Washington, D.C. – The Senate Energy Committee today approved the nomination of Suedeen Kelly to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the nomination of Rick Dearborn as the Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Energy and Senate Joint Resolution16 as amended. The committee approved all three matters by a voice vote during a 10 a.m. business meeting this morning in SD-366. Senate Joint Resolution 16 extends and modifies the Compact of Free Association between the United States and the Federated States of Micronesia and the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The committee approved a joint staff amendment that replaced Title I and made technical changes to Title II. The amended resolution splits the original compact into two new compacts, a separate one each with Micronesia and Marshall Islands. The resolution extends each compact until 2023, creates a trust fund for each island nation to which the United States and the island nations each contribute. At the end of the 20-year compact term, each trust fund is intended to help each island nation be self-sufficient. The amended resolution also authorizes and appropriates $30 million in direct spending for Hawaii, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa to ameliorate the impact of migration from Micronesia and the Marshall Islands to these affected jurisdictions. ###