Amata's Pacific Notebook: PICL Day TWO
May 08, 2007

Amata goes behind the scene at historic meeting of Pacific leaders

Reprinted from Samoa News
By Amata Aumua

WASHINGTON, DC (May 7, 2007) - By the time the day was over, it seemed more like a death march than a conference, with island delegations dragging their weary bodies off to bed to prepare for a day on Capitol Hill. When my Dad was governor, he often was criticized for traveling off-island but there just are some times when it is necessary and, believe me, it is no picnic.

Conference organizers do the best they can to balance the schedule to allow traveling delegates to adjust to vast time differences while packing as many events as possible into as short a time as possible to hold down hotel costs and minimizing demands on leaders time away from home.

The morning began with a breakfast at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at 7 a.m. and delegations then were transported over to the State Department for a full day of meetings in the Department's formal conference room. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice opened the meeting by welcoming us to Washington and began with a special acknowledgment of the American Pacific leaders present: our own Lt. Governor Ipulasi Sunia, Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle, Guam Governor Felix Camacho and Northern Marianas Washington Rep. Pedro A. Tenorio.

The Secretary referred to 2007 as the Year of the Pacific, noting that leaders would be hearing this phrase many times during the week. Saying that it's important to maintain security in the Pacific, she added that many of the countries in the region face grave economic and political challenges.

"Nevertheless," she said, "we're working together to promote a comprehensive approach."

Rice indicated that the relocation from Okinawa to Guam that U.S. forces face is significant and that democracy plays a key role in fostering political and economic development. She also made a delicate point of expressing the United States hope for a speedy return to democracy to Fiji. The absence of Fiji at the head of government or ministerial level has caused some controversy, with Faleomavaega having criticized the Bush administration for declining to approve a visa for Fiji coup leader and now Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama to enter the U.S. in order to attend the meeting.

Even though the White House is only seven blocks from the State Department Building, I was amazed to learn later that, after her remarks, somehow Secretary Rice managed to be over at the White House in time to be at President Bush's side to formally welcome Queen Elizabeth II to the United States.

After Rice departed, Undersecretary Nicholas Burns led the U.S. delegation. As she did last night at the opening reception, Governor Lingle again spoke of the difficulty of Pacific island countries getting noticed. She asked Burns for his best advice to those of us "who can't take regular trips to Washington? What's the best use of their time? What sort of relations should be established?"

"The U.S. ambassador in any of your countries has been chosen personally by the President of the United States," responded Burns. "When the relationship is working right, a good ambassador tells Washington what to do. We listen. Nine times out of ten, we take the ambassador's advice."

With jet lag setting in, the leaders were grateful for a break for lunch. While the Queen was having lunch with the President, delegations dined at the Department and then returned back to the conference room for a full afternoon of discussions on a full range of issues.

The final event of the day was a Congressional Reception sponsored by the East-West Center and co-hosted by the six members of Congress from the Pacific Islands: Senators Dan Inouye and Dan Akaka of Hawaii, U.S. Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo and our own Faleomavaega.

In his remarks to the crowd, which included a good representation from the local Washington area Samoan community, Faleomavaega apologized that none of the Hawaii delegation could be present because Congress was still in session and voting while the reception was underway.

I was particularly pleased to spend some time with Niue Premier Young Vivian because he was SPC secretary general in 1981 when I first met him at the South Pacific Conference in Port Vila. He shared some fond memories of Dad and said how lucky he felt to be at SPC at a time when many of the region's founding fathers were still around and active in the organization.

Del. Bordallo was at the reception only briefly because she had to hurry away to the House Floor to buttonhole colleagues to muster support for her bill to provide compensation to Guamanians who suffered under the occupation of Japan during World War II. Bordallo managed the floor debate on the issue today but the vote was being held over until tomorrow, so she wanted to take the opportunity to recruit some more last minute allies to ensure there were enough votes for passage tomorrow.

Faleomavaega also presented to Conference Chairman Kessai Note and East West Center President Charles Morrison copies of a resolution adopted by the House earlier in the day welcoming the Pacific Island leaders to Washington for their conference. In addition to Note, Morrison and Faleomavaega, others who spoke at the reception were U.S. Rep. Dan Burton (IN), Kiribati President Anote Tong and Palau President Tommy Remengesau.

It was a tiring but rewarding day and leaders will be returning to Capitol Hill tomorrow for a morning program with Congress, including a roundtable discussion on public policy issues, followed by lunch and a special tour of the Capitol.

Tomorrow evening, the leaders will be treated to Pacific Night, the annual joint diplomatic social event co-hosted by all the Pacific Island embassies and Washington offices. This reception, which is island style and features island food, has grown in popularity over the years and is greatly anticipated. Weather permitting, it will be held outdoors in the courtyard of the National Geographic Building in downtown Washington.

Osini Faleatasi Inc. dba Samoa News reserves all rights.