Thanks to so many…

Now that the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act has passed Congress, I want to give my public thanks and acknowledgement to the many who helped make this possible. 

 In Congress it was always—and had to be—a bipartisan effort. Senate Leaders McConnell and Schumer, Chairmen Murkowski and Grassley, my Democratic 

 

colleagues Senators Cantwell, Feinstein, Heinrich, Hirono, Menendez, Sanders, and Wyden were all involved. 

On the House side, I worked especially with Majority Leader McCarthy, Democratic Whip Hoyer, Chairmen Rob Bishop and Bob Goodlatte, and their Democratic counterparts, Representatives Grijalva and Mr. Nadler. 

 

In the Marianas, I am grateful for the participation of all who gave me the benefit of their experiences and ideas in the many “listening sessions” we held last year. Everyone who ever came to their congressional office with a labor or immigration-related problem also added to our understanding of what is working and what needed to change. Testimony by the business community contributed significantly. 

 

Thanks to the friends we have made over the last 10 years at the Government Accountability Office, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service and its sister agencies in the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Labor for their technical contributions. 

 

And thanks to our Legislature and Governor Torres, who have given the U.S. Workforce Act, their complete endorsement. I thank the Governor, too, for the positive influence he had on the Republican opposition to the bill. 

 

Our community is at our best when we work together. I believe the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act is proof