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90-110 PS 2004

H.R. 2010, TO PROTECT THE 

VOTING RIGHTS OF MEMBERS 

OF THE ARMED SERVICES IN 

ELECTIONS FOR THE DELEGATE REPRESENTING AMERICAN SAMOA IN THE UNITED 

STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

LEGISLATIVE HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

Wednesday, October 29, 2003

Serial No. 108-73

Printed for the use of the Committee on Resources

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house 

or 

Committee address: http://resourcescommittee.house.gov 

(II)

COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES 

RICHARD W. POMBO, California, Chairman 

NICK J. RAHALL II, West Virginia, Ranking Democrat Member

Don Young, Alaska 

W.J. ‘‘Billy’’ Tauzin, Louisiana 

Jim Saxton, New Jersey 

Elton Gallegly, California 

John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee 

Wayne T. Gilchrest, Maryland 

Ken Calvert, California 

Scott McInnis, Colorado 

Barbara Cubin, Wyoming 

George Radanovich, California 

Walter B. Jones, Jr., North Carolina 

Chris Cannon, Utah 

John E. Peterson, Pennsylvania 

Jim Gibbons, Nevada, 

Vice Chairman 

Mark E. Souder, Indiana 

Greg Walden, Oregon 

Thomas G. Tancredo, Colorado 

J.D. Hayworth, Arizona 

Tom Osborne, Nebraska 

Jeff Flake, Arizona 

Dennis R. Rehberg, Montana 

Rick Renzi, Arizona 

Tom Cole, Oklahoma 

Stevan Pearce, New Mexico 

Rob Bishop, Utah 

Devin Nunes, California 

Randy Neugebauer, Texas 

Dale E. Kildee, Michigan 

Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, American Samoa 

Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii 

Solomon P. Ortiz, Texas 

Frank Pallone, Jr., New Jersey 

Calvin M. Dooley, California 

Donna M. Christensen, Virgin Islands 

Ron Kind, Wisconsin 

Jay Inslee, Washington 

Grace F. Napolitano, California 

Tom Udall, New Mexico 

Mark Udall, Colorado 

Anı

 ́

bal Acevedo-Vila

 ́

, Puerto Rico 

Brad Carson, Oklahoma 

Rau

 ́

l M. Grijalva, Arizona 

Dennis A. Cardoza, California 

Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam 

George Miller, California 

Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts 

Rube

 ́

n Hinojosa, Texas 

Ciro D. Rodriguez, Texas 

Joe Baca, California 

Betty McCollum, Minnesota

Steven J. Ding, Chief of Staff 

Lisa Pittman, Chief Counsel 

James H. Zoia, Democrat Staff Director 

Jeffrey P. Petrich, Democrat Chief Counsel 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

Hearing held on Wednesday, October 29, 2003 ..................................................... 1

Statement of Members: 

Faleomavaega, Hon. Eni F.H., a Delegate in Congress from American 

Samoa ............................................................................................................ 3

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 5

Letters and resolution submitted for the record ..................................... 12

Pombo, Hon. Richard W., a Representative in Congress from the State 

of California ................................................................................................... 1

Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 3

Statement of Witnesses: 

Sunia, Hon. Aitofele, Lieutenant Governor, Pago Pago, American Samoa .. 9

Additional materials supplied: 

Fuimaono, Hon. Lutu Tenari S., President of the Senate, Legislature 

of American Samoa,Letter submitted for the record .................................. 24

Radewagen, Amata Coleman, National Committeewoman for American 

Samoa, letter submitted for the record ....................................................... 25

(1)

LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON H.R. 2010, TO PROTECT THE VOTING RIGHTS OF MEMBERS 

OF THE ARMED SERVICES IN ELECTIONS 

FOR THE DELEGATE REPRESENTING AMERICAN SAMOA IN THE UNITED STATES 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND FOR 

OTHER PURPOSES. 

Wednesday, October 29, 2003

U.S. House of Representatives 

Committee on Resources 

Washington, D.C. 

The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 2:10 p.m., in Room 

1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Richard W. Pombo 

[Chairman of the Committee] presiding. Present: Representatives Pombo, Rehberg, Faleomavaega, Inslee, Tom Udall of New Mexico, Grijalva, and Bordallo. 

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE RICHARD W. POMBO, A 

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF 

CALIFORNIA 

The CHAIRMAN. The Committee on Resources will come to order. 

The Committee is meeting today to hear testimony on H.R. 2010, 

a bill to protect the voting rights of members of the Armed Services 

in elections for the Delegate representing American Samoa in the 

U.S. House of Representatives, and for other purposes. Under Rule 4(g) of the Committee rules, any oral opening state- ments at hearings are limited to the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member. This will allow us to hear from our witness sooner 

and help members to keep to their schedules. Therefore, if other 

members have statements, they can be included in the hearing 

record under unanimous consent. 

On behalf of the full Committee, I would like to welcome everyone in attendance today, and specifically our witness. We are fortunate to have with us today an individual from American Samoa 

who should be able to better inform us about their election laws 

and his thoughts on the effects of enacting H.R. 2010. 

Our full Committee hearing today will focus on legislation introduced by my colleague from American Samoa, Mr. Faleomavaega, 

who has worked on crafting this legislation for years. We will hopefully be able to directly address the two related issues that the bill 

2

presents: an interest in protecting the voting rights of members of 

the Armed Services, as well as making the Delegate representing 

American Samoa be subject to an election by a plurality vote. 

When discussing the issue of voting rights of the members of our 

Armed Services, the war in Iraq presents us with a good example. 

Thousands of men and women are in the Middle East and across 

the globe protecting our country from further attack while encouraging the new-found freedom of others. Congress has recognized 

the importance of ensuring their right to vote, even when on active 

duty in foreign countries, when it passed the Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act in 1986. Specifically this legislation requires that the States and territories allow certain groups of 

citizens, including members of the United States uniformed services, to register and vote absentee in elections for Federal offices. 

