FSM Information Services
Press Release
President Panuelo Campaigns for Mutually Beneficial Conclusion to Compact Negotiations with Speaker Pelosi, President Biden, Secretary Blinken, & Senior Officials
PALIKIR, Pohnpei—During the U.S.-Pacific Summit held in Washington D.C., His Excellency David W. Panuelo—President of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)—met with His Excellency Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of the United States of America, the Honorable Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State, the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and numerous other Members of the U.S. Congress, as well as Cabinet and Senior Officials of the Biden-Harris Administration, in an effort to promote the successful completion of the ongoing negotiations regarding the expiring provisions of the Compact of Free Association, as Amended.
In his meeting with Speaker Pelosi and other Members of the U.S. Congress, President Panuelo emphasized the FSM’s need for additional funding for essential programming, including the newly developed Environment Sector to combat Climate Change, and augmentations and improvements to the Health, Infrastructure, and Education Sectors, among others. Speaker Pelosi described to President Panuelo that there is bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress to conclude the negotiations in a manner that is genuinely satisfactory to the FSM, and that the U.S. Congress intends to prioritize passage of the package after negotiations conclude.
In a meeting with His Excellency David Kabua, President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, His Excellency Surangel S. Whipps Jr., President of the Republic of Palau, and Secretary Blinken, President Panuelo emphasized the importance of the shared vision between the Freely Associated States and the United States for a strong and lasting relationship that benefits the entire Pacific region.
“It is essential that the numbers associated with our economic assistance programming meets our needs,” President Panuelo said. “This will provide for the viability and predictability of our economy, and provide both social stability and social mobility. The FSM faces many external and internal security threats, such as Climate Change, non-communicable diseases, and illiteracy, in addition to the increasingly complex geopolitical landscape…. So, I appeal to you, Secretary, and [Special Presidential Envoy Joseph Yun], to consider the package we have submitted, which reflects the actual needs of our people. It is important to me that we are able to show the Pacific, with moving profundity, why the U.S. is the FSM’s partner of choice; if we are equipped with the tools to combat Climate Change, the tools to provide quality healthcare in our own islands instead of medical referrals abroad, the tools to make our schools the envy of the Pacific, and the tools to allow our economy to prosper at best and be stable at worst, that will also have the effects of showing the rest of the Blue Pacific Continent why partnership with the U.S. is in our individual and collective interest, as well as allow much more of our Government’s time and resources to become increasingly focused on regional security.”
The substance of what President Panuelo discussed with Speaker Pelosi and Secretary Blinken were reinforced and amplified in what President Panuelo has described as a warm, lengthy, and personable discussion with President Biden over dinner.
In part as a result of the President’s discussions, the Declaration of U.S.-Pacific Partnership—the formal outcome document of the U.S.-Pacific Summit—included language on the U.S. Government committing to new resources to reflect the development needs of the Freely Associated States, including the FSM.
