By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

GOVERNOR Felix P. Camacho is scheduled to leave Guam today for Washington, D.C. to attend the 2007 Winter Meeting of the National Governors Association and to meet with the Interagency Group on Insular Areas.
Camacho, who is also scheduled to meet with Department of the Interior officials, will join the nation’s governors in annual talks with President Bush and his Cabinet during meetings at the White House next week.
Camacho is also scheduled to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Sub-Committee on Insular Affairs which will hold a hearing on the 2008 budget for the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs.
“This is a critical time in our history. I will make it clear to the administration and on Capitol Hill that Guam is growing and will need assistance in taking our growth to a new level here in the Western Pacific,” the governor said in a statement.
Camacho is also scheduled to meet with Interior Deputy Secretary P. Lynn Scarlett at the end of the week-long visit to the nation’s capital.
According to the governor’s office, Camacho will focus his talks with the deputy secretary on the impending move of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force from Okinawa to Guam, asking for federal assistance to meet the infrastructure needs of the government of Guam in response to the move.
“It has been our administration’s commitment to follow the mandates as set out by Congress and the unwavering support of the good men and women at the U.S. Department of the Interior that have changed the perception of Guam to one that is responsible in the administration of federal dollars,” the governor said.
While in Washington, D.C., Camacho will also attend the annual meeting of the Interagency Group on Insular Areas.
The IGIA meeting is scheduled for Feb. 28, 2007 and Camacho is scheduled to meet with White House and Pentagon officials on a number of Guam issues. He will also be attending the annual meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force.