Further, under an executive order from 1988, the Presidential 

designee for the administrative responsibilities associated with the 

legislation is the Secretary of Defense. In turn, the Secretary of Defense has assigned the work of protecting the right to vote by these 

soldiers to the Federal Voting Assistance Program. The FVAP actively monitors the voter registration and absentee voting opportunities provided to the members of the Armed Services. The issue 

at hand today, though, is in part how effective this Act is applied 

to American Samoa. 

In 2001 the General Accounting Office released a report saying 

that the voting assistance to military and overseas citizens should 

be improved. Our hearing today will hopefully shed some light on 

the effectiveness of the current law for those members of the 

Armed Services from American Samoa and how can it can be 

changed if necessary. We must also remember the extent of the 

current powers offered under the existing law. 

At this time under section 105 of the Uniformed and Overseas 

Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the Attorney General is authorized 

to bring civil actions to enforce the law. This typically occurs when 

the FVAP notifies the Department of Justice that there is a risk 

that some overseas voters may not have time to return their ballots 

in the time allotted by the State or the territory. 

Even as recently as last year, two more cases were decided where 

it was discovered the local laws were prohibiting people from exercising their right to vote. 

H.R. 2010 also makes a change in current law to provide for the 

election of the Delegate by a plurality vote instead of a majority 

vote in runoff elections that take place quite often. I am hopeful 

that our witness today can inform the Committee of the structure 

of the elections in American Samoa, with the understanding that 

the election for the Delegate is written in Federal law. 

Further, any potential change as provided for in Mr. 

Faleomavaega’s bill that is in part subject to decisions made at the 

local level is an issue that should be examined. 

I thank the Lieutenant Governor for flying across numerous time 

zones to be with us today in Washington, D.C., and look forward 

to his testimony. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Pombo follows:]

3

Statement of The Honorable Richard W. Pombo, Chairman,

Committee on Resources 

The hearing will come to order. Good morning. 

On behalf of the full Committee, I would like to welcome everyone in attendance 

today and, specifically, our witness. We are fortunate to have with us today an individual from American Samoa, who should be able to better inform us about their 

election laws and his thoughts on the effects of enacting H.R. 2010. 

Our full Committee hearing today will focus on the legislation introduced by my 

colleague from American Samoa, Mr. Faleomavaega, who has worked on crafting 

this legislation for years. We will hopefully be able to directly address the two related issues that the bill presents; an interest in protecting the voting rights of 

members of the Armed Services as well as making the Delegate representing American Samoa be subject to an election by a plurality vote. 

When discussing the issue of voting rights of the members of our Armed Services, 

the war in Iraq presents us with a good example. Thousands of men and women 

are in the Middle East and across the globe protecting our country from further attack, while encouraging the newfound freedoms of others. Congress has recognized 

the importance of ensuring their right to vote even when on active duty in foreign 

countries when it passed the Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act 

in 1986. 

Specifically, this legislation requires that the states and territories allow certain 

groups of citizens, including members of the United States Uniformed Services, to 

register and vote absentee in elections for Federal offices. 

Further, under an Executive Order from 1988, the presidential designee for the 

administrative responsibilities associated with the legislation is the Secretary of Defense. In turn, the Secretary of Defense has assigned the work of protecting the 

right to vote by these soldiers to the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP). 

The FVAP actively monitors the voter registration and absentee voting opportunities provided to members of the Armed Services. 

The issue at hand today, though, is, in part, how effective this Act is applied to 

American Samoa. In 2001, the General Accounting Office released a report stating 

that the ‘‘voting assistance to military and overseas citizens should be improved.’’

Our hearing today will hopefully shed some light on the effectiveness of the current law for those members of the Armed Services from American Samoa, and how 

it can be changed if necessary. 

We must also remember the extent of the current powers offered under existing 

law. At this time, under Section 105 of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the Attorney General is authorized to bring civil actions to enforce 

the law. This typically occurs when the FVAP notifies the Department of Justice 

that there is a risk that some overseas voters may not have time to return their 

ballots in the time allotted by the State or Territory. 

Even as recently as last year, two more cases were decided where it was discovered the local laws were prohibiting people from exercising their right to vote. 

H.R. 2010 also makes a change in current law to provide for the election of the 

Delegate by a plurality vote instead of a majority vote and runoff elections that take 

place quite often. 

I am hopeful that our witness today can inform the Committee of the structure 

of elections in American Samoa, with the understanding that the election for the 

Delegate is written in Federal law. Further, any potential change as provided for 

in Mr. Faleomavaega’s bill that is, in part, subject to decisions made at the local 

level is an issue that should be examined. 

I thank the Lieutenant Governor for flying across numerous time zones to be with 

us today in Washington, D.C., and look forward to his testimony. 

The CHAIRMAN. At this time, I’d like to recognize Mr. 

Faleomavaega. 

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, A 

DELEGATE IN CONGRESS FROM AMERICAN SAMOA 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I also would 

like to offer my personal welcome of the distinguished Lieutenant 

Governor of American Samoa, Mr. Aitofele Sunia, and certainly I 

am very, very appreciative of his taking the time to travel all the 

4

way here to Washington to be a witness for this hearing this afternoon. 

Mr. Chairman, I want to personally thank you and also our senior Ranking Member, Mr. Rahall, for holding a hearing on 

H.R. 2010, a bill I introduced after consultation with local leaders 

to protect the voting rights of active duty members whose home or 

residence is American Samoa. 

As you know, this matter is not new to the people or the 

Legislature of American Samoa. The truth is that this matter has 

been before the people and our local leaders for the past 5 years 

now. Since 1998, I have written to our Governors, past and 

present. I have written and testified before our local legislature. 

And I would like to ask that the copies of my testimony, my letters, 

and local responses be made part of the record. 

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I have also brought this matter to the attention of my constituents through press releases, newsletters, radio 

and television programs. In fact two years ago, I conducted a congressional survey, and approximately 85 percent of those surveyed 

agree that American Samoa’s active duty members in the service, 

in the military, should be afforded the same rights and privileges 

as every other American serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. 

