Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, we cannot countenance the culture of hate in our nation that leads to Asian and Pacific Islander Americans being harassed, assaulted, and scapegoated for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hateful rhetoric has deadly consequences. Xiaojie ``Emily'' Tan, Daoyou Feng, Delaina Ashley Yaun Gonzalez, Paul Andre Michels, Yong Ae Yue, Soon Chung ``Julie'' Park, Hyun Jung Grant, and Suncha Kim were forever taken from their families on March 16 in a shooting fueled by this racist hate.

These eight victims deserve swift justice for the heinous and inexcusable act of gun violence that ended their lives.

But all Asian and Pacific Islander Americans deserve for this Congress to stand up, condemn the violence, and commit to ending hatred and bigotry. That is why I am a cosponsor of H. Res. 275.

On behalf of the majority Asian/Pacific Islander community I represent, I join my colleagues in expressing our condolences to the families of the victims of the Atlanta shooting.

And I join all those voting for H. Res. 275 in affirming that crimes of hate against Asians, Pacific Islanders, or any racial or ethnic group have no place in America.

Madam Speaker, on Earth Day 2021, together with Rep. McCaul and 103 other original cosponsors, I am reintroducing the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act.

The Act bans the buying and selling of shark fins in the United States and passed in the 116th Congress with bipartisan support and, ultimately, 287 cosponsors. It was the largest number of cosponsors for any ocean conservation bill in the previous Congress.

The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act has such strong bipartisan support, because it is an effective way to remove the United States from the devastating global trade in shark fins, at no cost. And because it does so without stopping those who want to fish for sharks and use them whole.

Madam Speaker, sharks are absolutely critical to life in the ocean. As apex predators, they help maintain balance by keeping prey populations in check. They are also critical to the tourism economy of our coastal communities. In Florida alone, tourists, who go diving to see sharks, generate more than 200 times the value of the trade in shark fins for our entire country.

Despite their importance ecologically and economically, sharks are in serious trouble. Each year, fins from up to 73 million sharks are sliced off and sold in the global marketplace. And, largely due to this demand for fins, some shark species have now declined by more than 90 percent.

Our nation has wisely banned the inhumane practice of finning sharks and throwing them back into the ocean to die. Yet, we still allow fins to be bought and sold here. And many of the fins we are buying and selling come from countries that simply do not have the same level of protection the U.S. gives sharks.

Now is time for us to take that next step. Only by banning the shark fin trade once and for all within our borders can we ensure we are no longer supporting an unsustainable use of ocean resources.

Recognizing this unsustainability, the Northern Mariana Islands, my home, was the very first U.S. insular area to ban the trade of shark fins in 2011. As an island culture 3,000 years old, the people of the Marianas understand and respect the important role that sharks play in maintaining the life of our oceans.

We are not alone. Thirteen U.S. states and three territories have also passed their own shark fin bans. But this patchwork of state laws can be challenging to enforce. That is why we need a federal ban on the shark fin trade in the United States.

A ban on the shark fin trade is supported by 45 domestic and international airlines, by 22 shipping companies, 15 major corporations, and nearly 700 U.S. businesses and organizations. A 2020 national poll found 4 of 5 American voters support a national ban on the buying and selling of shark fins. Hundreds of scientists, chefs, fishers, and dive and surf businesses have written to Congress requesting passage of a national shark fin ban.

I want, especially, to thank Oceana, the Humane Society Legislative Fund, and the Animal Welfare Institute for those environmental organizations' work to build legislative support for the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act.

I look forward to quick action in the House on the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2021.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the Northern Mariana Islands Wage and Economic Stability Act. This legislation delays for 18 months, in the Marianas only, any national increase in the federal minimum wage that Congress may enact. My bill, also, requires a Government Accountability Office report on the economic impact in the Marianas of such a national wage increase.

Unlike the rest of our nation, where minimum wage has been static, the minimum wage in the Marianas has more than doubled over recent years to reach the federal level of $7.25.

These substantial increases have made life better for thousands of Marianas families and encouraged more U.S. workers to enter the workforce.

