WASHINGTON, D.C.-Governors and congressional representatives from each of the U.S. Insular Areas gathered in Washington this week to attend their annual meeting with senior-level federal officials to discuss issues of importance to American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S Virgin Islands.
The 2013 Senior Plenary Session of the Interagency Group on Insular Areas, hosted by the Department of the Interior, was co-chaired by White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs David Agnew and Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes. The island governors were also in Washington to attend the annual National Governors' Conference, the Western Governors Breakfast, and U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Meetings, all of which preceded the IGIA Plenary Session.
Various governors and congressional representatives from the U.S. Insular Areas provided remarks and statements unique to their island and highlighted useful ideas and goals for their constituencies that developed from the sessions at this year's annual meeting.
In addition, the co-chairs provided important remarks at the annual meeting.
“This annual meeting and its important workshops underscore the collaborative progress we are making to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of our people in American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico,” said Hayes. “It is my hope that folks who have traveled thousands of miles to be here this week will work to identify other areas and initiatives that we can employ to do an even better job moving forward to ensure that resources can be found to advance the priorities of these Insular Areas.”
“It was a pleasure meeting with the governors and the representatives at this IGIA where we held serious conversations about addressing the issues facing the U.S. Insular Areas,” said Eileen Sobeck, the acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas.” We were especially pleased to welcome newly elected Governor Moliga of American Samoa. This year we are placing special focus on following-up with our sister federal agencies, the governors and the delegates to Congress throughout the year to continue moving forward on the issues.”
“IGIA provides a great opportunity for agencies and the White House to hear directly about the challenges and priorities of the US Insular Areas,” said Agnew. “Thank you to the governors, representatives and their staffs for the productive discussion, which will help inform our policies in the weeks and months to come.”
Sobeck co-chaired the IGIA with Hayes on behalf of Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. Charles Galbraith, White House Associate Director - Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, co-chaired the IGIA with Agnew. Hayes and Agnew gave opening remarks at the Plenary Session.
This year's federal presentations included:
-Department of Commerce - Economics and Statistics Administration: Formulating Economic Policy in the Territories Using the GDP by Dr. Mark Doms, Undersecretary for Economic Affairs
-Health and Human Services - Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: CMS Hospital Surveys - Keeping in Good Standing by Thomas Hamilton, Director, Survey and Certification, Clinical Standards and Quality
-USDA - Rural Development: Leveraging USDA Programs to Advance Infrastructure & Development Projects by Jessica Zufolo, Deputy Administrator, and Chris Kanazawa, State Director, Hawaii and Western Pacific
-National Science Foundation - Education and Human Resources: Partnering with the National Science Foundation to Support Policy Initiatives by John Cruickshank, Senior Program Analyst, Directorate for Education and Human Resources
-Homeland Security - Federal Emergency Management Agency: Sharing Experiences Learned from Sandy and Others To Help the Territories by Michael Byrne, Federal Coordinating Officer for Sandy, National Incident Management Assistance Team Leader, FEMA
-USDA - National Institute of Food and Agriculture: NIFA Food and Agricultural Sciences Programs in the Insular Areas by Dr. Saleia Afele-Fa'amuli, National Program Leader
An important compilation shared at the meeting was the IGIA briefing book, which contains contributions from all participating federal agencies and highlights their respective work and programs in the territories and freely associated states. (DOI)
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