Unfortunately, American Samoa’s military men and women have 

been disenfranchised, in my opinion, from the political process and 

have been denied the right to vote in Federal elections held in the 

territory. In part, this has been due to two complications. One, 

American Samoa law has until recently required uniformed and 

overseas voters to register in person, and this has been contrary to 

the Uniformed and Overseas Citizenship Voting Act of 1975. 

While I am pleased that as of last year our legislature has addressed the registration process to make it easier for military members to register for local and Federal elections, our uniformed and 

overseas voters have also been denied their right to vote as a result 

of a public law that was passed in 1978 by the Congress. This public law provides that the Territory of American Samoa is to be represented by a nonvoting Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives and mandates that if no candidate receives a majority of the 

votes cast, that on the 14th day—that is, two weeks after the first 

election—that such a runoff election shall then be held between the 

candidates receiving the highest and the second highest number of 

votes cast. 

Like the Governor of American Samoa, The Honorable Tulafono, 

I believe that this 1978 Federal law requiring a runoff election to 

be held only 14 days after the general election creates, as Governor 

Tulafono says, and I quote, a situation where it is virtually impossible for the American Samoan Election Office to send out absentee 

ballots to the men and women in the military and expect to receive 

them back in time for those votes to be counted in runoff elections. 

This is especially also true with the college students. 

Given that our mail is delayed and our air service limited to two 

flights a week, the Governor and I agree that some measure should 

be put in place to assure that the voters—the votes of our military 

men and women are counted and that this injustice be corrected. 

5

Actually, Mr. Chairman, in 1977 I worked on the legislation 

which the late Congressman Phil Burton introduced to provide that 

the Territory of American Samoa be represented by a nonvoting 

Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. As a young Hill 

staffer then for Congressman Burton, I was instructed to draft legislation to provide for the election also of American Samoa’s Governor as well as the Delegate. The law that governed this election 

and the operation of his office were as a result of a bill that was 

passed by the Fono, and I am referring specifically to the Office of 

the Governor. 

It should also be noted that at that time the appointed Governor, 

whose name was Owen Aspinall, signed a bill into law despite U.S. 

Department of the Interior’s opposition to having American Samoa 

be represented here in the U.S. House of Representatives. In fact, 

Governor Aspinall signed the bill as a way to get back at the Department of the Interior for not extending his term as Governor. 

While this bill allowed for the local representative in Washington, it did not provide for a representative to the U.S. Congress, 

because the Fono and the local government had no authority to 

enact Federal legislation. And this is the reason why the Paramount Chief Tui Manu’a and High Chief Lutali, although they 

served as delegates representing the territory of Washington, but 

they were never officially members of the U.S. House of Representatives—in fact, it was High Talking Chief Fiti Sunia that was duly 

the first elected Congressman representing American Samoa in 

1980. 

I want to say that in the interest of time I want the full substance of my statement to be made part of the record, Mr. Chairman. 

I would like to say that H.R. 2010 is a historic bill. It is a bill 

that immediately restores the voting rights of our military men and 

women as well as college students from American Samoa. It is also 

a bill that makes clear in no uncertain terms that the legislature 

is vested with the authority it needs that for some time in the future it wants to hold primary elections, it can pass local law to provide for that. 

H.R. 2010 also protects American Samoa’s future in the U.S. 

Congress. Without 2010, future delegates could miss out on key 

committee assignments and could be ranked more junior as a result of delayed outcomes of runoff elections. And like Governor 

Tulafono, I do not believe that American Samoa’s future should be 

weakened or disadvantaged. And this is one more reason why I appreciate the Governor’s support of H.R. 2010. 

And, again, Mr. Chairman, I thank you for the hearing, and I 

look forward to hearing from our Lieutenant Governor. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Faleomavaega follows:]

Statement of The Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, a Delegate in 

Congress from American Samoa 

Mr. Chairman, I want to personally thank you and Congressman Rahall for holding a hearing on H.R. 2010, a bill I introduced after consultations with local leaders 

to protect the voting rights of active duty service members whose home of residence 

is American Samoa. 

6

As you know, this matter is not new to the people or the legislature of American Samoa. The truth is this matter has been before the people and our local leaders 

for the past five years. Since 1998, I have written to our Governors, past and 

present. I have written and testified before our local Legislature, or FONO, and I 

would like to ask that copies of my testimony, my letters, and local responses be 

made part of this record. 

I have also brought this matter to the attention of my constituents through press releases, newsletters, radio and tv programs. In 2001, I conducted a Congressional 

survey and 85% of those surveyed agreed that American Samoa’s active duty service 

members should be afforded the same rights and privileges as every other American 

serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. Unfortunately, American Samoa’s military men and women have been disenfranchised from the political process and have been denied the right to vote 

in federal elections held in the Territory. In part, this has been due to two complications. One, American Samoa law has until recently required uniformed and overseas 

voters to register to vote in person and this has been contrary to the Uniformed and 

Overseas Citizens Voting Act of 1975. While I am pleased that as of 2002 our legislature has addressed the registration process to make it easier for military members to register for local and federal elections, our uniformed and overseas voters have also been denied the right to vote as 

a result of Public Law 95-556 passed on October 31, 1978. Federal, or PL 95-556, 

provides for the Territory of American Samoa to be represented by a nonvoting Delegate to the United States House of Representatives and mandates that if no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, on the fourteenth day following such 

election, a runoff election shall be held between the candidates receiving the highest 

and second highest number of votes cast. Like the Governor of American Samoa, The Honorable Togiola T.A. Tulafono, I believe this 1978 federal law requiring a runoff election to be held only 14 days after 

the general election creates, as Governor Togiola says, ‘‘a situation where it is virtually impossible for American Samoa’s Election Office to send out absentee ballots 

to the men and women in the military and expect to receive them back in time for 

those votes to be counted in a run-off election.’’ Given that our mail is delayed and 

our air service is limited to two flights a week, the Governor and I agree that some 

measure should be put in place to assure that the votes of our military men and 

women are counted and that this injustice is corrected. During the 107th Congress, I introduced H.R. 3576, a bill to establish primary elections and which also made sure that the Delegate was elected by a majority of 

the votes cast. When introducing this bill, I pointed out that both Guam and the 

Virgin Islands were once bound by the two week federal runoff requirement but established primary elections to resolve similar problems. Notwithstanding, the American Samoa Government (ASG) chose not to support this bill due to the cost of primary elections. 

