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United States President Barack Obama has announced his intent to nominate Esther Puakela Kia’aina to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas at the U.S. Department of the Interior.
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Kia’aina would serve as the Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas at the U.S. Department of the Interior.
She would lead the Department’s efforts to coordinate federal policy for Guam, CNMI, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa.
She would also have the responsibility to administer and to oversee Federal assistance to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau.
Kia’aina currently serves as the First Deputy Director of the Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources.
This is one of the few Senate confirmed positions for which a local Hawaiian leader has been nominated.
The post was vacated in February by former Assistant Secretary, and Guam native, Tony Babauta who stepped down amidst a contracting and travel probe.
Kia’aina received a Juris Doctor degree from the George Washington University Law School in 1998 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Southern California in 1985.