Kirk Watson: “I was privileged and honored to represent the United States as the Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia, and…”

“I was privileged and honored to represent the United States as the Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia, and I have a deep and abiding respect for the island nations who are struggling to build their democracy following the American model. I am pleased that we have advanced the new compact legislation out of Congress to this point. Although most of the contentious issues in the compact have been addressed, the funding allocated for education still continues to concern me. I visited many of the schools, and I can tell my colleagues that they need a lot of help. We have to take them from the past into the present, and we have to see that they have the technology in their classrooms to make them a part of our new global economy. The RMI and FSM children have only just begun to benefit from the establishment of an integrated education system, and I am very pleased to know that authorization for educational programs is included in the bill. In my former profession of teaching, I have witnessed the impact of early structured education.”