Given ASG’s financial difficulties and out of respect for its concerns, I introduced 

H.R. 4838 which called for voting by plurality in lieu of primary elections. As I explained when introducing H.R. 4838, 49 of the 50 states use plurality voting to elect 

their Representatives to Congress. The counties of Tualauta and Itu’au in American 

Samoa also elect their representatives by plurality vote. Plurality voting minimizes 

costs to the local government and also provides active duty service members and 

other overseas voters with an opportunity to participate fully in the federal election 

process. Despite these considerations, ASG chose not to support this bill either and 

the previous and late Governor Tauese P.F. Sunia said that he believed ‘‘the intent 

of Congress when they established majority vote was to ensure a strong mandate 

for American Samoa’s Delegate.’’

Actually, in 1977, I worked on the legislation which Congressman Phil Burton introduced to provide that the Territory of American Samoa be represented by a nonvoting Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. As a young Hill staffer working for Congressman Burton on the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, I 

also worked on the legislation to provide for the election of American Samoa’s Governor and I would like to include it should be noted that in 1970 when American 

Samoa first elected a delegate at large to serve as the government’s special representative to Washington, the law that governed his election and the operations of 

his office were as a result of a bill that was passed by the Fono. 

Appointed Governor Owen Aspinall signed the bill into law despite the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) opposition to American Samoa having an elected 

delegate. In fact, Governor Aspinall signed the bill as a way to get back at the DOI 

for not extending his term as Governor. While this bill allowed for a local representative to Washington, it did not provide for a representative to the U.S. Congress 

because the Fono and Governor Aspinall had no authority to enact federal 

7

legislation. This is why PC Fuimaono and HC Lutali never actually became official 

delegates to the U.S. Congress. American Samoa’s first Congressional Delegate was 

HTC Fofo Sunia who was elected in 1980 after Congress enacted legislation to provide that the Territory be represented by a nonvoting Delegate to the United States 

House of Representatives. 

To be clear about this, I would like to provide this Committee with a legal history 

of how election law was determined for American Samoa. In 1951, President Harry 

S. Truman issued Executive Order 10264 which transferred administrative responsibility for the islands of American Samoa from the Secretary of the Navy to the U.S. 

Secretary of the Interior. The Secretary of the Interior, in turn, appointed our Governors. 

In 1960, the people of American Samoa adopted a Constitution. The Constitution 

was revised in 1966 and was approved by the Secretary of the Interior on June 2, 

1967. In 1967, the Revised Constitution of American Samoa provided for an elected 

Legislature, or Fono, consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. However, it did not provide our people with the right to elect our own Governor and 

Lieutenant Governor and, at the time, American Samoa was the only remaining offshore area of the United States which did not have a popularly elected Governor 

and Lieutenant Governor. 

On June 10, 1976, Congressman Phil Burton took notice of American Samoa’s situation and introduced a bill to make it possible for our Governor and Lieutenant 

Governor to be popularly elected rather than appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. As staff counsel the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Congressman 

Burton instructed me to draft this legislation which the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed by a landslide vote of 377 to 1. 

Instead of sending his bill to the Senate, Congressman Burton decided to consult 

further with the Secretary of the Interior, Rogers C.B. Morton, about American Samoa’s unique political status as an unincorporated and unorganized territory which 

was and is unlike the organized territories of Guam and the Virgin Islands. As a 

result of their consultations, the two agreed that Secretary Morton would issue a 

Secretarial Order (No. 3009) authorizing the American Samoa Government to pass 

enabling legislation to provide for an elected Governor and the Lieutenant Governor. 

Secretary’s Order No. 3009 amended American Samoa’s Constitution to specifically provide for an elected rather than an appointed Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Secretary’s Order 3009 was also in keeping with the will of the majority of 

voters in American Samoa who voted in favor of electing their own Governor and 

Lieutenant Governor in a plebiscite that was held on August 31, 1976. 

Furthermore, Congressman Phil Burton introduced legislation on August 2, 1978, 

to provide that the Territory of American Samoa be represented by a nonvoting Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. I also was tasked with drafting this legislation which became Public Law 95-556 and was made effective October 31, 1978. 

I can assure you that in the case of the Delegate, American Samoa’s federal election laws were patterned after those of the Virgin Islands and Guam. At the time, 

consideration was not given to whether or not majority or plurality voting should 

be established for American Samoa. Congress simply enacted legislation to provide 

American Samoa with representation in the U.S. Congress and we could not foresee 

some 25 years ago that American Samoa’s men and women would serve in record 

numbers in the U.S. Armed Forces which consequently made it impossible for them 

to participate in runoff elections held two weeks after general elections. 

Today, we are keenly aware that this requirement to hold a runoff election 14 

days after the general election is outdated, unreasonable and unjust. To right this 

wrong and after further consultations with our local leaders, I introduced H.R. 2010 

which includes the suggestions of Governor Togiola. In a letter dated September 11, 

2003, Governor Togiola informed me that he had reviewed the copy of H.R. 2010 

that I sent to him and that he was satisfied that this bill will provide an immediate 

solution to address the concerns we have regarding the voting rights of our men and 

women in the military services. In a letter dated September 15, 2003, I thanked 

Governor Togiola for his support and I would like to ask that our letters be made 

part of the record. 

Although we have had some differences regarding this issue, Governor Togiola 

and I have always agreed that our military men and women should have the right 

to vote especially when they contribute almost a million dollars per year in taxes 

to our local government. I am pleased that Governor Togiola is now happy with this 

bill and I again commend him for supporting its passage. 

I also want to thank the President of the American Samoa Senate, The Honorable 

Lutu Tenari S. Fuimaono, for his support. In a letter dated October 28, 2003, President Fuimaono stated that he fully supports H.R. 2010 and that he wishes ChairVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:51 Apr 20, 2004 Jkt 088533 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 J:\DOCS\90110.TXT HRESOUR1 PsN: KATHY
8

man Pombo the best of luck in moving forward on the bill. I would like to ask that 

his letter also be included as part of the record. 

