1. I was driving to Atlanta for #Thanksgiving last year when, just after dark on Wednesday evening, my buddy in the passenger seat turned to me and said excitedly, “Wow, he signed it!” Then the push notifications started popping up: The #HKHRDA was now law.

2. That must’ve been 6:30 p.m. or so. Traffic was slow along the I-85. We figured this was going to happen sooner or later, but we couldn’t know when. I remember just enough about that moment on the road, my music playing softly, as the mundane gave way to the unforgettable.

3. And I guess this is how history just so often unfolds. Since its first introduction in 2014, the bill had enjoyed enough interest to be kept alive but not to gain serious traction. Yet things changed over the summer when the huge anti-extradition protests in #HongKong erupted.

4. Thanks to @RepEliotEngel, @RepMcCaul, @RepMcGovern, and @RepChrisSmith, the House swiftly moved it out of committee in September and through the entire chamber in October. But then it stalled for weeks in the Senate despite strong pressure from @marcorubio and others.

5. Once @senatemajldr was finally convinced to give it floor time, @SenatorRisch, @SenatorCardin, @SenatorMenendez, @SenTomCotton, @SenatorDurbin, @SenRickScott, @HawleyMO, @MarshaBlackburn, @tedcruz, @SenSchumer, @SenJeffMerkley, and @JohnCornyn spoke one by one in support.

6. The bill passed unanimously. Sitting in the room was my friend @bethanypoulos, with whom I’ve worked to advance Hong Kong issues for many years. She’d later tell me that Nov. 19, 2019, marked the highest point of her professional career in Congress.

7. There was still a worry though: Would further delay result from the Senate having to reconcile some differences in various parts of the bill with the House, where initial impeachment hearings were, by this point, already underway in the Intelligence Committee?

8. Abandoning her version and adopting the other in full, @SpeakerPelosi ensured there’d be no problem. She bypassed all procedural hurdles, whipped the votes personally, and fast-tracked a roll call so as to occur within 24 hours. The 417–1 landslide made it veto-proof.

9. The president hesitated and toyed with the idea of not signing it in hopes of securing a better trade deal from China. Fortunately, he did so in the end, ushering in a new U.S. policy commitment to Hong Kong. With another Thanksgiving now, one whole year has elapsed.

10. Sino-American relations, too, have long been transformed; no one can turn back the clock. I can’t begin to imagine how next Thanksgiving will look, but I trust that I can always count on allies in both parties for their continued bipartisan backing. For this, I’m grateful