[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23641]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 3062--SOUTH PACIFIC ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL 
                        DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 5, 2007

  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3062, the 
South Pacific Economic and Educational Development Act of 2007, and 
take this opportunity to highlight its value for the strengthening of 
United States diplomacy in Oceania.
  I have the distinct privilege and honor of representing the people of 
Guam in this House. My constituents remain keenly aware and are 
especially appreciative of the United States foreign policy programs 
most relevant and important to our neighboring islands in the greater 
Pacific Basin. Indeed, the provision of United States technical and 
financial assistance to Pacific Island states is cause for associated 
growth and development in, and international recognition of, the 
neighboring Pacific Island territories of the United States.
  Our island territories, including Guam, the Northern Marianas, an 
American Samoa, together with the State of Hawaii, serve as logical 
bridges and links to our friends and allies in the greater Pacific 
Basin. Commerce, trade, communication, and transportation flow between 
and through our Pacific Island territories and the Pacific Island 
nation-states. Heads of state and government officials frequently 
convene in the Pacific Island territories for meetings and summits on 
issues of relevance and interest to the region and to the United 
States. H.R. 3062 is predicated in the historic relationship and 
responsibility the United States has developed with the Pacific Island 
nation-states.
  The introduction and consideration of H.R. 3062 is timely in that it 
follows the eighth meeting of the Pacific Islands Conference of 
Leaders, an organization that was founded in 1980 with the support of 
the East-West Center. The eighth meeting convened in Washington, D.C., 
this past May, and marked the first high-level gathering of Pacific 
Island political leaders in the Nation's capital in the Conference's 
history. Twenty separate heads of states and leaders from Polynesia, 
Melanesia and Micronesia, participated in that meeting, at which 
partnerships between the islands and the United States were renewed. A 
commitment to re-engage in the shared needs and interests of our 
countries was forged at this recent meeting.
  H.R. 3062 would help fulfill a part of the United States commitment 
to re-engage in the Pacific Region. The bill would authorize the United 
States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide 
technical and other assistance to Pacific Island nation-states. The 
bill would also require the Department of State to take certain steps 
to ensure the participation of students from the Pacific Island nation-
states in the distinguished and highly-recognized J. Fulbright 
Educational Exchange Program.
  I am confident that the provision of such assistance and the 
participation of Pacific Island students in the Fulbright Program will 
serve to strengthen United States-Pacific Island relations. H.R. 3062 
would also serve to support the advancement of efforts to strengthen 
regional cooperation, especially in the areas of trade, tourism, the 
environment, education, and defense and security.
  I commend our colleague from American Samoa, Congressman Eni 
Faleomavaega, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee 
and Chairman of its Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global 
Environment, for sponsoring this legislation and for his leadership in 
buttressing United States assistance in the greater Pacific Basin. I 
urge my colleagues' support for H.R. 3062.

                          ____________________