Finally, I would like to say that H.R. 2010 is an historic bill. It is a bill that im- mediately restores the voting rights of our military men and women. It is also a 

bill that makes clear in no uncertain terms that FONO is vested with the authority 

it needs to establish primary elections for the office of the Delegate, if it so chooses. 

H.R. 2010 also protects American Samoa’s future in the U.S. Congress. Without 

H.R. 2010, future Delegates could miss out on key committee assignments and 

could be ranked more junior as a result of delayed outcomes and run-off elections. 

Like Governor Togiola, I do not believe American Samoa’s future should be weakened or disadvantaged and this is one more reason I appreciate his support of 

H.R. 2010. 

Given the importance and urgency of this bill, I am hopeful that members of this 

Committee will also work for the successful passage of H.R. 2010. H.R. 2010 is the 

right thing to do and, as a Vietnam veteran, I will not rest until we fully guarantee 

that our active duty service members have the right to vote in federal elections held 

in American Samoa. To alleviate any concerns that I will personally benefit from 

this legislation, I would like the Chairman, the Ranking Member, and Members of 

the Committee to know that I intend to introduce an amendment in the nature of 

a substitute for purposes of changing the effective date of this bill from January 

2004 to January 2006. If supported, any change in law will not go into effect until 

the 2006 election cycle and the 2004 election requirements will remain as is. 

While I am aware that some members of the FONO continue to have disagreements with this legislation, I respect their opinions and I thank them for their efforts to address this issue locally. However, only Congress can vest the American 

Samoa Legislature with the authority it needs to establish primary elections. 

As I have repeatedly stated, H.R. 2010 in no way affects how the American 

Samoa Government chooses to elect its local leaders and, having made every change 

requested of me by our local leaders and after years of good-faith efforts on my part, 

I believe the time has come to put aside our differences and do right by our men 

and women in the military. Our sons and daughters have fought and died to preserve our freedoms and I will do everything in my power to protect their right to 

vote. I urge your support of H.R. 2010 and I thank you again for holding this hearing. 

[NOTE: The attachments listed below submitted for the record by Mr. 

Faleomavaega have been retained in the Committee’s official files.] 

ATTACHMENTS 

04/05/00—Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Sunia, Lieutenant Governor, President 

of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of the House and Representatives, 

Attorney General 

11/20/01—Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Sunia, Lieutenant Governor, President 

of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of the House and Representatives 

12/20/01—Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Sunia, Lieutenant Governor, President 

of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of the House and Representatives 

01/02/02—Governor Tauese Sunia to Faleomavaega, ASG Lieutenant Governor, 

President of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of the House and Representatives, Chief Election Officer 

01/28/02—ASG Speaker of the House to Faleomavaega, ASG Governor, Election 

Office, President of the Senate 

02/27/02—Faleomavaega to ASG Speaker of the House 

03/05/02—Faleomavaega to ASG Senate President and Senators 

05/23/02—Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Sunia, Lieutenant Governor, President 

of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of the House and Representatives 

07/10/02—ASG President Pro Tem and Speaker of the House to The Honorable 

James Hansen, Chairman of U.S. House Committee on Resources, ASG 

Governor Tauese Sunia, Senators, Representatives, Chief Election Office, The Honorable Nick Rahall (Ranking Member of the U.S. House 

Committee on Resources), Congressman Eni Faleomavaega, Members of 

the U.S. House Committee on Resources 

07/11/03—Governor Tauese Sunia to Faleomavaega, Chairman of the U.S. House 

Committee on Resources, ASG President of the Senate and Senators, 

Speaker of the House and Representatives, Chief Election Officer 

07/15/02—Faleomavaega to The Honorable Nick Rahall, Ranking Member, U.S. 

House Committee on Resources 

07/15/02—Faleomavaega to The Honorable James Hansen, Chairman, U.S. House 

Committee on Resources 

9

07/23/02—Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Sunia, Chairman and Ranking Member 

of the U.S. House Committee on Resources, Deputy Assistant Secretary 

of the U.S. Department of the Interior, ASG Lieutenant Governor, 

President of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of the House and Representatives, Chief Election Officer 

07/23/02—Faleomavaega to The Honorable James Hansen, Chairman, U.S. House 

Committee on Resources 

07/23/02—Faleomavaega to The Honorable Nick Rahall, Ranking Member of the 

U.S. House Committee on Resources 

09/05/02—Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Tauese Sunia 

09/05/02—Faleomavaega to ASG President of the Senate and Senators 

09/05/02—Faleomavaega to ASG Speaker of the House and Representatives 

09/12/02—Faleomavaega Statement before the American Samoa Legislature 

05/07/03—Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Togiola Tulafono, Lieutenant Governor, 

President of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of the House and Representatives 

09/05/03—Senator Te’o J. Fuavai to Faleomavaega 

09/11/03—ASG Governor Togiola Tulafono to Faleomavaega, ASG Lieutenant Governor, President of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of the House and 

Representatives 

09/15/03—Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Togiola Tulafono, Lieutenant Governor, 

President of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of the House and Representatives 

09/19/03—Senate Resolution 

10/16/03—Faleomavaega to Senator Te’o J. Fuavai 

10/27/03—President of ASG Senate, Lutu Fuiamono, to Faleomavaega. 

10/28/03—Office of the Governor to Lieutenant Governor, Aitofele T.F. Sunia. 

07/21/76—Congressional Record, Providing for an Elective Governor and Lieutenant Governor of American Samoa 

10/03/78—Congressional Record, Providing the Territory of American Samoa with 

a Nonvoting Delegate 

The CHAIRMAN. I would like to now introduce our witness for today’s hearing. I would like to welcome Lieutenant Governor 

Aitofele Sunia who has taken it upon himself to travel to Washington today from American Samoa. I know it is more than a hop, 

skip and a jump for you to get all the way here, and I really appreciate you making the effort. 

Before you begin your testimony, I wish to continue my customary practice of swearing in all the witnesses as provided under 

rule 4(f). If I could have you stand and raise your right hand. 

