grade

Even though it is a small area, the Northern Marianas

Islands are undeniably full of different cultures and

traditions. Many ethnic groups, specifically Asian citizens

and Pacific Islanders, proudly call the CNMI their home; they

comprise more than 80 percent of Saipan's population. Whether

you were born or migrated from a different country, we still

thrive as a community to empower one another.

My parents immigrated to the CNMI for work and started a

family here. My identity as Asian American has been a little

confusing. In the beginning, I felt as if I did not deserve

to be a member of the Filipino community. I felt like my

opinions and thoughts were invalid when discussing Filipino

topics because I was raised away from the area of action and

lived abroad. My different living situation made me feel as

if I do not deserve the recognition Filipinos got. I

struggled to find a label that I connected to, so I decided

to research Filipino culture. At that moment was when I found

out about the ethnic group that I was unknowingly part of,

known as Asian Americans, who are Americans with Asian

ancestry and/or children of immigrated parents. This

community was something I finally related to. On the island,

I never felt indifferent because of my ethnicity, which was

opposite to my other feelings. I was surrounded by other

Asians, so whenever I was around them, I felt like I belonged

with them. I liked that I could relate with other Asian

Americans through shared experiences; it gave me comfort.

Most of the representation here in the CNMI has been

positive. When I see members from this community succeed, it

not only impacts the view and generalization for our

community, but it also empowers me personally to strive for

that success. It pushes me to fulfill the achievements that

others succeeded in. It motivates me to become involved in

that success and also positively represent the community. I

am one of those community members, and I am proud to

represent the Asian American Community.

I believe one of the best ways to respect and celebrate

diversity in this community is by educating ourselves on each

other's cultures. We can set an example for other communities

to participate in Asian American and Pacific Islander

appreciation month by first doing it within the community.

Sharing about our experiences; getting to know each others'

viewpoints is an expressive way to understand each others'

lifestyles. Also, researching appropriate behaviors and

mannerism is critical to be aware of when talking to other

people from different countries; we should never offend

anyone and be disrespectful. If we remove the negative energy

between nationalities in the community, we can work together

as one and spread love with other communities. Overall, being

part of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community

comes with many responsibilities, so being one with each

other will help us all accomplish many goals.

High School Winner, Camille Torres Hocog, Marianas High School,

Sophomore

The Northern Mariana Islands; an archipelago of islands in

the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Despite our small and rather

remote location, an abundance of cultures within the Asian

and Pacific Islander community reside here. Descendants from

all around the Asian-Pacific region call our islands home.

As a young Chamorro woman who is indigenous to these

islands, this place means a significant amount to me. I take

great pride in my roots and where I come from, for it is a

source of my values, confidence, goals, and morals. But

there's one thing about my Chamorro identity that has always

stuck out to me; I am a result of the perseverance of my

people. Among the Pacific Islands, the Marianas has the

longest history of colonialism. To this day, we are still

experiencing its lasting effects. As I grow and learn even

more about my heritage, the more I have an understanding of

who I am in this world. Each moment of understanding reminds

me that because of my ancestor's resilience, I want to live

my life in fulfilling ways that would make them and my

islands proud today.

Being from the islands also means connecting and building

friendships with people of different cultures, majority of

them being from within the API community. Reflecting on these

friendships made me realize how truly broad the term ``API''

is, almost like it's a bigger picture. Despite all of us

being boxed into this term, looking a bit closer and seeing

the great amount of cultural diversity within this group

makes you realize how beautifully inclusive it is. Without a

doubt, there is a wealth of culture within the Asian-Pacific

region, and it's absolutely evident here in the Marianas.

Being able to share our cultural stories, arts, and

experiences with each other is, in my opinion, the best way

to celebrate our similarities and differences this month.

One unforgettable experience in regards to the sharing of

my culture would be in 2016, where I went on a student

exchange trip to Japan. I was in 6th grade at the time. For a

couple of days, I stayed with a host family of four; one mom,

one dad, one daughter, and one younger son. The mom was the

only one who spoke English. I remember they'd take me to

different places around their hometown, such as restaurants,

the park, and different Japanese sites. With them, I was able

to experience firsthand what it was like to live in a

Japanese household.

One morning before the daughter had to go to school, she

asked me to teach her some Chamorro words so that she could

show them to her friends. I taught her a few simple phrases

such as ``Hafa Adai'' and ``Buenas Dias''. Her mom translated

for us, and she was able to write down these words on a

notepad and take it with her to school.

Having that experience at such a young age shaped the way I

see culture today. It showed me that simply sharing our parts

of the world and understanding each other's background is,

again, the best way to celebrate our cultural diversities.

