Case Speaks on the BLUE Pacific Act
Washington,
July 10, 2025
Tags:
Foreign Relations
I rise today in support of my Boosting Long-Term U.S. Engagement in the Pacific (BLUE Pacific) Act, cosponsored by 14 of my colleagues. Scattered across the three traditional Pacific subregions of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia are over two dozen jurisdictions collectively known as the Pacific Islands, including twelve independent states, countries in free association and territories. Though small in land area and population, the land plus maritime exclusive economic zones of all these jurisdictions combined exceed the land areas of China and Russia combined, comprising a significant part of the vast Pacific Ocean and our Earth’s surface. In 2019, a number of us came together to create the Congressional Pacific Islands Caucus, the first such group of Members of Congress dedicated to this dynamic and diverse part of the world. We believe that the Pacific Islands region remains critical to our national security interests in the Indo-Pacific which advises greater U.S. engagement with this region to advance our shared interests and values, particularly in the context of growing geopolitical competition and threats by our shared adversaries to endanger the pursuit of a free and open Indo-Pacific. To that end, over the last three Congresses, we have introduced versions of the BLUE Pacific Act, which would advance a comprehensive, long-term U.S. strategy in the Pacific Islands region. Much of the previous versions of the BLUE Pacific Act has been enacted or implemented as a result of our efforts in previous Congresses, but key provisions remain and are included in this version, in addition to provisions from other bipartisan U.S.-Pacific Islands bills introduced in the 118th Congress, including the Pacific Partnership Act and the Engage the Pacific Act. It also adds provisions that incorporate various developments in the Pacific Islands over the last few years, including goals and needs articulated by the Pacific Islands themselves that are in line with U.S. interests. The current version of the BLUE Pacific Act expands U.S. diplomatic and development presence in the Pacific Islands by recommending that the administration increase the number of staff working on Pacific Islands issues and in the region, authorizing the Secretaries of State and Commerce to hire locally employed staff in the region, establishing a workforce development program, codifying a media program and more. It increases U.S. security assistance to address regional maritime security, transnational crime and law enforcement issues by authorizing the Secretary of State to provide assistance to build the capacity of civilian and national security institutions in the region and expanding existing reports on transnational crime on the Pacific Islands. The bill deepens bilateral and multilateral trade between the U.S. and the Pacific Islands by authorizing a trade capacity building initiative, authorizing the U.S. Trade Representative to work to expand and diversify trade and directing the Secretary of Commerce to allocate additionally Foreign Commercial Service Officers to the region. Further, the BLUE Pacific Act supports regional economic and social development by providing assistance in multiple sectors such as public health, education, infrastructure, environmental resilience, digital connectivity, disaster mitigation and more. Finally, the bill promotes shared values like freedom of the press, gender equality and freedom of religion, including by establishing an interagency committee on engagement with civil society organizations in the Pacific Islands and authorizing the President to provide assistance to promote freedom of the press. These initiatives support the significant strides we have made in recent years towards fully reengaging the Pacific Islands region across a range of common values and interests and in response to specific Pacific Islands’ needs. The United States must make clear to the region that we are a partner they can trust and rely upon in the long term. For these reasons, I ask that you support our bill. Mahalo (thank you). |