But I had to carefully time those increases year-by-year with legislation and based on the help of Government Accountability Office reports to ensure--successfully--that wages went up without jeopardizing jobs.

Economic conditions in the Marianas remain separate from the national situation. Whereas Gross Domestic Product rose nationally in 2019, in the Marianas GDP plunged 11.2 percent that year. That decline came after a 19.3 percent decrease in 2018. And it is reasonable to expect the picture in the Marianas for 2020 will be no better. Our tourism- based economy will remain dormant until the pandemic has passed. Meanwhile, nationally, we expect growth on the order of 6 percent this year.

My point is simply this: If we are going to raise the wage in the Marianas--and, believe me, I do--then we must do it as we did before: with a close eye on the economic conditions in the islands. They are vastly different than conditions in the nation as a whole.

Again, I fully support raising the minimum wage in our country--I want workers to earn more.

I believe the best way to accomplish that goal in the insular area I represent, however, is through my legislation, the Northern Mariana Islands Wage and Economic Stability Act. My bill will give Congress the analytical tools and the time to consider how best to schedule wage increases in the Marianas to improve the lives of workers and their families, while ensuring the businesses employing those workers can thrive.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the Northern Mariana Islands Wage and Economic Stability Act. This legislation delays for 18 months, in the Marianas only, any national increase in the federal minimum wage that Congress may enact. My bill, also, requires a Government Accountability Office report on the economic impact in the Marianas of such a national wage increase.

Unlike the rest of our nation, where minimum wage has been static, the minimum wage in the Marianas has more than doubled over recent years to reach the federal level of $7.25.

These substantial increases have made life better for thousands of Marianas families and encouraged more U.S. workers to enter the workforce.

But I had to carefully time those increases year-by-year with legislation and based on the help of Government Accountability Office reports to ensure--successfully--that wages went up without jeopardizing jobs.

Economic conditions in the Marianas remain separate from the national situation. Whereas Gross Domestic Product rose nationally in 2019, in the Marianas GDP plunged 11.2 percent that year. That decline came after a 19.3 percent decrease in 2018. And it is reasonable to expect the picture in the Marianas for 2020 will be no better. Our tourism- based economy will remain dormant until the pandemic has passed. Meanwhile, nationally, we expect growth on the order of 6 percent this year.

My point is simply this: If we are going to raise the wage in the Marianas--and, believe me, I do--then we must do it as we did before: with a close eye on the economic conditions in the islands. They are vastly different than conditions in the nation as a whole.

Again, I fully support raising the minimum wage in our country. It has been static too long. I am a cosponsor of the Raise the Wage Act--I want workers to earn more.

I believe the best way to accomplish that goal in the insular area I represent, however, is through my legislation, the Northern Mariana Islands Wage and Economic Stability Act. My bill will give Congress the analytical tools and the time to consider how best to schedule wage increases in the Marianas to improve the lives of workers and their families, while ensuring the businesses employing those workers can thrive.

Madam Speaker, today I introduce the Northern Marianas Family Assistance Act. This legislation will make long overdue amendments to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (``TANF'') program to include the Northern Mariana Islands.

The TANF program provides a lifeline to low-income families with children to meet ongoing needs. Benefits such as childcare, workforce education and training, and food assistance gives families a chance when times get tough. But the benefits of this block grant program are not available in the Marianas.

My bill addresses this inequity.

As we continue to address the economic challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic, inclusion in the TANF program would ensure that working families with children in the Marianas can continue to put food on the table and have a roof over their head.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 447.

Apprenticeships are well recognized as a way to help local economies grow by providing career opportunities for young people. However, the current national apprenticeship system does not adequately support the creation of apprenticeships in the Marianas and other insular areas. That inequity ends today.

H.R. 447 incorporates my bill, the Outlying Area Apprenticeship Expansion Act, which I introduced in the last Congress. My bill provides $2.5 million over 5 years for the Marianas to create and expand apprenticeships, and it provides more than $11.2 million for the insular areas in total.

Our island schools already equip students with the skills employers seek. With these additional funds and participation in the national apprenticeship program, we will be able to build that connection between what was learned in the classroom and real-world work. With widespread unemployment due to the coronavirus, that link is needed now more than ever.

