Case Appointed To Board Of Trustees For The Congressional Office For International LeadershipCOIL is Congress’ own direct international diplomacy program, focused on bringing emerging leaders to the U.S. to engage with Congress and national communities on matters of common interest
Washington, DC,
October 15, 2026
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Representative Ed Case (Hawai‘i-1st) has been appointed by the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House to the Board of Trustees for the Congressional Office for International Leadership (COIL), an exclusively legislative branch office dating back to 1999 whose purpose is “to inspire Congressional and citizen diplomacy with global civic and political leaders.” COIL’s primary effort is its Open World program, through which Congress brings its international counterparts and other leaders to the United States. Through Open World, delegations participate in a ten-day professional exchange that begins in Washington, D.C., where they meet with Members of Congress, before traveling to communities across the United States to engage with professional counterparts and exchange expertise. Participants also live with host families, providing them with an opportunity to experience American life and culture firsthand. To date, Open World has hosted some 32,000 international delegates in Congress and across all fifty states, including Hawai‘i. In supporting Case’s appointment, COIL’s leadership highlighted Case’s ongoing advocacy for direct diplomatic engagement among legislative bodies, as well as focus on the Pacific. As a then-member of the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, which funds Congress, Case successfully sought expansion of Open World, which had focused on Eurasia, to the Indo-Pacific. “We are honored to have a Member of Congress who has been such a fierce advocate for our Open World program officially join the Office’s leadership,” said Jane Sargus, Executive Director of COIL. “Your joint letter with Congressman Bacon [Don Bacon (R-Nebraska), also a member of COIL’s Board] and requesting additional programming in the Indo-Pacific, set the stage for COIL to become a truly global agency.” Since launching Open World in the Indo-Pacific in 2022, COIL has rapidly expanded its programs to now include emerging leader delegations from Vietnam, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Vanuatu and Fiji. Case and colleagues routinely meet with these delegations in Congress, which Sargus says is producing some of Open World’s most impactful results and garnering strong interest from other Members of Congress. “I am honored to be able to assist in the continued growth and unique contributions of COIL to critical interchange between our country and the rest of our world, especially my own Indo-Pacific”, said Case, who also co-founded and co-chairs the Congressional Pacific Islands Caucus. “I believe strongly that, as a separate, independent and co-equal branch of our government, Congress should and must be a full partner with our executive branch in our international diplomacy and has its own unique and direct role to play in engagement with other current and future leaders. COIL and Open World are key parts of that effort.” The COIL Board of Trustees is composed of eleven members:
Case’s current fellow Board members are: (Chair) former U.S. Senator Benjamin Nelson of Nebraska; Robert Newlen, the Acting Librarian of Congress; U.S. Senator Deb Fischer, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch; U.S. Congressman David Valadao, Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch; U.S. Congressman Don Bacon; James F. Collins, a former U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation who now represents the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; and former U.S. Congressman David Dreier of California who now represents the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation. The remaining seats are being similarly filled. In addition to his work with COIL, Case has pursued various other efforts toward strengthening relationships between the U.S. and the Indo-Pacific. These include: the BLUE Pacific Act in July 2020, which laid out a renewed vision and framework for U.S. engagement in the Indo-Pacific and provisions of which have been incorporated in other legislation; the Pacific Partnership Act in May 2025, provisions of which were included in the House passage in September 2025 of the bipartisan PARTNER ACT; the PROSPER Act in December 2025 to strengthen the U.S. Pacific Islands economic partnership; and the Pacific Islands Liaison Initiative Act in July 2026, which addresses the growing use of Pacific Island nations as transit hubs for cross-Pacific illegal drug trade by transnational criminal networks, particularly narcotics traffickers. These also include funding for international efforts throughout his now-eight years as a member of the House Appropriations Committee which funds the federal government and where he now serves on the Subcommittees on Defense and Homeland Security. The current Fiscal Year 2027 funding measures (which have not yet passed Congress) include his funding requests for:
More information on COIL: www.openworld.gov · Attachments: pictures of Congressman Case meeting with Open World delegates from Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Vietnam. ###
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