; Whereas the United States plays an active role in regional fisheries management through its involvement in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and in maintaining programs to help Pacific Island countries combat illegal fishing, including bilateral shiprider agreements that allow law enforcement officers of host partner countries onboard United States Coast Guard ships and aircraft to patrol national exclusive economic zones; Whereas the United States, through more than 17 departments and agencies, committed more than $350 million in fiscal year 2017 to engagement with Pacific Islands countries; Whereas the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 authorized and appropriated $123.8 million in funding through 2024 for the 2010 Palau Compact Review Agreement; Whereas every two years, the United States Navy’s Pacific Fleet hosts the world’s largest international maritime exercise, known as the Rim of the Pacific , for which this past year Tongan Marines traveled to Hawaii with Australia’s Navy to participate and Fiji has been invited to join the exercise in 2020; and Whereas in September 2018 at the 30th Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke stated the United States see[s] all of the Pacific Islands as an essential part of our free and open Indo-Pacific policy : Now, therefore, be it