Interior Announces $830,848 in FY 2019 Discretionary Funding Support for the Federated States of Micronesia

WASHINGTON – Doug Domenech, U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, today announced $830,848 in fiscal year 2019 Technical Assistance Program (TAP) grant support for the benefit of the Federated States of Micronesia.

“Secretary David Bernhardt and I are pleased to support both public auditor training as well as the expansion of robotics training to Kosrae in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) with this year’s funding,” said Assistant Secretary Domenech. “Oversight and accountability are essential for any government to be fiscally sound, and we are glad to see the FSM continue its focus on these important responsibilities. In addition, we welcome the growing interest in STEM areas by students in the FSM focused on robotics training. This funding is only a small aspect of the relationship that the United States and the FSM share under the Compact of Free Association,” Domenech concluded.

Both Secretary Bernhardt and Assistant Secretary Domenech met last week with Federated States of Micronesia President David W. Panuelo as well as with President Hilda C. Heine of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and President Tommy E. Remengesau, Jr. of the Republic of Palau. The three presidents traveled to Washington for a meeting with President Donald J. Trump and other high-level U.S. officials. In these meetings, the United States, the FSM, the RMI, and Palau all reaffirmed their respective commitments to the Compacts of Free Association and continued close cooperation.

Technical Assistance Program FY 2019 grant funding provided for the benefit of the Federated States of Micronesia follows:

• FSM National Public Auditor’s Office, Pohnpei State Public Auditor’s Office, and Yap State Office of the Public Auditor - $546,354 will be provided to enhance capacity building and professional development training initiatives for the various offices. Funding supports professional development and certification through training programs with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of the Inspector General and the annual Association of Certified Fraud Examiner Conference, among others. Funding this year will be used to purchase TEAM Mate audit software with a goal of connecting the four state audit offices to the FSM national office. Finally, funding will support participation in the upcoming 30^th Annual Conference of the Association of the Pacific Island Public Auditors, which will be from August 26 – 30 on Guam. For more on the APIPA 2019 conference visit their website at www.apipa2019.org. The APIPA program is another program supported by the Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs (OIA).
   
• Habele - Robo League - $240,492 will be used to support student robotics teams at 23 public and private high schools across the Federated States of Micronesia where at least 450 students are participating in weekly in designing, building, and navigating robots.Micronesian States of Chuuk, Pohnpei, Yap. FY 2019 funding will expand the program to include isolated schools on outer atolls in the FSM and Kosrae State.

First established in Yap State in 2011, the Yap Robo League was organized and hosted by the U.S. non-profit organization Habele Outer Islands Education Fund. In 2018, it was turned into a nationwide league, expanding to Chuuk and Pohnpei with funding assistance from OIA. OIA is proud to again provide assistance in FY 2019 that supports the program’s expansion to Kosrae State, thereby covering all four states in the Federated States of Micronesia.

“I am especially pleased to see that opportunities to participate in robotics provided by the Yap Robo League have now been extended to students in Kosrae State, covering the entire FSM,” said Assistant Secretary Domenech. “When I last visited the FSM in June 2018, I had the honor of meeting with FSM Vice President Yosiwo George where we celebrated the expansion of the program to Pohnpei and Chuuk. We believe that this program has and will continue to impact students’ lives for good,” Assistant Secretary Domenech concluded.

Technical Assistance Program funding is made available each year by the U.S. Congress to benefit the U.S. territories and freely associated states. The funds are used broadly to help strengthen economic development resources and opportunities in the islands, which also directly supports President Donald J. Trump’s recent Executive Order on the Economic Empowerment of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. TAP priorities have included, but are not limited to: accountability; financial management; economic development; education; energy production; management control initiatives; disaster assistance; natural and cultural resources; capacity building; public safety/emergencies; health initiatives; and invasive species management.

The Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, and the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) 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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