December 6, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Congressional Office for International Leadership (COIL) launches its programs with Papua New Guinea and Vietnam this week with the arrival of two delegations of members of parliament for 10-day professional programs. The distinguished Members of Parliament from Papua New Guinea will be hosted in Norfolk, Virginia, with the Norfolk Sister Cities Association, while Members from Vietnam will stay with families in Burlington, Vermont, with the Vermont Council on World Affairs.

These groups are the first of COIL’s new initiative to implement the Open World program for the Indo-Pacific region. This major expansion of COIL operations comes as a response to a congressional request to bring our unique program to the region. A tenet of the Open World Parliamentary program is exchanging information about core competencies of a legislature, what COIL calls the “Six C’s”: Calendar, Congressional Research Service, Capitol Visitor Center, Committees, Consensus, and Constituent Services. During their Washington, D.C., orientation, the Members of Parliament will meet with Representatives Ed Case (HI-01) and Don Bacon (NE-02).

While in Norfolk, the Parliamentarians from Papua New Guinea will meet with Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander, Norfolk Circuit Court Judge David W. Lannetti, and Deputy Superintendent of Norfolk Public Schools Dr. James Pohl. The delegates will also take part in a series of presentations by the Virginia Department of Health, Emergency Preparedness and Response, and Old Dominion University. Concurrently, the Parliamentarians from Vietnam in Burlington will meet with former Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle, current Mayor Miro Weinburger, Lieutenant Governor Molly Gray, and Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court Paul Reiber. They will also have the opportunity to hear from the CCTV Center for Media and Democracy, the Vermont Human Rights Commission, and the Department of Political Science at Saint Michael’s College.

COIL looks forward to a lasting partnership with Papua New Guinea and Vietnam as we plan additional Open World programming for the Indo-Pacific.

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Through its Open World program, COIL has brought over 30,000 global leaders to the U.S. since its inception in 1999. The program pioneered person-to-person international engagement and provides an immersive experience with delegates' direct professional counterparts, covering a broad spectrum of policy themes rooted within communities across the United States.
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