February 23rd, 2010

WELCOME REMARKS

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR FOR INSULAR AREAS
THE HONORABLE ANTHONY M. BABAUTA

Principals' Meeting of the Interagency Group on Insular Areas
February 23, 2010

Good afternoon everyone and welcome, I am Tony Babauta, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Areas, and I will be presiding as chair on behalf of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, at the convening of the Interagency Group on Insular Areas Principals' Meeting.  For those who attended this gathering last year, you'll recall Secretary Salazar presided over a good portion of the meeting – both listening and engaging in a healthy discussion with the Chief Executives from the Islands and Members of Congress who also represent these areas.  Secretary Salazar remains very interested in the forward progress of our insular areas and has also asked me to send his personal regards to all of you.

Before we go on any further, I would ask all of you to keep in your minds and prayers, the family of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Sam Hamilton who died suddenly on Saturday was a 30 year veteran here at Interior.  He was an exemplary, respected, conservationist and provided strong leadership to our team here at the Department.  I had the chance to speak to Sam about many island issues which dealt with refuges and species protection– unfortunately we were not able to work closely before his passing but I am sure the indelible imprint he left at Fish and Wildlife will further strengthen the relationships between this Department and our insular areas.

I also want to express my sentiments for the earnest work of all our Federal partners who responded in the aftermath of the tsunamis which struck American Samoa in September.  Led by FEMA, the coordination between Interior, DOD's Pacific Command, USDA, HUD, Education, and State to respond to the tragedy was a fine example of "boots on the ground" interagency coordination.  The Director of my office, Mr. Nikolao Pula, a Samoan native, and I arrived on the island within 24 hours of the devastation and spent much of our time with Governor Tulafono.  His leadership, coupled with the resilience of the people of American Samoa and Federal support has helped the island emerge stronger and better prepared for any future disaster.

This meeting is the first to be chaired by an Assistant Secretary, which is a position re-established last year by President Obama and Secretary Salazar to assist in elevating insular issues in this Administration.  I have been personally pleased at the welcoming of this position by my colleagues throughout the Federal family.  It is my hope that I can provide a significant level of leadership and perspective as each of us represented here today works with the Island's leadership.

Thus far, I believe the brief time I have spent as Assistant Secretary, working collaboratively with many of my colleagues here this afternoon, has produced some measurable results.  I have provided Congressional testimony for favorable passage of the Guam World War II Loyalty Act, and also support for legislation to assist American Samoa's tuna industry.  Successfully worked to ensure that extension of US immigration laws to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands included continued access to China and Russia tourist markets, thought a parolee program now, it is the first step to implementing Congress's intent for a Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver program, and just last week joined Virgin Islands Governor DeJongh and Joe Garcia, Director of Energy's Office of Economic Impact at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to sign an MOU which will, in a coordinated and cohesive fashion, implement a strategic renewable energy future for the Virgin Islands.  Those are just some positive examples of issues that have been a success.

I believe that the gathering here today could easily pave the way for greater successes – but I will caution that not all issues are designed for a win.  I think in those circumstances, the IGIA has a responsibility to be an honest broker with each elected leader here at the table.  As Governors and Members of Congress, they fully understand the difficulty of moving policy or coming up against intractable opposition.  We owe it to them to be upfront throughout this IGIA process.  Of course I hope we can prevail every time on every issue but if we can't, let's just be honest about it and find another way to husk that coconut.

There is an impressive group of Federal leaders here this afternoon and I want to a moment to mention those who operate at the some of the highest levels of our government.   Hon Cecilia Muñoz, the Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.  Ms. Muñoz may be the most calm and soft spoken person in this room but she is a driving force on all issues important to the insular areas.  She and her staff already have a rapport with all the Island Governors which demonstrates her level of commitment and engagement on behalf of the President.

(Assistant Secretary acknowledged other Federal partners.)

Some agencies may not be with us at the table today, but I will be reaching out in the very near future to invite their participation, particularly those who work closely in the insular areas.

With that, again I want to welcome all of you and ask Ms. Muñoz for some brief remarks.

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