[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 118 (Tuesday, July 11, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E656-E657]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNIZING THE BLUE PACIFIC ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. ED CASE

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 11, 2023

  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my Boosting Long-
Term U.S. Engagement in the Pacific (BLUE Pacific) Act, co-introduced 
with my Pacific Islands Caucus Colleagues Congresswoman Radewagen, 
Congressman Bera and Congressman Sherman.
  This bill directs a comprehensive and sustained approach to U.S. 
engagement in the Pacific Islands, a critical part of the broader Indo-
Pacific where much of the future of the world is being charted.
  The lands and waters of the jurisdictions spread across Melanesia, 
Micronesia and Polynesia comprise an area larger than the land areas of 
China and Russia combined and represent a major portion of the vast 
Pacific Ocean and our Earth's surface. The peoples of these islands 
have developed their own proud cultures and identity over millennia, 
and for centuries now have shared historic, cultural, economic and 
strategic ties with the United States. Tens of thousands of U.S. and 
allied servicemembers died throughout the Pacific Islands in World War 
Two defending the common values shared between our country and the 
Pacific Islands. Our presents and futures are entwined; they are being 
and will be determined jointly.

[[Page E657]]

  Last year's U.S.-Pacific Islands Summit in Washington and the 
Strategy for Pacific Partnership released at that summit built on prior 
versions of our BLUE Pacific Act first introduced by our Pacific 
Islands Caucus in 2019. They represented a confirmation of our shared 
histories and path and a full re-engagement on all fronts with the 
Pacific Islands.
  Our BLUE Pacific Act reintroduced today updates our prior versions to 
account for portions already enacted through other vehicles as well as 
the U.S.-Pacific Islands Summit. It supports the tenets of the Pacific 
Islands Forum's 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, ensuring 
that our efforts are fully responsive to and synchronized with the 
expressed direction and needs of the Pacific Islands nations. It 
specifically codifies the Strategy for Pacific Partnership and requires 
updates to the strategy every four years. It also includes language 
encouraging the allocation of more staff to the Pacific Islands, and 
the facilitation of U.S. support for trade capacity building, 
environmental change mitigation, education, civil society engagement 
and security training.
  These further initiatives support the significant strides we have 
made in recent years towards fully reengaging the Pacific Islands 
region across a range of common values and interests and in response to 
specific Pacific Islands needs. In this moment, as the Pacific Islands 
recover from the health and economic impacts of the pandemic and are 
confronted with increased environmental, security and other challenges, 
this re-engagement is vital. Our bill says to the Pacific Islands that 
the United States is a partner they can trust and rely upon over the 
long term.
  For these reasons, I ask that my colleagues support our bill. Mahalo 
(thank you).

                          ____________________