As we all know, May is a special month for us Asian and

Pacific Islanders. It's a month for us to celebrate our

achievements, contributions, and our heritage. It's an

occasion where many within the community open up about their

experiences being Asian and/or Pacific Islander. Whether it

be about the struggles or moments of contentment, it would be

the time to listen to and grasp onto our words. Despite this

month being named API Heritage Month, we shall continue to

listen to and uplift each other's voices even after May ends.

All throughout time, we will celebrate diversity and unity.

Thank you for reading.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa College Access Act, which would authorize tuition assistance grants to cover the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition costs for Northern Marianas and American Samoa community college graduates seeking to attend a four-year public university.

The importance of having an educated citizenry is a bedrock principle of our nation and has been since our founding. And in today's competitive job market, a postsecondary education is increasingly becoming a critical necessity for obtaining a decent job with a decent wage.

The Northern Mariana Islands has only been part of America for forty years. We understand well that education is key to our continued growth, but the reality is that household incomes in the Northern Marianas are less than half the national median. The U.S. territory of American Samoa is in similar economic straits. Poverty and unemployment rates there are among the highest in the country.

I believe the best way to improve economic conditions in these territories is to improve the educational opportunities of our residents. Unfortunately, however, neither the Northern Marianas nor American Samoa has a four-year institution of higher education. In fact, they are the only two congressional districts in the country without a public four-year college or university. Each has an accredited community college, but academic offerings are substantially limited.

Students from these U.S. territories wanting the advantages of a four-year university in another state or territory face significant financial difficulty. Nonresident students spend an average of $16,380 in out-of state tuition and fees more per year than their resident peers at public four-year colleges, according to College Board. And many students in the Marianas and American Samoa wanting to attend a four-year university not only face the cost-of-nonresident-tuition, but also the significant expense of travel. The Marianas are over 3,700 miles from the nearest state, Hawaii--a $1,100 one-way trip by plane. American Samoa to Hawaii is over 2,500 miles, over $800 one-way.

The bill follows the model of P.L. 106-98, the D.C. College Access Act, which allows students residing in the District of Columbia to apply for grants to help pay the cost of attending colleges outside D.C., but much smaller in scope and cost. It creates a program through which public four-year schools in the 50 states, D.C., and other U.S. territories may be reimbursed for offering in-state tuition to undergraduate students from the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa.

The gentlewoman from American Samoa, Mrs. Radewagen, is an original cosponsor of the bill. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation and help give students from the Northern Marianas and American Samoa the means needed to make their educational dreams a reality.

Madam Speaker, military veterans living in the U.S. Outlying Areas and Freely Associated States do not have the same access to services as veterans elsewhere in our Nation. They face numerous obstacles accessing the benefits to which they are due. They cannot reach all the services that should be available to them. We must fix this inequality.

As a first step, today I am introducing legislation to create the Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on the U.S. Outlying Areas and Freely Associated States. The new advisory committee would be composed of veterans from the U.S. Outlying Areas--the Northern Mariana Islands, which I represent, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico--and from the Freely Associated States of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. The committee, a part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, will be responsible for assessing benefit availability and service accessibility in these U.S. Outlying areas and Freely associated States and for advising the Secretary on how any deficits can be addressed.

As an example of these inequities, the Northern Marianas, my district, is the only U.S. jurisdiction without a VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC). The nearest full-service VA medical facility is in Hawaii, which can be over a 15-hour journey by plane. The Northern Marianas is also the only U.S. area without a Vet Center. Guam Vet Center staff travel to the island of Saipan in the Marianas to provide services, but visits are infrequent and limited to a few hours. Veterans on the islands of Tinian and Rota must travel to Saipan or Guam to receive in-person services. The Marianas is also the only U.S. jurisdiction without a Veteran Benefits office. Guam VA Benefits Office staff travel to Saipan to meet with Marianas veterans and their families, but again those visits are infrequent and limited to a few hours.

The advisory committee my legislation sets up will detail issues, like these that Marianas veterans face, and concerns raised by veterans resident in the other U.S. outlying areas and freely associated states. And the committee will recommend to the Secretary how these issues should be addressed.

It is also my intention that the committee's existence within the Department will encourage VA leadership and staff to consider island area veterans from the outset, when developing new programs or initiatives, to put an end to this pattern of inequity.

Providing equitable support to veterans in the outlying areas and freely associated states is an obligation long overdue. These veterans have fought in the same conflicts and suffered the same physical, mental, and spiritual wounds of service as veterans residing everywhere else in America.

The legislation I am introducing today will give these veterans a voice within the Department to advocate for equal treatment. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.