I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2624

To establish the American Samoa Study Commission.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 13, 1995

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To establish the American Samoa Study Commission.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Samoa

5 Study Commission Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the islands of Tutuila and Manua, and cer9 tain other islands that compose American Samoa,

10 were ceded by the chiefs of the islands to the United

11 States by 2 treaties ratified on April 10, 1900, and

12 July 16, 1904;
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1 (2) American Samoa’s status as an unorganized

2 and unincorporated territory of the United States,

3 and American Samoa’s political relationship to the

4 United States, are not clearly defined in any single

5 document;

6 (3) there is a need for a comprehensive study

7 and review of the historical and legal bases of Amer8 ican Samoa’s status and political relationship with

9 the United States, including—

10 (A) a determination of American Samoa’s

11 present political relationship with the United

12 States compared to other relationships such as

13 commonwealth, free association, and covenant;

14 and

15 (B) an examination of whether the treaties

16 of cession created trust obligations to American

17 Samoa on the part of the United States;

18 (4) the economic and social needs of American

19 Samoa are substantially affected by the nature of

20 American Samoa’s political status and relationship

21 with the United States; and

22 (5) the need for a comprehensive study also of

23 Swains Island.
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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT.

2 There is established a commission to be known as the

3 ‘‘American Samoa Study Commission’’.

4 SEC. 4. DUTIES.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be the duty of the Com6 mission—

7 (1) to study and evaluate all factors that led to

8 American Samoa’s historical and present political

9 status and relationship with the United States, in10 cluding—

11 (A) the events that led to the cession to

12 the United States of the islands that compose

13 American Samoa; and

14 (B) the constitutions, statutes, treaties,

15 and agreements that affect American Samoa’s

16 political status and relationship with the United

17 States;

18 (2) to determine the nature of American Sa19 moa’s political status and relationship with the

20 United States compared to relationships such as

21 commonwealth, free association, and covenant, and

22 the extent to which the treaties of cession created

23 trust obligations to American Samoa on the part of

24 the United States;
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1 (3) to determine whether a single document is

2 needed to set forth American Samoa’s political sta3 tus and relationship with the United States; and

4 (4) to study and evaluate the impact of Amer5 ican Samoa’s political status and relationship with

6 the United States (as determined by the Commission

7 under paragraph (2)) on the economic and social

8 needs of American Samoa and its residents.

9 (b) CONSULTATION.—The Commission shall, to the

10 maximum extent practicable, consult with American

11 Samoans in carrying out the duties of the Commission

12 under subsection (a).

13 SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP.

14 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission

15 shall be composed of 5 members appointed as follows:

16 (1) 3 members appointed by the Secretary of

17 the Interior, including—

18 (A) 1 member appointed from among indi19 viduals recommended by the Governor of Amer20 ican Samoa; and

21 (B) 1 member appointed from among indi22 viduals recommended by the legislature of the

23 Territorial government of American Samoa.

24 (2) 1 member appointed by the Speaker of the

25 House of Representatives.
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1 (3) 1 member appointed by the President of the

2 Senate.

3 (b) TERMS.—Each member shall be appointed for the

4 life of the Commission.

5 (c) BASIC PAY.—

6 (1) RATES OF PAY.—Except as provided in

7 paragraph (2), each member of the Commission

8 shall be paid, to the extent of amounts made avail9 able in appropriation Acts, $150 for each day (in10 cluding travel time) during which the member is en11 gaged in the actual performance of the duties of the

12 Commission.

13 (2) PROHIBITION OF COMPENSATION OF FED14 ERAL EMPLOYEES.—Except as provided in sub15 section (d), members of the Commission who are

16 full-time officers or employees of the United States

17 or the Territorial government of American Samoa

18 may not receive additional pay, allowances, or bene19 fits by reason of their service on the Commission.

20 (d) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member shall receive

21 travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence,

22 in accordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5,

23 United States Code.
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1 (e) QUORUM.—3 members of the Commission shall

2 constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold hear3 ings.

4 (f) CHAIRPERSON; VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The Chair5 person and Vice Chairperson of the Commission shall be

6 elected by the members.

7 (g) MEETINGS.—

8 (1) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than the expi9 ration of the 90-day period beginning on the date of

10 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Inte11 rior shall call the initial meeting of the members of

12 the Commission.

13 (2) SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS.—The Chairperson

14 or a majority of the members of the Commission

15 shall call any meeting of the Commission that occurs

16 after the meeting called under paragraph (1).

17 SEC. 6. STAFF AND SUPPORT SERVICES.

18 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Commission shall have a Direc19 tor, who shall be appointed by the Commission.