[Witness sworn.] 

The CHAIRMAN. The record will show that you answered in the 

affirmative. 

Thank you very much. Welcome to the Committee. If you are 

ready, you can begin. 

STATEMENT OF AITOFELE SUNIA, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR,

PAGO PAGO, AMERICAN SAMOA 

Mr. SUNIA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and honorable members 

of the Committee. Good afternoon and talofa. It is indeed my pleasure and honor to appear before your honorable Committee this 

afternoon. I had traveled here to present to you, sir, and your 

Committee, members of your Committee, a written statement of 

the Governor’s position in support of this legislative measure and 

also to appear in person to respond to any questions that you may 

have. Hopefully I can answer them for you should there be any 

questions that Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee wish 

to address on this issue. 

10

Basically it is a very simple matter. It is a matter of extending 

or providing the mechanics or vehicle so that our men and women 

in uniform and college students can exercise their constitutional 

right to vote. Without this measure, they had been denied this 

right to cast their votes for the seat to the U.S. Congress, and I 

believe that this measure will enable them to exercise this right. 

And I don’t have to emphasize how important the right is, but I 

believe it is to them. 

And the way that our elections are set up, this runoff two weeks 

after the general election in reality does not afford the opportunity 

for these people to cast their votes, because by the time the airplane gets back to us two weeks later—they only fly down there 

twice a week—and by the time the airplane gets down there with 

those ballots, the votes have already been counted, and they are 

counted out, not in. And that is not fair. 

And that is basically why I am here, Mr. Chairman, and members of the Committee. It is as simple as that. If there are further 

questions on it, I hope I will be able to respond. Thank you very 

much. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, sir. 

The CHAIRMAN. In terms of the plurality voting, I know that 

there are a number of States that have plurality voting and runoff 

elections. Can you explain to the Committee why that has proven 

to be a problem in Samoa? 

Mr. SUNIA. Well, I am not sure if it is a problem, sir. Our local 

legislature is elected by plurality. This is one of the English words 

I have a hard time pronouncing. Plurality. 

The CHAIRMAN. I have a hard time with it, too, so don’t feel bad. 

Mr. SUNIA. And that is how we elect all members to our local legislature, by plurality. And when it was originally set up for the 

election of our Delegate to Congress—I apologize, but I don’t know 

why it was set up the way it is. Maybe the Congressmen can enlighten the Committee on that. 

But as to your question, as to the two methods of elections, there 

is no—there is really no problem. We’re happy with the way the 

local members of the local legislature are elected, and that is plurality. There are no qualms with that, that I know of. 

The CHAIRMAN. Now I will ask my colleague if he could respond 

to that. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. If the Chairman will yield, the situation in 

providing for the election of the Delegate of American Samoa; as 

the bill was introduced in 1978 here in the Congress, we just simply patterned the same provisions as that of electing the Delegates 

from Guam to the Virgin Islands, which was 10 years before that. 

I think the first elected delegates from Guam and the Virgin Islands was in 1970. And what that did was just simply provided 

that if there was no majority—specifically, this is how the law was 

written. If no majority is provided under the first round of the election, then a runoff election is to be held two weeks thereafter. 

I tried, as much as I could, to find the legislative history how or 

who the authors were of this Federal legislation that provided for 

this requirement, that two weeks was all that was sufficient to provide for the runoff election. I suppose 30 years ago, or 40 years ago, 

the presumption being that the majority of the voters were still on 

11

an island like Guam or the Virgin Islands and that there was 

never really any serious consideration about those who served in 

the military and students who left. And now in the years pursuing, 

how Guam and the Virgin Islands have elected their Delegates, 

they went ahead and initiated the primary process for—which then 

allows this majority requirement still in place for Guam and the 

Virgin Islands. Unfortunately with us, we still have this provision 

there that requires that there is to be a runoff in two weeks. And 

probably the worst place to have mailings and letters and things 

of the sort to be provided, it takes a week just to prepare the ballots for the runoff, and then by the time the ballots are sent off island, the election is over. So I think this is how the situation 

evolved with our election in the territory. 

The question of plurality was raised as to where does it say in 

the Constitution or whether by Federal law that you have to have 

a majority vote in order to legitimize an election? And as much as 

I could remember, at least in reading the legislative history, there 

is no constitutional requirement that a person elected to the U.S. 

House of Representatives has to be elected by a majority vote. 

The fact is I recall—

The CHAIRMAN. There’s not. In California you can win with a 

plurality vote, and it is whoever has the most votes on Election 

Day wins. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Right. In fact, my recollection, I think 49 

out of 50 States do elect their Members in the House by plurality. 

So this was the reason why I felt that the election of a Delegate 

is in compliance with not only the constitutional requirements but 

the fact that 48 other States also have the same requirements. 

The problem that comes into play is when you have four or five 

candidates running—and I have tried earnestly to find out really 

if there was some Federal provision or constitutional mandate that 

a federally elected person to the House of Representatives has to 

be by majority, and I did not find any provision anywhere that 

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have to be elected 

by a majority vote. 

I did add a provision in the bill, Mr. Chairman, to the effect that 

if at some point in time in the future our local government or the 

legislature should decide to hold primary elections, that authorization is provided for in the bill—and this is one critical factor that 

the Governor has lent his support—that the fact that our local government is given that prerogative if it should decide to do so sometime in the future. 

The reason why they did not want a primary is they say it is too 

expensive. So the rights of our men and women in the military to 

vote versus too expensive, I find it difficult sometimes to make that 

as a valid reason for not having primaries; but here again, that is 

what they’ve chosen to do, and I believe that the proposed bill will 

accommodate that need if at sometime in the future the legislature 

and the local administration will want to have primaries. 

The CHAIRMAN. I am going to go ahead and recognize Mr. 

Faleomavaega if he has any questions to the Lieutenant Governor. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I do not have any questions for the Lieutenant Governor other than to thank him for making such a long trip 

to come before our Committee hearing, Mr. Chairman. 