I thank Chairman Scott for including the outlying areas in this program and for his work to update this law first enacted in 1937.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a statement from the Association of Woodworking and Furnishings Suppliers.

[From AWFS, Jan. 29, 2021]

AWFS Stands in Support of National Apprenticeship Act of 2021

Anaheim, CA.--The Association of Woodworking and

Furnishings Suppliers (AWFS), a national

trade association for the wood industry and owner/operator of

the AWFSFair trade show, is in support of the

National Apprenticeship Act of 2021. AWFS has officially

signed on as a supporter of the Act.

``Our industry, comprised primarily of small businesses, is

experiencing a skills gap,'' says AWFS Executive Vice

President Angelo Gangone. ``We need to utilize all tools and

resources available to us to attract and train new talent,

including apprenticeships.''

The expanded opportunities to Registered Apprenticeships,

youth apprenticeships, and pre-apprenticeships made available

through the National Apprenticeship Act of 2021 will help

small wood manufacturers who lack the capacity to create an

apprenticeship on their own. Congressman Robert Scott (D-VA-

3), Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor

has introduced the bill (H.R. 447), an amendment of the

National Apprenticeship Act of 1937. According to Rep. Scott,

the Act ``will begin to bring America's investments in

apprenticeship more in line with countries around the world''

as ``our peer industrialized nations spend roughly six times

as much as a share of GDP on apprenticeships as the U.S.''

``There are multiple successful U.S. apprenticeship models

comprised of companies collaborating together and with local

school and community partners.'' says Gangone. ``This is a

critical element that will help us solve the workforce gap

and strengthen our industry into the future.'' The Act's

encouragement for employers, industry associations, labor and

joint labor-management organizations, education and training

providers, credential providers, and apprentices to work

together to establish and expand apprenticeships will have a

meaningful impact on the skilled workforce and the future of

industry careers.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the Assuring You Uniform Dietary Assistance (AYUDA) Act, making the Northern Mariana Islands part of the national Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). My bill ensures individuals and families in our islands who rely on this help to put food on the table are treated equitably and receive similar levels of assistance available in other parts of our nation.

Inclusion in SNAP for the people I represent remains a priority goal for me. I first introduced the AYUDA Act in the 112th Congress. And in the years since, a pilot program has demonstrated the feasibility of including the Northern Marianas in SNAP. Taking this action will avoid future disruption in vital food aid. And it will relieve the administrative burden on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to manage a one-off, block grant for our islands when right next door in the U.S. territory of Guam SNAP works perfectly well.

The current block grant approach to food aid for the Northern Marianas continues to reduce assistance to those in need compared to other Americans. Because the arbitrarily capped block grant funds do not automatically respond to changing economic conditions, families in need face the prospect that their benefits will be reduced or cut off completely. In fact, just last October, the Commonwealth government stated it had no choice but to remove households from eligibility for the new fiscal year due to insufficient funds. Moreover, benefits were substantially cut by 25 percent on October 1, 2020.

The time has now come to right the disparity that keeps the majority- minority community I represent excluded from this critical safety net program that has kept millions of Americans from going hungry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a time when the Marianas economy continues to be shut due to the coronavirus crisis, I urge my colleagues to support this bill so that those in need are not treated differently simply because of where they live in America.

Madam Speaker, President-elect Biden has pledged to address the healthcare disparity in minority communities that the coronavirus pandemic has laid bare. One longstanding disparity is that our national Medicaid program does not reach all Americans with full coverage.

The Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are subject to a hard, statutory limit on federal Medicaid support, unlike the states and the District of Columbia. This cap means that preventative care and treatment for the poorest Americans in the insular areas will always be less available than for Americans elsewhere.

The final Obama-Biden administration budget proposal, for fiscal year 2017, addressed this systemic inequity by proposing an alignment of insular area Medicaid programs with the rest of the nation, first by removing the cap on Medicaid funding, so that it would no longer operate as a block grant in any insular area.

