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Amata Highlights Key Issues in Meeting with President Whipps and Pacific Islands Caucus Members

November 2, 2021

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Uifa'atali Amata took part with President of the Republic of Palau Surangel Whipps and a delegation from Belau last week in a meeting that highlighted issues concerning the renegotiation of the Compact of Free Association between the United States and the Republic of Palau.

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Greeting President Whipps

Greeting President Whipps of the Republic of Palau


The Congressional Pacific Islands Caucus is chaired by Congressman Ed Case of Hawaii, and Congresswoman Amata is among the original Members at the time of its founding. The Members meeting with President Whipps included Chairman Case; Congresswoman Amata of American Samoa; Dean of the House Don Young of Alaska; Rep. Steve Chabot of Ohio, the Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia and Nonproliferation; Rep. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan of CNMI; and Rep. Kaiali'i Kahele of Hawaii all taking part in the discussion with President Whipps and the Republic of Palau's Vice President of the Senate Kerai Mariur in roundtable discussions regarding the US-Palau bilateral agreement.

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Members of the Pacific Islands Caucus with the delegation from the Republic of Palau

Members of the Pacific Islands Caucus with the delegation from the Republic of Palau.


Congresswoman Amata highlighted the concern that the United States has not appointed negotiators to renew the Compact in a timely way, posing the following question:

"Has the Administration made any changes to improve the 2020 U.S proposals or the manner in which negotiations are being conducted? It seems as if every time the Republic of Palau is required to review and re-negotiate the Compact, the U.S. has downgraded the bilateral protocols for the negotiations. In 2010, that led to a breakdown of continuity in funding the Compact economic assistance provisions. Now, as Belau has become more important to U.S. national security, the 2020 negotiating process required your government ministers and your President to negotiate with State Department desk officers and contract employees with no appointment, credentials or equivalent rank. We don't do that to our adversaries, why treat our friends that way? The Ford, Carter and Reagan administrations treated your government with more formality and a more orderly bilateral process when you were still under U.S. administration and not yet U.N. members. What is going on here?"

Amata urges the U.S. government to reemphasize proper protocols for the negotiations, which expire in 2023 and 2024, and process the appointment of key negotiators to begin discussions with each of the Freely Associated States: the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Among those key issues to be negotiated, is the reported U.S. proposal to limit current negotiations to extending the expiring economic provisions for 20 years. While U.S. defense rights do not expire, the corresponding economic assistance is currently renegotiated every 20 years. "Stability and long term strategic partnership is in the U.S. security interest," Amata notes.

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Congresswoman Amata and President Whipps of Palau October 2021
Congresswoman Amata and President Whipps

Amata has a lifelong familiarity with the Freely Associated States and related regional issues, having spent considerable time in each, dating back to her father's several groundbreaking leadership roles throughout the Pacific, especially in this case, his time as Deputy and then Acting High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

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Pacific Islands Caucus with the President of Palau

Pacific Islands Caucus meeting with President Whipps.

"The Freely Associated States are important – militarily, strategically and economically – in the Pacific region, so it is important that the Biden Administration appoint negotiators of commensurate rank and credentials to complete these diplomatic matters with our valued friends and allies in the region," Congresswoman Amata reiterated. "We had several senior Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle in our meeting, and I have no doubt we are united in seeing a need for productive extensions of all three compacts with these Pacific partners. The bipartisan Members of the Pacific Islands Caucus will be looked to by our colleagues for advice and direction on matters affecting this region, as we support the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia and their ongoing friendship with the United States."

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Greeting Vice President of the Senate Kerai Mariur
Greeting Vice President of the Senate Kerai Mariur.

Rep. Amata is a cosponsor, along with other Pacific Islands Caucus Members, of Chairman Case's legislation, the Boosting Long-term U.S. Engagement in the Pacific Act (BLUE Pacific Act), H.R. 2967, which authorizes and funds cooperative activities among nations throughout the Pacific Islands to strengthen trade and foreign policy.

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