The Ministry of State press statement said that the meetings totaled several hours each day.
President Toribiong discussed a number of topics with the Senators and members of the House, including mostimportantly the review of the Compact of Free Association between Palau and the United States.Toribiong said that he asked the senators and members of the House for their support through a passage of legislation extending economic assistance to Palau for Fiscal Year 2010.Compact funding will expire Sept. 30, 2009. President Toribiong told the U.S. lawmakers that the extension will allow Palau and the US time to carefully review the Compact, and to forge a more comprehensive agreement that reflects the needs of both countries. President Toribiong said the lawmakers were receptive about the request and that “ they would actively promote and support his request.”Going forward, President Toribiong asked the Senators and members of the House for their support in the discussions that Palau will be having with the US during the next year relating to the review of the Compact.President Toribiong stressed that there were several capital improvement projects that could be implemented in Palau to serve the interests of both countries, among them being the construction of an underwater telecommunications cable to directly link Palau to Guam or to some other landing point. The Senators and members of the House expressed interest in this proposal.President Toribiong thanked the United States for its generous and unwavering assistance to Palau and stressed the “long and friendly relationship between Palau and the United States as evidenced by the numerous Palauans who have served and continue to serve in the United States Armed Services, and by Palau’s support of the United States at the United Nations and in the War on Terror.”President Toribiong’s included meetings with the following Senators and other members ofCongress:Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D) HI; Chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs; Member of the Armed Services Committee; Indian Affairs Committee; and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.Senator John McCain (R) AZ; Ranking Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee; Member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; and Indian Affairs Committee.Senator Jeff Bingaman (D) NM; Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; Member on the Committee on Finance; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee; and the Joint Economic Committee.Representative Nick J. Rahall, II (D) WV; Chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, and the Vice Chair of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.Representative Diane E. Watson (D) CA, Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; the Oversight and Government Reform Committee; and is the former US Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia.Congresswoman Donna M. Christensen (D) VI; Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee; and the Committee on Natural Resources.Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D) GU; Member of the House Committee on Natural Resources; the House Armed Services Committee; and Chair of the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs and Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans.Congressman Gregorio “Kilili” C. Sablan (D) CNMI; Member of the House Natural Resources Committee.President Toribiong also met with the staff of Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (D) AS; Chair of the House Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment; and with several high ranking staff members of the US Department of Interior, a meeting at which a member of President Toribiong’s delegation, Haruo N. Willter, was given a plaque honoring him for his 50 years of service to the Department of Interior.President Toribiong and his delegation also took their time to visit the Wall at the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial to pay their respects to Captain John J. Kintaro, a Palauan soldier who was killed in a helicopter crash in Vietnam in 1971. In the meeting with Secretary Salazar , the interior secretary assured President Toribiong that Palau would remain on the Department’s agenda and described ongoing efforts to staff positions at the highest levels of the Department and Insular