20 (b) STAFF.—Subject to rules prescribed by the Com21 mission, the Chairperson of the Commission may appoint

22 and fix the pay of personnel as the Chairperson considers

23 appropriate.

24 (c) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

25 LAWS.—The Director and staff of the Commission may
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1 be appointed without regard to the provisions of title 5,

2 United States Code, governing appointments in the com3 petitive service, and may be paid without regard to the

4 provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53

5 of such title relating to classification and General Schedule

6 pay rates, except that an individual so appointed may not

7 receive pay in excess of the maximum rate of basic pay

8 payable for GS–16 of the General Schedule.

9 (d) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—Subject to rules

10 prescribed by the Commission, the Chairperson of the

11 Commission may procure temporary and intermittent

12 services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States

13 Code, but at rates for individuals not to exceed $150 per

14 day.

15 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon

16 the request of the Commission, the Administrator of Gen17 eral Services shall provide to the Commission, on a reim18 bursable basis, the administrative support services nec19 essary for the Commission to carry out its responsibilities

20 under this Act.

21 SEC. 7. POWERS OF COMMISSION.

22 (a) HEARINGS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may, for

24 the purpose of carrying out this Act, hold hearings,

25 sit and act at times and locations, take testimony,
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1 and receive evidence as the Commission considers

2 appropriate.

3 (2) LOCATION OF CERTAIN HEARINGS.—

4 (A) REQUIRED HEARINGS.—The Commis5 sion shall conduct at least 1 hearing at any lo6 cation on each of—

7 (i) Tutuila;

8 (ii) Ofu;

9 (iii) Olosega; and

10 (iv) Tau.

11 (B) OTHER HEARINGS.—The Commission

12 may conduct at least 3 separate hearings in the

13 United States at locations where significant

14 numbers of American Samoans reside.

15 (3) NOTICE.—The Commission shall provide

16 notice to the public of the hearings referred to in

17 paragraphs (1) and (2), including information re18 garding the date, location, and topic of each meet19 ing, and shall take other actions as the Commission

20 considers necessary to obtain, to the maximum ex21 tent practicable, public participation in the hearings.

22 (b) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY.—Any member or

23 agent of the Commission may, if authorized by the Com24 mission, take any action that the Commission is author25 ized to take by this Act.
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1 (c) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may secure

3 directly from any Federal agency information nec4 essary to enable it to carry out this Act. Upon re5 quest of the Chairperson or Vice Chairperson of the

6 Commission, the head of the Federal agency shall

7 furnish the information to the Commission.

8 (2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not

9 apply to any information that the Commission is

10 prohibited to secure or request by another law.

11 (d) MAILS.—The Commission may use the United

12 States mails in the same manner and under the same con13 ditions as other Federal agencies.

14 SEC. 8. REPORTS.

15 (a) DRAFT REPORT.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the expira17 tion of the 1-year period beginning on the date of

18 the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall pre19 pare and publish a draft report containing the find20 ings, conclusions, and recommendations of the Com21 mission.

22 (2) DISTRIBUTION.—The Commission shall dis23 tribute such report to appropriate Federal and

24 American Samoan agencies and shall make such re-
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1 port available to members of the public upon re2 quest.

3 (3) SOLICITATION OF COMMENTS.—The Com4 mission shall solicit written comments from the Fed5 eral and American Samoan agencies and other per6 sons to which copies of such report are distributed

7 under paragraph (2).

8 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than the expiration

9 of the 9-month period beginning on the date of the publi10 cation of the report required by subsection (a)(1), the

11 Commission shall submit to the President and the Con12 gress a final report, which shall include—

13 (1) a detailed statement of the findings and

14 conclusions made by the Commission after consider15 ation of the comments received by the Commission

16 under subsection (a)(3);

17 (2) the recommendations of the Commission for

18 legislative and administrative actions that the Com19 mission determines to be appropriate; and

20 (3) copies of all written comments received by

21 the Commission under subsection (a)(3).

22 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

23 For purposes of this Act:

24 (1) The term ‘‘American Samoan’’ has the

25 meaning given the term ‘‘native American Samoan’’
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1 in section 4 of Public Law 100–571 (16 U.S.C.

2 410qq–3).

3 (2) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Amer4 ican Samoa Study Commission established in section

5 3.

6 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as

8 are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

9 SEC. 11. TERMINATION.

10 The Commission shall terminate not later than the

11 expiration of the 60-day period beginning on the date on

12 which the Commission submits its final report under sec13 tion 8.

Æ