Kia‘aina confirmed to Dept. of Interior
DLNR's Esther Kia‘aina was confirmed by the United States Senate as Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas at the U.S. Department of the Interior today.
Today, Deputy Director of the Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources Esther Kia‘aina was confirmed by the United States Senate as Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas at the U.S. Department of the Interior, a nomination she received from President Barack Obama on September 11, 2013, nearly a year ago.
“President Obama recognized a tremendous individual for this important post in Esther Kia‘aina,” said Senator Brian Schatz after the confirmation. “Her confirmation is a testament to her distinguished career and expertise on Native Hawaiian issues and land management. Esther is an exceptional addition to the Department of the Interior and will serve well as Assistant Secretary.”
Not only was Kia‘aina the author of the 1993 Apology Resolution (United States Public Law 103-150), she has also been a major driving force in getting the Department of the Interior to come to Hawaii and solicit public input on how and whether to re-establish a government-to-government relationship between the United States and the “Hawaiian Community.”
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs coordinates federal policy in the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The office also administers U.S. federal assistance to the Freely Associated States of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau under the Compacts of Free Association.