In 1999, then-Congressman Bob Schaffer — who is now running to replace retiring Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) — went on “a fact-finding mission” to the Marianas Islands in order “to get to the bottom of repeated allegations of labor abuse in the American protectorate.” But, according to the Denver Post, Schaffer’s trip “was partly arranged by the firm of now-jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who represented textile factory owners fighting congressional efforts to reform labor and immigration laws on the islands and who was being handsomely paid to keep the islands’ cherished exemptions.” Unsurprisingly, Schaffer came away from the trip supporting Abramoff’s clients and “believing that allegations of widespread abuse were largely unfounded.”
Update:
Progress Now Action notes that Schaffer has pointed to the Marianas Islands’s labor abuse-riddled guest worker program as a model of a successful program. TPM has more.