Also on hand for the signing were other insular area delegates: Madeleine Bordallo of Guam and Donna Christensen of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Obama’s executive order returns the IGIA to prominence in the White House.
President Bill Clinton created the Interagency Group in 1999 to coordinate federal policies regarding American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the CNMI.
The group was co-chaired by then-Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, and the president’s Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Mickey Ibarra.
A Bush administration executive order in 2003 put the IGIA under the sole leadership of the Interior secretary.
Obama’s executive order makes the Interior secretary co-chair of the IGIA, along with the president’s director of intergovernmental affairs.
“Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and his Assistant Secretary Anthony Babauta are and, I am sure, will continue to be very good partners for the Northern Marianas and all the U.S. territories,” said Sablan. “I am very pleased, however, to have the president underscore the importance of the Interagency Group to his White House with this Executive Order. And I am particularly glad to have Cecilia Muñoz, the president’s director of intergovernmental affairs, as an integral part of the leadership team.”
Sablan added, “Ms. Muñoz played a vital role in assuring that the insular areas were included in health care reform.
I expect that she will continue to be a good collaborator and strong advocate for the Northern Marianas and all the U.S. territories in the IGIA.”
The IGIA identifies issues of federal policy of concern to American Samoa, the Northern Marianas, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands and makes recommendations to the president on the application of those policies.
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