We wish to take this opportunity to congratulate State Rep. Adrian Madaro for his recent appointment by House Speaker Bob DeLeo as House co-chair of the newly created Italian Caucus of the Massachusetts legislature.
The establishment of the Italian Caucus comes at the urging of the Italian Consul General to Massachusetts, Nicola de Santis, who foresees the caucus as an instrument for fostering cultural and trade relations between Massachusetts and Italy.
In this era of increasing globalization, the Italian Caucus can serve an important purpose, especially in Massachusetts, where 14 percent of our residents confirm that they are of Italian heritage. Further, Massachusetts is one of the leading states for trade with Italy, and the Italian Caucus clearly can play a key role in enhancing economic development and opportunity among businesses here and in Italy.
We appreciate too, that for Rep. Madaro, who holds a dual citizenship with Italy, the appointment brings enormous personal satisfaction, inasmuch as his father, Jacopo, is an immigrant from Venice and his mom is a second-generation Italian-American. Given Rep. Madaro’s unique background and yearning to improve ties between the United States and Italy, his appointment by Speaker DeLeo is an outstanding one in every respect.