Congress has also acknowledged this inequity. We acted to provide more Medicaid funding for the insular areas by substantially lifting the cap through P.L. 116-94, Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020. Provisions in P.L. 116-127, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act created equity between the states and the insular areas with respect to the increase in the federal-local match for Medicaid. Families First, also, provided additional federal dollars for the insular area Medicaid programs. But our actions were temporary. These funding increases expire at the end of fiscal year 2021.

Now, Congress must act again. And in doing so, we must create an enduring policy that safeguards the health of the poorest Americans in our insular areas.

To achieve that goal, I am introducing the Insular Area Medicaid Parity Act. My bill aligns with President-elect Biden's pledge to address healthcare disparities in minority communities by repealing the arbitrary cap on Medicaid for Americans in the insular areas.

By repealing the cap, we will be doing more than just ensuring there are sufficient resources to face the coronavirus crisis. We will be setting up the healthcare systems in the insular areas to respond to the next public health challenge, whatever it may be. Most important of all, we will ensure that day-after-day and year-by-year those with the smallest incomes and no access to other insurance receive the care that will keep them healthy and help ward off debilitating disease.

We will, also, be providing a level of certainty to healthcare providers--in the public and private sector--that will encourage investment in the health industry in the insular areas, which by any measure lags the rest of the nation. And by doing so we will create a virtuous cycle of rising quality of care powered by rising access that will benefit all at every income level.

The pandemic has brought home this truth: none of us can truly remain well, while some of us are ill. Now it is time for Congress to fully commit to making sure the poorest in the insular areas are treated equitably.

I thank my colleagues who joined me in introducing this legislation-- Chairman McGovern, Chairwoman Velazquez, Chairwoman DeLauro, Chairman Nadler, Mr. Cleaver II, Mr. San Nicolas, Ms. Radewagen, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Lee, Ms. Moore, Mr. Cardenas, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Sires, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Garcia, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Carson, Mr. Case, Ms. Clarke, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Napolitano, Ms. Norton, Ms. Meng, Mr. Castro, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Trone, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Gonzalez-Colon, Ms. Kelly, and Ms. Chu.

Madam Speaker, good news for the Northern Mariana Islands and all the insular areas: The Territories Health Care Improvement Act was introduced on Tuesday, addressing the Medicaid cliff our areas face when special ObamaCare funding ends this year.

Thursday, the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee reported the bill without dissent. ``Let's keep it moving,'' Chair Eshoo said. I believe full committee Chairman Pallone intends to do so as well.

I thank them both and Ranking Members Burgess and Walden for understanding the urgency of the Medicaid crisis in the insular areas. I also thank Mr. Soto and Mr. Bilirakis, who led the bill along with myself and seven bipartisan cosponsors.

It provides exactly what the Northern Mariana Islands Medicaid director testified she needed: $60 million per year. No local match is required as we recover from last year's typhoons. After 6 years, we will get the FMAP any State is offered.

There are new program integrity requirements that I support because every Federal dollar should go to those intended, without fraud or waste.

So, healthcare in the insular areas can be as good as healthcare anywhere in America. That is good news.

Madam Chair, my amendment No. 337, which is included in the en bloc amendment No. 13, clarifies that students holding or expecting to receive their associate degree can apply for the Technology and National Security Fellowship.

Section 239 of H.R. 2500 creates a new Technology and National Security Fellowship program to help increase science, technology, engineering and math recruitment in our national security agencies. Those holding or expecting to receive undergraduate and graduate degrees may apply to be placed in national security-focused positions for one-year tours with pay.

In support expanding this kind of opportunity for young people to serve their country.

But why exclude otherwise qualified applicants simply because they are enrolled in an associate degree program at a community college? Over a third of students nationwide and over half of part-time students are in two-year colleges, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. In many parts of our country, including my district in the Northern Marianas, community college is the only option for students pursuing higher education. Other Defense Department programs for civilian students, such as the Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation scholarship program, are already open to applicants from community college students. Let us include these students, too, as long as they meet program standards, and expand the selection pool of those who may serve as Technology and National Security Fellows.

I urge the adoption of my amendment, so we can be sure that the Technology and National Security Fellowship program is open to as many qualified students as possible, regardless of what type of college they happen to enroll in.

