Twentieth (20th) Association of Pacific Island Public Auditors (APIPA) Conference
Transcript of Welcome Video by
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs Nikolao I. Pula
Delivered in Hagåtña, Guam
July 27 - 31, 2009

Transcript of Video

Good morning everyone, or as you may say in your insular area:

Hafa adai
Yokwe Yuk
Kaselehlie
Ran Annim
Len Wo
Mogethin
Ali’i
Aloha, and
Talofa Lava.

And also, Hola, Guten Tag and Bonjour.

I just threw in those last three greetings to recognize your international appeal and, in the spirit of auditors…to cover all the bases…

I am Nikolao Pula, the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs, and the Director of the Office of Insular Affairs, more commonly referred to as OIA. I bring you greetings and best wishes from the Honorable Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Interior, OIA and Tony Babauta, the Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs Designate.

We at the Department are excited about President Obama’s nomination of Tony as this will do two things:

1. Elevate the profile of the insular areas. Through our own Assistant Secretary, OIA will report directly to the Secretary of the Interior, and OIA’s dealings with other Federal Departments will be at senior levels;
   
   
2. This puts an insular area brother on the President’s nominated staff. This will help give more recognition to Pacific Islanders and could be used to increase the profile of Pacific Islanders, especially regarding the President’s initiatives for Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

As most of you may know, although Tony has spent many years working in our nation’s Capitol, Tony Babauta is from Guam.

Thank you for the opportunity to address such an impressive group in attendance. We at OIA have been supporting the capacity building efforts of organizations such as the Association of Pacific Islands Public Auditors (APIPA) and will continue to do so.

You know, those of you familiar with me as a speaker are aware that I normally open with a very difficult exercise that tests your motor skills and coordination, with ancient island movements known as the “pati-po” combination. Nik shows “pati-po” sequence.

In our various careers, I am sure we have all come across many types of accountants. In fact it may all come down to expectations. For instance, an accountant applies for a job as a CFO. During the interview, the CEO suddenly asks him, what is 7 times 3? The accountant thinks fasts and tells him, 22. Once he leaves the room, the accountant immediately pulls out his calculator and enters 7 times 3 and is disappointed that his answer was off by 1. The next day, the accountant receives a phone call from the CEO who tells him he got the job. The accountant, very surprised, thanks the CEO and could not help but ask, what about the 7 times 3? The CEO says, “Of all the candidates we interviewed, you were the closest.”

Again, expectations…

The actions in Washington, D.C., are definitely about “Change” and the “Can Do” attitude. As most of you have read or heard, the Administration under President Obama and Vice President Biden is focused on advancements in very important areas, such as

• Stabilizing the economy – creation of sustainable jobs, building a better workforce through education and training,
• Affordable health care systems,
• Alternative energy,
• and Youth and Community Service

In addition, the buzz words have been “Stimulus funds” and “ARRA”, or the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. I understand the Office of Inspector General will be giving a presentation later on the subject, so I won’t go too much into that area.

I will say, however, that the Federal Government is pumping billions of dollars into the effort, with hundreds of millions of dollars being made available to our insular areas. And this is a wonderful opportunity for the insular areas to do things such as upgrade its infrastructure, invest in alternative sources of energy, and improve health care and educational systems. Of course, the ultimate objective should be improving the quality of life for people in the insular areas. And again, a very important factor is Accountability.

Accountability really is the key. It’s the key to responsible leadership, it’s the key to effective programs, and it’s the key to working together and succeeding. It’s also a key to realizing how the work each one of you does affects your organization, your government, your insular area and your region. I encourage you to get to know the “bigger picture” – the entire process that your work is a part of. The success of a project or the fulfillment of an objective depends on all parties being accountable to one another. Just because you may not be the procurement officer, or the project manager, or the financial manager, doesn’t mean that the success of the project depends more on someone other than yourself. What you do is important to the success of the entire mission. It’s a real team effort.

And in the spirit of that team effort, I am extremely pleased that ALL of the insular areas are committed to being more accountable to the public and to the Federal Government. The results of that focus show in the timely completion of the annual audits of financial statements and Federal award expenditures – yes, the Annual Single Audits, and the improvements in the opinions issued by the independent auditors. In fact, the Governments of Palau, the Marshall Islands, the FSM states of Pohnpei and Kosrae, and the Territory of Guam, have all improved accountability to the level where they are now receiving unqualified, or clean, opinions on their audited annual financial statements. We all look forward to the other insular areas achieving that same goal. The Government of the Northern Marianas is one qualification away, and may be the next to receive clean opinions.

Of course, the challenge is to continue with the practices that are resulting in clean opinions, and I have hopes that the good procedures in place will be continued. I would also like to emphasize that a clean opinion does not mean there are no issues of concern within government operations. However, the clean opinion does provide one with a reliable baseline for further research, and is a tool that the territorial auditors probably use to pinpoint areas for audits and investigations.

In addition to clean opinions, OIA is focusing on the accountability of the insular areas’ administration of Federal grant programs. Although many internal controls have been strengthened to ensure the intent of the programs are being achieved, there are some areas that continue to be a challenge. These problem areas include applying the correct procurement methods and documenting the process selected, timely payments for services and goods received, and sufficient documentation to support the payments. I am sure that if you have responsibilities related to these areas, your governments and organizations will greatly appreciate your best efforts to overcome the challenges.

In recent years, there has been collaboration between auditors and financial managers, and that has dramatically improved processes and the results of independent reviews by the Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office. The objective is to prevent the conditions that result in audit findings. This will eliminate recurring material issues that, if left unaddressed, may lead to the reduction of Federal assistance. Insular governments and organizations must take the lead in fulfilling the objectives of Federal programs and resources.

For the past 20 years, OIA has provided assistance for training and conferences such as this one, and funded workshops and consultants through the Graduate School, USDA. Additionally, OIA has provided financial assistance directly to insular governments to target specific training needs. We are able to do this through OIA’s Technical Assistance Program, and hope to continue to support such efforts. I encourage you to visit the OIA website to find more information. The website URL is www.doi.gov/oia.

The Annual APIPA Conference and other training coordinated by the Graduate School, USDA, play a big role in building local capacity and improving accountability. The theme of this conference, “Twenty Years of Advancing Pacific Island Public Accountability” fits in with the focus of both your local governments and that of the U.S. Federal Government. Because of opportunities for training such as this, and the work of the public auditors within the insular areas, local personnel have been able to improve their work ethics, job skills and increase their pool of resources. Many improvements in the insular areas are because of your efforts. And with the increased compliance requirements related to ARRA funds and programs, you are in a better position now to meet those requirements.

Through the years, many memorable events have occurred during the month of July: In 1944, there was the Liberation of Guam and the battle for the Northern Marianas; in 1904, Tuimanu’a Elisara Alalamua, the last of the royalty in the Manu’a islands of eastern Samoa, ceded the Manu’a islands to the United States thereby becoming part of what is now known as American Samoa; and, on a lighter note, in 1960, topping the music charts across world, was the song “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, inspired by the bikini named after Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. And now, in July of 2009, APIPA is celebrating its 20 years of building capacity in the insular areas. Twenty years is a significant milestone and I commend you for your achievements. I am sure that your local leaders thank you as well for your contributions to the overall success of your local governments.

Let’s have the world know that APIPA as not just an Association of Pacific Island Public Auditors, but is also an Association of People with Ideas for Promoting Accountability.

Have a great conference. I look forward to seeing the results of increased skills and motivation from all who are in attendance this week. May you take what you have learned back to your respective offices and organizations, and continue to advance Pacific Island Public Accountability.

Thank you.