12

I would like to ask unanimous consent that the—one of our senators, local senators, had expressed his objection to the proposed 

bill, and I’d like to ask unanimous consent that his letter and the 

resolution that was passed be made a part of the record, and also 

the letter that I had written to Senator Te’o also be made a part 

of the record. 

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection.

[The letters and resolution follow:]


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The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Rehberg. 

Mr. REHBERG. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And real quickly, I 

want to thank Mr. Faleomavaega and the Lieutenant Governor for 

their kind hospitality when I was in Samoa a year ago in the heart 

of the election, and I can tell you it was a mess. If I remember 


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correctly, the year plurality was, what, 6- or 9,000 votes in the 

final analysis? And that was a lot of heartache and a lot of controversy over so resounding a victory, and it just—it seems to be 

a problem that should not exist. 

And I am here to lend my support and I will continue to support 

it if you don’t give me any more tuna. Jeff Flake asked me today 

if I was still eating tuna, and I said, yes, I was, and he is too. Glad 

to do it. Just no more tuna fish. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I thank my good friend from Montana for 

his support of the bill. Appreciate it. 

The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Bordallo. 

Ms. BORDALLO. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and Congressman Faleomavaega. Talofa. Welcome, Lieutenant Governor 

Sunia. And before I begin, I have a couple of questions here. I 

would like to extend the condolences from the people of Guam to 

the people of Samoa on the passing of Governor Sunia. I remember 

being with the Governor and the First Lady on their last visit to 

Washington, and we’re certainly very sorry about that. 

And I want to thank you, Lieutenant Governor Sunia, for traveling all those many thousands of miles to be here, but I’d also like 

to remind the Chairman that Guam is many more thousands of 

miles away, just so we remember. And we’re looking forward, Mr. 

Chairman, for your trip in January to American Samoa and to 

Guam and I think to Australia. Is that right? 

The CHAIRMAN. Yeah. At least those two. 

Ms. BORDALLO. Lieutenant Governor, can you share with us your 

views on whether U.S. law currently provides American Samoa 

adequate authority to authorize and provide for a primary election 

for the office of Delegate? 

Mr. SUNIA. As I understand it—thank you, Madam Member of 

the Committee—the election of a Delegate to the U.S. Congress is 

provided for by Federal law, and if I understand your question correctly, as to whether or not present law is—

Ms. BORDALLO. Local law. 

Mr. SUNIA. Local law? 

Ms. BORDALLO. Local law for a primary election. 

Mr. SUNIA. For a Delegate to Congress? 

Ms. BORDALLO. Or the U.S. law provides for a primary election. 

Mr. SUNIA. We look to you as law to provide for this for this particular election. Our own local elections for gubernatorial and the 

local legislature is provided for by our local law, but the election 

of the Delegate to the U.S. Congress, we abide by Federal law. It 

supersedes our local law. Maybe the Congressman can enlighten. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Will the gentlelady yield? 

Ms. BORDALLO. Yes. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I think there’s a little complication here to 

understand that when we first—the first Delegates that we elected 

to Washington in 1970 came about because of the local laws that 

we passed to provide for it, and this is the same thing with Guam. 

You pass local law to provide for that. Over the years, there has 

been a lot of misunderstanding, thinking that this is the same laws 

that govern the current Delegate position, and I’ve had to explain 

to the people that the only reason why we have a Delegate here 

in the U.S. House of Representatives is because the Congress 

20

passed a Federal law to provide for it. The local government does 

not have the authority to provide for that. 

Now, the contrast here with Guam, like your Governorship, is 

governed by organic legislation. We are not. In fact, our Governor—

Office of the Governors is governed by the secretarial order of the 

Secretary of the Interior. So there was no Federal legislation to 

provide for the elected Governor. 

However, the Delegate, the office of Delegate, is governed by Federal law, and this is the reason why I am proposing this bill to 

amend the Federal law because of the deficiencies contained in the 

current law, which the 2-week runoff election and the fact that at 

one time our local laws even stipulated that people in the military 

had to personally appear in the territory to register to vote, which 

was totally contrary to the Federal law that currently allows any 

person in the military stationed anywhere in the world to file an 

absentee ballot, whatever a claim of residency, whatever State or 

territory. So these are some of the things that we’ve tried to correct. 

Ms. BORDALLO. But the primary election is part of your local government? 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. The primary election, if it so chooses—this 

bill authorizes the local government to provide local law with reference to primary election if it so chooses. Right now they are still 

debating over it. Right now they discussed the issue, and the latest 

reason for not having a primary election is they think it is too expensive; but the bill definitely does provide that at some future 

time, the local government can provide for local—I mean for primary elections if it so chooses. And this is what this bill provides. 

Ms. BORDALLO. But the primary election that is in place now is 

part of your—

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. We have no primary election. 

Ms. BORDALLO. You have no primary—

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. No primary elections. That is the problem 

we’re having right now. 

Ms. BORDALLO. But it can be reestablished if the local government sees fit? 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. It can be established if the local government 

wants it. 

Ms. BORDALLO. My second question would be, would establishing 

a primary election be a priority of the Government of American 

Samoa, do you think? 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I know that the issue of primary elections 

was—in fact it was—the proposed bill was held about two years 

ago. It did not pass, and the basic reason for their not wanting to 

get into the primary elections is they say it was too expensive. 

Ms. BORDALLO. And that is the sentiment of the people still—

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Well, that is the feeling of the members of 

the Fono, I mean, the local legislature, that they did not want to 

pass local law to provide for primary elections because they think 

it is too expensive. 

Ms. BORDALLO. Lieutenant Governor, I have one more question. 

Can you give the Committee a sense of how many students attend 

a university in the U.S. mainland, and do you know how many 

servicemen and women list American Samoa as their home of 

21

record? I just wanted to get some idea of how many people, you 

know, where absentee ballots would come in place. 

Mr. SUNIA. As to the number of students, it is around 120, and 

this is a number that I had gotten from last year, being the government treasurer, when I was sending out checks to pay for their 

scholarship, education. 