I ask my colleagues to support the en bloc amendment No. 13.

I would like to also express support for the following amendments to H.R. 2500 I cosponsored.

Amendment No. 390 offered by Representative Velazquez of New York extends to all U.S. territories, including the Northern Mariana Islands, a provision in law that allows federal agencies to double the value of a contract awarded to a Puerto Rico business for purposes of the small business contracting goals. The amendment ensures equity and further incentivize contracting opportunities for small businesses in all the territories.

Amendment No. 182 offered by Representative Hastings of Florida conveys the sense of Congress that the United States should promptly begin negotiations on the renewal of the Compacts of Free Association with our trusted allies in the Pacific--the freely associated states of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

We understand the strategic importance of these Pacific island nations that provide the U.S. exclusive military use rights covering huge swaths of land and waters in the Western Pacific. And we know what is at stake for American interests and security with growing foreign influence in the region.

The compacts will expire in a few short years. To keep America strong in the Pacific, we must move towards expeditious negotiations on renewing the compacts with our close allies so that Congress may act on approving and funding the agreements.

Amendment No. 249 offered by Representative Lee of Nevada aims to improve benefits and services to veterans through better accountability measures and coordination between the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA). The amendment clarifies the purpose of the interagency program office (IPO) while also directing both departments to allocate sufficient resources and authorities for the IPO. Requires annual reports on IPO activities and quarterly reports on VA and DOD funding to the IPO.

Amendment No. 63 offered by Representative Banks of Indiana helps ensure smooth implementation of electronic health records (EHR) for servicemembers and veterans by requiring the Department of Defense, Coast Guard, and the Department of Veterans Affairs jointly develop a comprehensive enterprise interoperability strategy.

Amendment No. 236 offered by Representative Lamb of Pennsylvania also helps ensure smooth implementation of the EHR for servicemembers and veterans by setting milestones for achieving interoperability of the EHR. The amendment further requires DOD and VA to work with an independent evaluator to assess and report to Congress on whether the joint EHR is achieving those milestones.

I urge my colleagues to support these amendments.

Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the Medicaid and CHIP Territory Transparency and Information Act, which would require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to publish on its website, and periodically update, specified information related to federal expenditures under Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in each of the U.S. territories.

Presently, data reporting for the Northern Mariana Islands' (NMI) Medicaid program is waived at the discretion of Secretary of Health and Human Services, as allowed by Section I902(j) of the Social Security Act. American Samoa also has this waiver. Absent this waiver, other insular areas are required to maintain appropriate reporting systems as a condition of receiving Medicaid funds. However, there is little evidence to suggest that CMS has been carrying out any robust oversight. An April 2016 Government Accountability Office report found that ``the lack of enforcement of program integrity mechanisms and information systems--have contributed to the limited federal program integrity efforts in the territories.'' The report goes on to state ``until recently,

CMS regulations exempted territories from the requirement to develop a Medicaid Management Information System, which could provide more detail on the territories' Medicaid and CHIP spending, including increasing the level of detail on the territories' . . . reporting.''

Data collection on existing insular area Medicaid programs is not only important for transparency and accountability, but essential if long-term Medicaid funding solutions are to be developed for our most remote U.S. jurisdictions. Gathering enrollment, utilization, and expenditure data will allow for a greater understanding of unique health care needs--enabling local government and CMS officials to make evidenced based decisions when it comes to Medicaid program improvements for our insular areas.

The gentleman from Florida, Mr. Bilirakis originally introduced this bill in the 115th Congress and is an original co-sponsor of this bill today along with my colleagues, Ms. Plaskett, Mrs. Radewagen, Mr. San Nicolas, and Miss Gonzalez-Colon. This bill is important to the future of Medicaid in the U.S. Territories. I urge all my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation.

Madam Speaker, the Mariana Islands and four other U.S. insular areas face a Medicaid ``cliff''.

Funding included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act expires this year.

Two-thirds of our annual Medicaid funding disappears, gone, putting healthcare at risk not just for Medicaid recipients, but for everyone who uses our hospital or other providers, because they depend as well on Medicaid revenues to stay in business or open.

