“This is a remarkable opportunity to advance the interests of our islands. Insular area issues have traditionally been handled in a very bipartisan manner in Congress,” Sablan said.
“I have already met on several occasions this year with Chairman John Fleming, R-La., who heads the subcommittee, to talk about implementation of federal immigration and other issues of importance to the Northern Marianas.
“Now that I have been selected to be the lead Democrat on the subcommittee I will work hard to build that relationship with the chairman so that together we can address the concerns of the Northern Marianas and all the insular areas.
“In addition to insular matters the Subcommittee has jurisdiction over national fisheries, wildlife, and oceans policies. I am very grateful to the Natural Resources Ranking Member Ed Markey, D-Ma., who leads the caucus, and the other 18 Democrats for entrusting me with this responsibility.”
