Governor Eddie Baza Calvo is in Iowa to attend National Governors Association’s 2016 Summer Meeting in Des Moines, Iowa. During the NGA meeting, the Governor will discuss policy solutions and initiatives with more than a dozen other governors from the nation’s states and territories.
 
The Governor is taking advantage of the meeting to speak with federal officials expected to attend.
 
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell will lead discussions on healthcare issues facing states and territories; Dr. Michael McGinnis of the National Academy of Medicine; Karen Flowers, associate special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Chicago division; and Dr. Gary Franklin, medical director of the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.
 
Sessions from the NGA meeting will be broadcast live on the NGA’s website. To view the video stream schedule or the video streams, go to http://www.nga.org/cms/SummerMeeting.
 
The Governor will speak to Burwell about Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates for Guam. He also is expecting to meet with U.S. CIS officials about H-2B visas and the labor crisis that Guam faces if the denial rate doesn’t change.
 
Prior to the Governor’s departure, he had a teleconference with Department of Homeland Security Deputy Commissioner Kevin McAleenan and DHS Executive Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Field Operations Todd Owen. They discussed the sometimes three-hour wait at the Guam International Airport Authority’s Immigration’s section. The DHS representatives agreed to look into the manpower issue that seems to be the cause of the long wait, as well as creating a pre-screening process for non-U.S. citizens visiting our island.
 

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