Office of Insular Affairs
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), a Department of Commerce (DOC) agency which calculates the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States, the 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC), released its first GDP estimates for American Samoa, the CNMI, Guam and the USVI in Washington, DC on May 5, 2010. The estimates resulted from a year-long interactive and collaborative effort among the BEA, OIA and the territories. Congressional delegates from the four territories and senior officials from a number of federal agencies that work with the territories joined leaders from both DOI and DOC to celebrate this historic occasion. More
Statement
Of
Anthony M. Babauta
Assistant Secretary of the Interior - Insular Areas Department of the Interior before The House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Regarding H.R. 6040, to Approve The Agreement Providing Terms
September 10, 2012.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. –The Department of the Interior's Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Tony Babauta has awarded $790,000 in Water and Wastewater grant funding to support water and wastewater infrastructure improvements serving the villages of Malojloj, Inarajan, Merizo, Umatac, and Agat. More
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Areas Tony Babauta today announced $1,085,000 in grants to Guam agencies for sustainable energy projects under the Office of Insular Affairs’s “Empowering Insular Communities” (EIC) grant program. More
Washington, D.C. (Wednesday, July 18, 2012) - On Wednesday, July 18th, the Director of the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA), Nikolao Pula, hosted Benigno Fitial, Governor of the CNMI, for a meeting on various issues of importance to the people of the CNMI. Among these were the Tinian pier project and the dispute between the CNMI and U.S. Governments concerning taxation of Filipino and Korean non-resident aliens in the CNMI. The photograph above shows from left to right Nik Pula, Director of OIA, Norah LeDoux, OIA Intern, and the Governor and Mrs. Fitial. The daughter of parents from Pago Pago, American Samoa, Ms. LeDoux is working in OIA as an intern from the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS).
Guam, July 16, 2012 - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Visits Guam - On Monday, July 16th, on Guam, Assistant Secretary Tony Babauta met with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder while he was on Guam for meetings with the Governor of Guam and members of the Guam and Northern Mariana Islands Benches and legislatures. Pictured in the photo from left to right: Presiding Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of the Northern Mariana Islands, Ramona Villagomez Manglona, the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Guam, Frances Tydingco-Gatewood, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Areas Tony Babauta, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the U.S. Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Alicia Garrido Limtiaco, Esq.
Office of Insular Affairs
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Office of Insular Affairs Director Nikolao I. Pula today announced more than $1.2 million in technical assistance grants to support American Samoa programs in education, health, and conservation. More
(Saipan, CNMI, June 26, 2012) On Tuesday, June 26th, in Saipan before the Thirty-first General Assembly of APIL, Nik Pula, Director of OIA delivered the principal speech calling on the leaders of the Pacific to work with one another and with the U.S. federal government to battle financial hardships, to develop their economies and to protect their environment. Director Pula spoke about the work of the Office of Assistant Secretary Babauta over the last three years to help empower island economies to address high energy costs, to collect the first sets of economic data, to assess school needs and to pursue partnerships against a backdrop of significant budget slashes.
(Washington, D.C., June 13, 2012) On Wednesday, June 13th, one hundred seventy students and teachers from American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia paid a visit of more than two hours with the Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas, Tony Babauta. The students and teachers were visiting Washington, D.C., under the auspices of the Close-Up Foundation, part of whose federal funding derives from the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA). The Assistant Secretary delivered remarks and answered students’ questions about his prior positions working for the Guam Legislature and on Capitol Hill and now as the highest-ranking Pacific Islander in the Obama Administration.
Pacific Island Historic Preservation Officers Visit Washington, Discuss Potential of Heritage Tourism for the Region
(Washington D.C., May 29, 2012) The Pacific Island Historic Preservation Officers visited the Office of Insular Affairs on May 29, to discuss the status of their efforts and initiatives in historic preservation in the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands. The group also held an open meeting at Interior for interested Interior officials and are looking for ways to ensure that discussions on economic development in the islands includes the rich cultural heritage of the region. The group also came to advocate for more support in current efforts to restore and document the cultural heritage. The Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, and the Pacific territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands were all represented. More >
Statement
Of
Anthony M. Babauta
Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Areas before The House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs regarding H.R. 3706, a bill to create the Office of Chief Financial Officer of the Government of the Virgin Islands,
May 17, 2012.
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(May 1, 2012) - Since the new FSM Ambassador to the U.S. Asterio Takesy presented his credentials to President Obama earlier this year, Interior’s Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Anthony Babauta, and Interior staff have had several meetings with the new Ambassador and his staff to discuss a variety of issues including Joint Economic Committee (JEMCO) meetings, the Trust Fund, scholarships and education, regional development and security issues, and Compact Impact.
Washington, D.C. (April 11, 2012) - The Department of the Interior’s Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas, Tony Babauta, has authorized $3.5 million in Compact Impact grant funding to support the Guam Department of Corrections’ (DOC) efforts to offset the cost of providing inmate housing to Compact of Free Association (COFA) migrants. More >
Washington, D.C. - The Department of the Interior’s Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas, Tony Babauta, has authorized a Technical Assistance grant in the amount of $110,500 to recruit a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) for the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). More >