Secretary Jewell to Host White House Conference with U.S. Territorial Leaders

Date: February 19, 2016
Contact: Jessica Kershaw (Interior), Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov
Tanya Joshua (OIA) 202-208-6008

WASHINGTON – On Monday, February 22, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and White House Intergovernmental Affairs Director Jerry Abramson will co-host the 2016 Senior Plenary Session of the Interagency Group on Insular Areas (IGIA) to discuss economic policy and development issues of importance to leaders of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Secretary Jewell and Director Abramson will open the meeting at 1:00 pm EST. Assistant Secretary Kia’aina, partnering with various federal officials, will lead ensuing discussions with territorial leaders on economic policy and development issues that face the territories.

The 2016 Senior Plenary Session of the Interagency Group on Insular Areas will be available to the media and public by live-streaming at whitehouse.gov/live 

Since President Obama reestablished the IGIA in 2010 under Executive Order 13537, the White House has been an active co-chair with Interior in leading the federal executive branch to address policies for the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The IGIA has been effective in providing a forum for territorial leadership to raise the profile of priority issues to those who make and implement federal policy. 

WHO:

Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, IGIA Co-Chair
Jerry Abramson, White House Dir. Intergovernmental Affairs, IGIA Co-Chair
Esther Kia’aina, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Areas
Governors and Delegates from the U.S. Territories 
U.S. Departments of Treasury, Commerce, and Homeland Security, the Small Business Administration, and the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council

WHAT:

2016 Senior Plenary Session of the Interagency Group on Insular Areas

WHEN: 

Monday, February 22, 2016; 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST
1:05 p.m.: Secretary Jewell’s remarks begin
1:10 p.m.: Assistant Secretary Kia’aina’s remarks begin 

WHERE:

The White House Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Washington, DC

MEDIA:     

The 2016 Senior Plenary Session of the Interagency Group on Insular Areas will
be lived-streamed at whitehouse.gov/live.

The Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas carries out the administrative responsibilities of the Secretary of the Interior in coordinating federal policy for the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; and also administers and oversees U.S. federal assistance to the Freely Associated States of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau under the Compacts of Free Association. The Assistant Secretary executes these responsibilities through the Office of Insular Affairs.