Now, you read the vote totals right: 117 Republicans are still voting with Abramoff and the Pirates of Saipan.

In 2006, I used my research of the GOP Culture of Corruption to help us win elections. I have a number of defeated Republicans notched on my laptop.  Without the Abramoff scandal these Republicans would still be in Congress and the GOP would still control the Senate and possibly the House.

For years, Congressman George Miller led the effort in Congress to end the abuse. It was an effort supported and joined by human rights activists like Wendy Doromal and many others (like yours truly). We fought to extend US labor, immigration and customs laws to the runaway Territory. We fought to grant long-time guest workers rights and a clear pathway to US Citizenship. In the 1990s some of these workers had already been on the CNMI for 15 years. Tonight many have been there for well over 25 years—and their long denial of basic human dignity is coming to an end. There is a lot more work to do, but there is great celebration today on the Mariana Islands.

Of course, The Pirate of Saipan are not celebrating. Bankrolled by the Hong Kong based Tan Family, they have spent decades creating and protecting the CNMI’s system of sweatshops, exploitation and abuse. They have always fought any effort to extend US laws to the CNMI tooth and nail.

For years, Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay and the Republican Party worked to ensured that the The Pirate of Saipan always won. They were always able to block any effort to reform this cesspool of corruption befouling the Western Pacific and tainting the image of America around the globe.

We defeated that obstruction when we won the 2006 mid-term elections!

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