I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5001 

To establish a position of Special Advisor for Insular Areas in each Executive 

department, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. PLASKETT, Mr. MOYLAN, and 

Mrs. GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish a position of Special Advisor for Insular Areas 

in each Executive department, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Special Advisors for 

5 Insular Areas Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SPECIAL ADVISOR FOR INSULAR AREAS. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be a Special Advi8 sor for Insular Areas in each Executive department, who 

9 shall be an officer of the Executive department. 


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1 (b) APPOINTMENTS.—Not later than 6 months after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each 

3 Executive department shall appoint a Special Advisor for 

4 Insular Areas for the applicable Executive department. If 

5 a vacancy occurs after an initial appointment, the applica6 ble head shall appoint a new Special Advisor for Insular 

7 Areas not later than 3 months after the date that the va8 cancy occurs. 

9 (c) DUTIES.—The Special Advisor for Insular Areas 

10 for each Executive department shall— 

11 (1) serve as the principal advisor to the head of 

12 the applicable Executive department on matters af13 fecting insular areas; 

14 (2) assess the impact of departmental initiatives 

15 in the insular areas; 

16 (3) provide guidance to programs within the 

17 Executive department that impact insular areas; 

18 (4) serve as a liaison for stakeholders from the 

19 insular areas; and 

20 (5) work with the Interagency Group on Insular 

21 Areas established by Executive Order 13537 or any 

22 successor group within the Department of the Inte23 rior. 


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1 SEC. 3. INTERDEPARTMENTAL MEETINGS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Special Advisor for Insular 

3 Areas for each Executive department (or their designees) 

4 and the Assistant Secretary for Insular and International 

5 Affairs (or their designee) shall meet not less than once 

6 every 3 months to address major policy matters and initia7 tives affecting the insular areas. 

8 (b) RECORD OF MEETINGS.—A record of each meet9 ing shall be taken by an employee of and maintained by 

10 the Department of the Interior Office of Insular Affairs. 

11 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Ex14 ecutive department’’ has the meaning given that 

15 term in section 101 of title 5, United States Code, 

16 but does not include the Department of the Interior. 

17 (2) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—The term 

18 ‘‘Freely Associated States’’ means the Republic of 

19 the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micro20 nesia, and the Republic of Palau. 

21 (3) INSULAR AREAS.—The term ‘‘insular areas’’ 

22 means the territories and Freely Associated States. 

23 (4) TERRITORIES.—The term ‘‘territories’’ 

24 means American Samoa, the Northern Mariana IsVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Aug 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5001.IH H5001

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1 lands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands of 

2 the United States. 

Æ 


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