Insular area delegates back Grijalva for Interior

Congressional members from the U.S. insular areas are backing a representative from Arizona to be the next secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Guam Delegate Madeleine Z. Bordallo, American Samoa Delegate Eni Faleomavaega and U.S. Virgin Islands Delegate have urged President-elect Barack Obama to nominate Rep. Raul Grijalva of Tucson, Arizona to lead the Interior Department.

The Interior Department is the executive agency mainly responsible for insular affairs.

In a letter to Obama, the three members of the U.S. House of Representatives touted Grijalva as a qualified leader who has a broad knowledge of the DOI’s responsibilities, including those with respect to the insular areas.

“Congressman Grijalva, as Secretary of the Interior, will help you to fulfill your commitments to responsible stewardship of public lands, protection of our natural resources, and leadership on issues affecting Native Americans and the peoples of the territories,” says the lawmakers’ letter.

Grijalva, the letter says, has extensive experience in environmental protection. He served 14 years on the Prima Country Board of Supervisors in Arizona, where his Sonoran Desert Preservation Plan gained attention “for its ability to incorporate economic growth in the region while preserving its natural environment and resources,” it adds.

The fourth-term lawmaker from Arizona currently serves on the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, and, according to the letter, he has taken a keen interest in the DOI’s administrative responsibility for coordinating federal policy affecting the territories and the freely associated states, including the Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

“We are confident that he will continue to promote U.S. interests in the Western Pacific through his administration of the department’s programs that are essential to the success of these nations,” the letter says.

Bordallo added in a statement, “Congressman Grijalva understands the issues unique to the U.S. territories. His service on the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs and on the Committee on Natural Resources as well as his public service before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives has familiarized him with the broad range of responsibilities at the Department of the Interior.

She continued, “Most notably, Congressman Grijalva has an understanding of the unique relationship that exists between the federal government and the U.S. territories as well as the Freely Associated States. He understands the issues important to the people of the territories. My colleagues and I are confident that Congressman Grijalva will ably promote the interests of the U.S. territories, manage our public lands, and protect our nation’s natural resources if appointed to this important position.”