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DOI Secretary Kempthorne to visit FSM

Palikir, POHNPEI (FSM Information Service): June 5, 2007 - Secretary Dirk Kempthorne of the United States Department of Interior has been scheduled to visit the Federated States of Micronesia the second week of June.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Secretary Kempthorne is scheduled to be in Pohnpei from June 10 - 12, 2007. The Department is coordinating details of the visit with the relevant departments at the National and State Government.

Secretary Kempthorne's itinerary to the FSM is in line with an announcement made when the Pacific Islands Council of Leaders met in Washington DC from May 7-9 2007. During the Pacific Islands Night, the Secretary announced that he would be visiting the Pacific Islands to gain a better understanding of their needs and a fuller discussion of their concerns.

He said that he looks forward to "visiting the schools, the health care clinics, the villages, the work places. I look forward to meeting as many people as possible, and getting as full an understanding as I can get of their lives, their concerns and their aspirations."

Secretary Kempthorne heads the Department of Interior and manages the U.S. Government's assistance through the Compact of Free Association to the independent island nations of FSM, Marshalls and Palau. The Office of Insular Affairs serves as the executing arm of the Department.

This is Secretary Kempthorne's first visit to the FSM since assuming office on May 26, 2006.

His visit will be the second by a US Government Department Head since the enactment of the Amended Compact of Free Association between the US and FSM in December 2003. Former DOI Secretary Gale Norton visited the FSM in 2004.

The Secretary's visit is a testament to the unique and special relations between the FSM and the United States.