I held a hearing last month on this Medicaid cliff. Chair Eshoo held a hearing yesterday, for which I am grateful.

This attention is good. We need Congress to focus on this impending healthcare crisis for Americans living in the insular areas.

Certainly, more money is needed. Treat the insular areas like the States.

But the goal is not just money.

What we want is medical care for those who need it in the insular areas to be every bit as good as medical care anywhere in America.

Madam Chair, my amendment is intended to ensure that the Northern Mariana Islands Nutritional Assistance Program has enough funding, so that household income eligibility standards and benefit levels currently in place for FY19 are kept in place throughout FY20.

We do not want anyone removed from eligibility or barred from the program because there is not enough money next year.

We do not want anyone to have their benefits cut. We have worked hard and long to raise benefits in the Marianas to match neighboring Guam and to meet the true costs of food in our islands. We do not want that progress lost.

I do not expect cuts to happen. We provided generously for the Marianas in the disaster supplemental appropriation enacted earlier this month, Public Law 116-20. We appropriated $25.2 million for disaster nutrition assistance in response to the Presidentially declared major disasters--we had two last year: Typhoon Mangkut and Super Typhoon Yutu--and for emergencies. And we made the funds available for all fiscal year 2020.

The Marianas had already used $10.6 million of our annual block grant and other monies to pay for disaster nutrition assistance in response to these two typhoons. It is the intent of Congress that the new disaster funding in Public Law 116-20 be applied retroactively to make whole those other funding sources.

Going forward, we are concerned about the economic emergency that has developed in the aftermath of the typhoons. Tourism, the primary driver of the economy, is down significantly; and Commonwealth government revenues have fallen. As a result, local government employees have had their hours reduced from 40 to 32 per week. Public school teachers are being forced to agree to a salary cut. The reduced consumer purchasing power will accelerate the economic downturn.

During the period of recession and government austerity that occurred from 2008 through 2012, the demand on the nutritional assistance program increased by 44 percent. This scenario may well now repeat. Congress recognizes that, because of the nexus between the typhoon disasters and the subsequent economic emergency, any new demand on the nutritional assistance program in fiscal year 2020 should be addressed with disaster funding provided in Public Law 116-20.

It is not certain, however, that the disaster supplemental appropriation will cover all contingencies.

To prepare for any eventuality, the amendment I offer makes clear that SNAP contingency funds are a permissible source should

the Marianas nutritional assistance program face a shortfall in fiscal 2020.

It is a ``belt and suspenders'' proposition. Only needed if, for some reason, disaster funds prove insufficient. This use of the contingency funds is statutorily authorized under the broad discretion given to the Secretary in 48 U.S.C. 1469d(c) to extend to the Marianas any program administered by the Department of Agriculture. The Secretary is also authorized to waive or modify any statutory requirements relating to the provision of assistance under such programs when he deems it necessary in order to adapt the programs to the Marianas needs.

My amendment makes clear Congress' intent: that no household eligible for food assistance under the income standards in effect for FY19 will be denied benefits in FY20 and that the benefit amounts being provided in FY19 will not be reduced in FY20.

I ask my colleagues to support this amendment.

Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained on June 18, 2019, during the vote on Ms. Speier's amendment to prevent the Department of Defense from spending funds to implement the ban on open transgender service in the U.S. military. Had I been present, I would have voted ``Aye.''

Mr. Speaker, 8 months after Typhoon Mangkhut and 7 months after Super Typhoon Yutu, we are finally ready to send a disaster relief bill to the President for signature. Of course, this has taken longer than any of us might wish. But I want to use my time simply to say thank you to my fellow Americans who are always willing to help when they see a neighbor in need.

Is not this attitude of charity for all, as Lincoln said, what binds our Nation?

Almost 50 years ago, the people of the Northern Mariana Islands, whom I represent here, voted to join the United States. It is at moments like this that we remember what a wise decision that was and what a great nation we are now part of.

On behalf of all in the Northern Mariana Islands who suffer to this day because of the lasting effects of Typhoons Mangkhut and Yutu, I say thank you.