As to the number of soldiers, I am sorry. I cannot give—

Ms. BORDALLO. Would you know that? 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Offhand, there has never been a literal active count of the number of soldiers or men and women in the military from American Samoa, but I would hazard a guess; I say relatively about 2,000 currently serve in the military. And interestingly enough, too, we have 5,000 veterans that live in the territory, 

and so this is basically my guess on the number of our active duty 

men and women in—

Ms. BORDALLO. And registered voters? 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. No. This is the problem. A lot of them have 

never bothered to register. 

Ms. BORDALLO. What is the number of registered voters? 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. So far as I am aware, I think maybe only 

about 60 have been known to register to vote, and one of the reasons why there has been hardly any of the men and women in the 

military because that they were told years ago that they could not 

register—they cannot vote until they personally come to the territory to register, which to me is ridiculous. 

So if I were stationed out there in Bosnia or in Iraq, I have to 

physically come to register in American Samoa. That is the reason 

why the Congress passed this Federal Voting Rights Act for our 

military men and women, so they don’t have to make any personal 

appearances to vote—I mean to register to vote. 

Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Chairman, if you would, I have one more 

question, the $64,000 question. How many NFL players in the 

United States from Samoa? 

Mr. SUNIA. Well, I saw two last Monday night. 

Ms. BORDALLO. That’s good enough, Lieutenant Governor. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. If the gentlelady will yield, for a population 

of about 180,000, including those living in the U.S. and American 

Samoa, we have about 15 NFL players right now on the roster. 

Ms. BORDALLO. That is quite a record. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Grijalva. 

Mr. GRIJALVA. I have no questions. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Udall? 

How many total registered voters are there in Samoa? 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. My last reading, Mr. Chairman, is approximately 16,000. 

The CHAIRMAN. Sixteen thousand. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Registered voters, that’s correct. 

The CHAIRMAN. OK. Are there any further questions of the Lieutenant Governor? 

I think Mr. Faleomavaega has talked to me about this over the 

past several months about moving forward with this bill, and I do 

think this is something that the Committee seriously must give a 

serious look at in terms of scheduling, moving this bill, because I 

know it has presented itself as being a problem. We have had some 

22

people who have contacted the Committee in opposition to this, and 

I do think we need to look at what their opposition is, to see if 

there is some way of having some kind of a compromise position 

on that, because I am not exactly sure at this point what their opposition is, but I will work with Mr. Faleomavaega to try to satisfy 

that. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Will the Chairman yield? 

The CHAIRMAN. Yes. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. I want to note also for the record that the 

original bill proposed that the—should this bill become enacted, 

that the first election by plurality be held at next year’s election, 

and I felt that I wanted to change the year of the election to 2006 

so that will dispel any notion by some of my critics who think that 

I am doing this for political advantage. And I’d like to note for the 

record, that this bill to me is more important than any election on 

my part, and I feel very bad that those who do oppose the bill, for 

the life of me, just can’t seem to come through in understanding 

that this is really a tremendous disservice to our men and women 

in the military. 

And, again, I just want to offer that to the Committee, that there 

is absolutely no reason whatsoever, rhyme or reason, why this bill 

is to be opposed. 

Unfortunately, it has taken the color now that the local Republican Party has stated its opposition to this bill, but for the life of 

me I find it very difficult to even fathom to understand what their 

reasons for opposing the bill are. 

The CHAIRMAN. I appreciate the gentleman’s willingness to work 

with the Committee on this. I do think this is important legislation 

that we need to move forward with. So I want to thank Lieutenant 

Governor, for your testimony; for the members, their questions. 

The members of the Committee may have additional questions 

for the witness, and we will ask you to respond to those in writing. 

They will be submitted to you in writing if any of the members 

have additional questions, and give you the opportunity to answer 

those in writing so that we can include those in the hearing record. 

The hearing record will be held open for those responses. 

The CHAIRMAN. If there are additional testimony, Mr. 

Faleomavaega mentioned that he had other information that he 

wanted to include. We will hold the hearing record open to give 

him the opportunity to have further testimony submitted. 

The CHAIRMAN. If there is no further business—

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Chairman, I just would—

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Faleomavaega. 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA [continuing]. Offer my appreciation again to 

you for your leadership and your initiative and interest in holding 

this hearing this afternoon, and I sincerely hope that this is the beginning of the process. I wanted to thank again our Lieutenant 

Governor for traveling all the way here to testify before the 

Committee, and certainly my colleagues and members of the 

Committee for their participation and assistance in the bill. And 

again, I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your help in this. 

The CHAIRMAN. Well, I thank you, and I hope you at least are 

buying them dinner tonight. 

Mr. SUNIA. Mr. Chairman? 

23

The CHAIRMAN. Yes, sir. 

Mr. SUNIA. I just wanted to thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the honorable Committee for the opportunity to appear before you. It is a rare opportunity to be able to travel to Washington 

to appear before a congressional committee, and I don’t mind the 

long flights. I think it is worth the few minutes that I get to sit 

here and be able to speak to an august body like yourselves, and 

especially I want to thank the honorable Member from Guam for 

the kind words of condolence. 

I want to say to the members of the Committee, it was made 

mention of a certain commodity from the territory, that I would instruct my staff back home to replenish this stock here that you continue to so desire. And I look forward to having you in American 

Samoa, Mr. Chairman, and if you should ever make that trip. 

Again, thank you very much. May God bless you, sir, and your 

Committee. God bless the Congress of the United States. God bless 

America and God bless American Samoa. 

[Speaking in native language.] 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Chairman, I also would like to add for 

the record, by unanimous consent, a letter received from the President of the Senate supporting this proposed bill, a letter dated 27 

October and signed by the President of the Senate, Lutu Tenari 

Fuimaono. I’d like to make that a part of the record. 

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection.

[The letter submitted for the record by The Honorable Lutu 

Tenari Fuimaono, President of the Senate, follows:]

24

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Again, I want to thank the members of the 

Committee, our witness for testifying today. I do believe this is an 

important issue that we will move forward on. I thank all of you 

for your participation in this hearing, and the hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 3:50 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]

[Additional material submitted for the record follows:]

[A letter submitted for the record by Amata Coleman 

Radewagen, National Committeewoman for American Samoa, follows:]


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