Toribiong said Faleomavaega is a member of the U.S. Committee on Foreign Affairs that will tackle the Compact aid to Palau.
“We are seeking an audience with Faleomavaega,” Toribiong said in an interview.
The president wants to get the congressman’s support for Palau regarding the pending economic assistance.
The U.S. lawmaker was scheduled to visit Palau but because of his busy schedule, the president said him and the members of the Compact Advisory Group will be flying to Guam to see Faleomavaega.
Palau has obtained a $250 million Compact funding package from the U.S.
The $250 million package includes subsidy for the U.S. Postal Service, the funding provided to Palau in the Fiscal Year 2010 and resources earmarked for annual contributions to the infrastructure as maintenance matching fund.
Both the U.S. and Palau conducted a year-long review of the Compact and Palau will have another opportunity to review the Compact after year 2024.
The next hurdle for Palau is to get the aid package approved by U.S. Congress.
A U.S. Congress committee hearing is yet to be conducted to tackle the funding package for Palau. The U.S. financial assistance has not been enacted by Congress yet.
Continuance of funding may be delayed causing the national government to dip into the Compact Trust fund, until Congress has approved the package.
Faleomavaega will be the keynote speaker at the University of Guam commencement exercise.
Toribiong said he will be flying in Guam to meet the congressman with Compact Chief Representative Joshua Koshiba, lawyer Kevin Kirk and advisors Jeffrey Farrow and Kevin O’ Keefe.
The president said that although Faleomavaega is a non-voting member of the U.S. Congress, he however is voting at the committee level.
