Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia

Fifth Special Session of 15th Congress underway

PALIKIR, Pohnpei (FSM Congress): November 27, 2008 - The 15th Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia convened yesterday for its Fifth Special Session as called by President Emanuel (Manny) Mori, pursuant to Section 16 of Article IX of the FSM Constitution.

Accordingly, the President's call listed the following as his issues and matters for consideration:

  • Public Auditor's Office in Chuuk and T3 Budget;
  • remaining nominations requiring advice and consent of Congress;
  • JEMCO;
  • multi-purpose building;
  • Chuuk's issues; and
  • pending bills and resolutions.

To properly address issues of priority for the President, Speaker Isaac V. Figir designated Senator Claude H. Phillip to the head the Special Committee to wait on the President with members comprised of: Senator Setiro Paul from Chuuk, Senator Fredrico O. Primo from Pohnpei and Senator Joseph J. Urusemal from Yap. The committee was accompanied by Legislative Counsel T. Lam Dang and Legal Researcher Yosleen George Sigrah.

In attendance at convening of the Special Session was President Mori, Vice President Alik L. Alik and the Cabinet along with heads of the various agencies and offices of the National Government.

Also in attendance were the Heads of the Diplomatic Missions in the FSM and they are:

Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Ambassador Liu Fei of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China, Ambassador Miriam K. Hughes of the Embassy of the United States of America, Ambassador Susan Cox of the Embassy of Australia and Ambassador Shoji Sato of the Embassy of Japan.

With the presence of the Ambassadors, Vice Speaker Resio S. Moses took the opportunity to extend his congratulations to Ambassador Hughes for the successful recent elections in the United States. Vice Speaker Moses said that his sentiments were not because the United States elected a black man, but because the U.S. has demonstrated the principle upon which their constitution was instituted - "and that is the concept of equality of men without regard to race, creed or color."

The Vice Speaker continued that he has "for a long time taken that provision of their Constitution to be for granted, however the election of the new President has demonstrated that yes indeed America is true to its word as enshrined in their Constitution.

"So to the Ambassador of the United States, I convey my congratulations to her and to the people and the government of the United States of America," concluded Vice Speaker Moses.

Following the usual formalities of the opening day, Congress went into recess to reconvene the next day.

The Fifth Special Session as called, will be for seven days beginning November 26 thru December 02, 2008.