Biden appoints Dagupeña as bureau deputy head
MARIA Camille Calimlim-Touton, a Dagupeña, is the first Filipino-American appointed by US government to the United States of America’s Bureau of Reclamation as deputy commissioner.
US President Joe Biden Biden announced her appointment last Wednesday. She is the first Filipino woman engineer to serve in the White House.
Touton is the daughter of Carl Calimlim of Barangay Tebeng in Dagupan and Marlene Bagsal of Calasiao. Her grandparents were the late Camilo Calimlim, a retired U.S. Navy man; and former Tebeng Barangay Captain Juanita Calimlim, a close relative of former five-time Speaker
Jose de Venecia Jr.
She spent her childhood days in Pangasinan, living in Dagupan and Calasiao.
It was not long before they migrated to the USA during her elementary days.
She holds a B.S. in Engineering (Civil) and a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She then took her Masters in Public Policy at the George Mason University.
She had her first stint at the White House as Counselor to the Assistant Secretary for Water and Science under the Obama administration. She was then taken as Professional Staff Member, Democratic, for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee from September 2017 to January 2019.
Representative Grace Napolitano of the 32nd District of California, in her statement, said “Her appointment is also historic, as Ms. Touton becomes the first Filipino American to serve in this important agency leadership role.”
Touton has returned to the White House after serving as a part of professional staff for the US Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the US House of Representatives.
The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management. It is also the USA’s largest wholesaler of water, and the largest producer of hydroelectric power in Western USA as it provides 10 million acres of farmland, bringing water to more than 31 million individuals, and producing 60% of the nation’s vegetable output.
A resolution was sponsored in the House of Representatives on Friday by Fourth District Rep. Christopher de Venecia congratulating Ms. Touton for her appointment. (Leonardo Micua/Ahikam Pasion)
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