Interior announces $820,600 in FY 2020 for prior service Trust Fund Program

Provides key support to elderly in the Pacific

 

WASHINGTON - U. S. Department   of the Interior Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs Douglas W. Domenech  has authorized   $820.600  in FY 2020 funding  for the Prior Service  Trust Fund (PSTF) Administration   which distributes   benefits  to the more than 700 former  employees   of the post-World  War II, .   Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) in the Western Pacific.

"The  Prior Service Trust Fund  program  is an ongoing  commitment   that the United  States holds in the Pacific and in particular  to individuals  who previously   served  in the former  Trust  Territory  of the Pacific  Islands," said Assistant  Secretary  Domenech.   "We appreciate that the U.S. Congress provides these funds for the Prior Service beneficiaries who rely on them for important basic needs."

Employee  benefits  provided  through  the Prior Service  Trust Fund represent  a responsibility   assumed  by the Federal  Government  following  the dissolution   of the TTPI in 1986.  The program serves beneficiaries with five years or more of prior service.   The four jurisdictions   to emerge  from  the TTPI  were the Commonwealth of the Northern  Mariana  Islands,  the Federated  States of Micronesia,  the Republic  of the Marshall  Islands.

and the Republic of Palau. The Commonwealth   of the Northern Mariana Islands is a U.S. Territory.  The latter three entities are independent   sovereign Pacific Island nations who each share a unique relationship with the United States under a Compact of Free Association agreement.

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