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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Special Advisors for 
Insular Areas Act’’. 
SEC. 2. SPECIAL ADVISOR FOR INSULAR AREAS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be a Special Advi-
sor for Insular Areas in each Executive department, who 
shall be an officer of the Executive department. 
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(b) APPOINTMENTS.—Not later than 6 months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each 
Executive department shall appoint a Special Advisor for 
Insular Areas for the applicable Executive department. If 
a vacancy occurs after an initial appointment, the applica-
ble head shall appoint a new Special Advisor for Insular 
Areas not later than 3 months after the date that the va-
cancy occurs. 
(c) DUTIES.—The Special Advisor for Insular Areas 
for each Executive department shall— 
(1) serve as the principal advisor to the head of 
the applicable Executive department on matters af-
fecting insular areas; 
(2) assess the impact of departmental initiatives 
in the insular areas; 
(3) provide guidance to programs within the 
Executive department that impact insular areas; 
(4) serve as a liaison for stakeholders from the 
insular areas; and 
(5) work with the Interagency Group on Insular 
Areas established by Executive Order 13537 or any 
successor group within the Department of the Inte-
rior. 
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SEC. 3. INTERDEPARTMENTAL MEETINGS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Special Advisor for Insular 
Areas for each Executive department (or their designees) 
and the Assistant Secretary for Insular and International 
Affairs (or their designee) shall meet not less than once 
every 3 months to address major policy matters and initia-
tives affecting the insular areas. 
(b) RECORD OF MEETINGS.—A record of each meet-
ing shall be taken by an employee of and maintained by 
the Department of the Interior Office of Insular Affairs. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Ex-
ecutive department’’ has the meaning given that 
term in section 101 of title 5, United States Code, 
but does not include the Department of the Interior. 
(2) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—The term 
‘‘Freely Associated States’’ means the Republic of 
the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micro-
nesia, and the Republic of Palau. 
(3) INSULAR AREAS.—The term ‘‘insular areas’’ 
means the territories and Freely Associated States. 
(4) 
TERRITORIES.—The 
term 
‘‘territories’’ 
means American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Is-
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lands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands of 
the United States. 
Æ 
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