Political Quotes

“56 years ago the United States assumed an international obligation to protect and promote the development of two island groups that straddle much of the vast Pacific Ocean: The Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. As strategic battle grounds in World War II, these islands were liberated from enemy occupation by U.S. forces. In the aftermath of that pivotal period in world history, they emerged from a League of Nations mandate administered by Japan to become a United Nations' Trust Territory with the United States as trustee. Over the next 40 years their socio-economic status improved and their developing economies would begin to take root. Then, in 1986, Congress passed, and President Reagan signed, a Compact of Free Association with them. The compact allowed for a new relationship to be cultivated, and it afforded the FSM and the RMI the ability to become sovereign nation states in their own right. In the years since, they have been welcome to the international table in their own name and their alliance with the United States today could not be stronger. While other nations who receive foreign aid consistently oppose us in the United Nations, the FSM and the RMI have been among our most steadfast of allies. Seventeen years after the original agreement, we are here today, Madam Speaker, to renew the compact.”