Bordallo reacts to Babauta's resignation
Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo issued a statement following news that Department of Interior Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Tony Babauta has submitted his resignation.
January 25, 2013Updated: January 25, 2013
By KUAM News
By KUAM Newsby Mindy Aguon
Guam - Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo issued the following statement following news that Department of Interior Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Tony Babauta has submitted his resignation to DOI Secretary Ken Salazar:
"Assistant Secretary Tony Babauta has been a steadfast advocate for the needs of the territories and has significantly improved relations between the federal and territorial governments," said Congresswoman Bordallo. "In his capacity as the Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas, Tony initiated direct engagement between the U.S. territories and our allies in the Pacific. He has ensured that the needs of the territories were addressed at every level of the federal government and worked diligently to ensure that our constituencies were treated comparably to Americans in the 50 states. Specifically for Guam, Tony was a strong supporter of the Administration's renewed engagement in the Asia-Pacific region and helped expand job opportunities for our people.
Guam and the territories have been well served by Tony's leadership. As Assistant Secretary, Tony always pushed for the best interests of our people and worked to improve the unique disparities of the insular areas. Although his resignation marks the loss of an important ally for our Pacific Island and Caribbean communities, I am confident he will be successful in his future endeavors."