May 22, 2001 – The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday afternoon passed a bill sponsored by Delegate Donna Christian Christensen to name the Federal Building on St. Thomas after former delegate Ron de Lugo.
"Throughout his political career, whether it was the right to write our own constitution or the authority to exercise the people-power rights of initiative, referendum and recall, Ron has been at the forefront of successful efforts to win greater control of their own destiny for the people of the Virgin Islands," Christensen said Monday on the floor of the House.
Christensen also spoke of de Lugo's 20 years of service in the House as the first delegate to Congress from the U.S. Virgin Islands, where his eventual seniority qualified him for a chairmanship and where he was elected to head the Subcommittee on Insular and International Affairs. Christensen said de Lugo’s accomplishments include legislation implementing the Compact of Free Association, which allowed the former Trust Territory of Palau to become the Republic of Palau; implementing the covenant between the United States and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas; and establishing the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
He also was a key player in the first bill to pass the House or Senate concerning the political status of Puerto Rico and the law that made it possible for the Virgin Islands and other territories to receive Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance.
"As a senior member of the Public Works and Transportation Committee, Ron procured hundreds of millions of dollars in federal appropriations to build roads, hospitals, schools, airports, mass transit systems and other public works projects in the territory," Christensen said. "It is fitting that we honor his contributions to the Virgin Islands and the country at large this way."
