Assistant Secretary Meeting with Guam Governor Leon Guerrero and Other Leaders on Guam

WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, Doug Domenech last week visited the U.S. territory of Guam, where he met with Guam Governor Lourdes “Lou” Leon Guerrero, Lt. Governor Joshua Tenorio, the Guam Energy Office, as well as the staff of the Commission on Decolonization. Assistant Secretary Domenech also met with Speaker of the Guam Legislature Tina Muna Barnes, and several other Guam legislators. 

“The various issues that impact the lives of Guamanians are extremely important to the mission of the Department of the Interior, so I appreciated meeting with Governor Leon Guerrero and Lt. Governor Tenorio,” said Assistant Secretary Domenech.

While on Guam, the Assistant Secretary signed several Capital Improvement Project (CIP) grants totaling $6,327,000 to Governor Leon Guerrero as follows:

• $3,077,000 for the Department of Public Health & Social Services to fund the Division of Environmental Health’s new office space and a facility for processing and training.
• $2,250,000 for the Department of Youth Affairs to 1) purchase space in Mangilao in compliance with Department of Justice requirements for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and 2) build administrative offices and supply depots, provide maintenance, and replace emergency generators,
• $1,000,000 for the Insular Assessment of Buildings and Classrooms program to address deferred maintenance needs in local schools.

The CIP program provided through the Office of Insular Affairs serves to address a variety of critical infrastructure needs in the U.S. territories such as hospitals, schools, wastewater and solid waste systems.

The Insular Assessment of Buildings and Classroom program provides an assessment of the physical condition of public schools in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and prioritizes critical health and safety deferred maintenance needs. 

The Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, and the Office of Insular Affairs carry out the Secretary of the Interior’s responsibilities for the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, OIA administers and oversees Federal assistance under the Compacts of Free Association to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

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