Gregorio Sablan: “Thank you very much, Congresswoman Norton, the distinguished representative of the District of Columbia. She represents…”

“Thank you very much, Congresswoman Norton, the distinguished representative of the District of Columbia. She represents me whenever I am not at home, and has done an exceptional job. And I thank you for sponsoring today's Special Order. Mr. Speaker, just imagine returning home to the United States after many months of life-threatening combat. Imagine the relief you feel to be safe and the joyfulness of the welcome you expect to receive. Then, imagine as you enter that welcoming ceremony you see displayed the flags of every State, but the flag of your own home is missing. This is a sad experience for some 36,000 servicemen and -women whose home is the District of Columbia or one of the United States territories-- American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and my own district, the Northern Mariana Islands. The flags of our home jurisdictions are often missing from the flag displays at military installations during welcome-back ceremonies, deployment ceremonies, and graduations. A constituent alerted me to this problem about 2 years ago. This individual had noticed the absence of the Northern Marianas flag from a display of U.S. State and territorial flags at Fort Drum, New York. She reported how troubling it was to her as a member of our armed services from the Northern Marianas, returning from combat duty, looking up to see her own flag missing from the ranks of flags there at Fort Drum.…”