I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3583 

To provide for a subsidy to sellers and buyers of fish directly delivered 

to American Samoa from vessels with United States fisheries endorsements that manufacture for the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2009 

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

Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on 

Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for a subsidy to sellers and buyers of fish directly 

delivered to American Samoa from vessels with United 

States fisheries endorsements that manufacture for the 

United States. 

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 Pro5 tection of Industry, Resources, and Employment Act’’ or 

6 ‘‘ASPIRE Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND POLICY. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The tuna processing and manufacturing in4 dustry is by far the largest private-sector base of 

5 employment in American Samoa and serves as the 

6 critical foundation for the overall economy of Amer7 ican Samoa. The unique local economy created by 

8 the operation of tuna canneries is largely irreplace9 able as an employment base. The canneries currently 

10 provide 80 percent of private sector employment in 

11 American Samoa, and generate more than 

12 $80,000,000 (30 percent) of the territory’s income 

13 from labor according to a recent Department of 

14 Labor report. Most other private sector jobs in 

15 American Samoa provide goods or services to the 

16 tuna processors. Moreover, the economic growth of 

17 many other private sector employers in the consumer 

18 retail and service sectors is tied either directly or in19 directly to the tuna industry. 

20 (2) Over the past 30 years, direct employment 

21 growth in the fish processing industry has accounted 

22 for more than one-third of total job growth in Amer23 ican Samoa. Moreover, a recent study reflects that 

24 every job added to or subtracted from the economy 

25 by a change in employment in the tuna processing 

26 industry adds or subtracts another 0.47 jobs from 


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1 other sectors of American Samoa’s economy, the so2 called ‘‘multiplier effect’’. 

3 (3) An important component of the tuna proc4 essing industry’s multiplier effect is derived from di5 rect delivery of tuna by fishing vessels to American 

6 Samoa for processing, which results in revenue for 

7 the territory from visitor expenditures on vessel re8 fueling, repair, and other shipyard services, steve9 dores, fishing net repairs, lodging, dining, and a 

10 host of other services. Unfortunately, while having 

11 provided limited economic benefit through indirect 

12 deliveries which ensured a constant supply of fish to 

13 the canneries, the large majority of the eligible fleet 

14 which fishes under the auspices of a United States 

15 flag and United States license no longer provides di16 rect delivery or economic benefit to American 

17 Samoa, where many of them are home-ported, choos18 ing rather to deliver their catch to massive carrier 

19 ships for purposes of transshipping their fish to be 

20 cleaned in low-wage labor rate countries. 

21 (4) Due to low-wage labor rates of 0.60 cents 

22 and less per hour for tuna cannery workers in com23 peting countries, increased transportation and en24 ergy costs, decreased volumes of direct-delivered fish 

25 to American Samoa, recent Federal minimum wage 


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1 policy changes that have resulted in mandatory an2 nual wage increases, heavy foreign competition for 

3 United States market share in the tuna industry, 

4 and a number of other issues, one of American Sa5 moa’s tuna canneries has announced that it will shut 

6 down by September 2009. This closure will result in 

7 job loss for nearly 40 percent of the territory’s pri8 vate sector employees, as well as increased energy, 

9 shipping, and food costs for the remaining busi10 nesses and public entities because the canneries help 

11 subsidize the costs of these industries. 

12 (5) Closure of the remaining tuna processing 

13 plant would result in job loss for another 40 percent 

14 of private sector employees, and a recent study of 

15 the territory’s economy concluded that closure of the 

16 remaining tuna processing plant would result in 

17 total job loss of 44 percent of all employment in the 

18 territory, leaving the American Samoan Government, 

19 which receives significant operational and capital 

20 grants from the Federal Government, as the terri21 tory’s only significant employer. 

22 (6) Due to present dependence on the canneries 

23 and Federal aid, if both canneries leave American 

24 Samoa, only direct Federal assistance will remain to 

25 bridge the gap left by the loss of approximately 


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1 $80,000,000 in private sector income from the tuna 

2 canneries. 

3 (7) The Department of the Interior has pre4 viously reported to Congress that in the absence of 

5 the revenue derived from the canneries, American 

6 Samoa, with its population of nearly 70,000, will be 

7 ‘‘almost wholly dependent’’ on direct assistance from 

8 the Federal Government, warning that the American 

9 Samoan economy will be ‘‘devastated’’; 

10 (8) Having served, starting at the turn of the 

11 last century, as an important refueling station for 

12 American ships in the South Pacific, American 

13 Samoa has long held a position of strategic and his14 toric importance to the United States, and over the 

15 years, American Samoans have sacrificed to help 

16 keep our country free, with many serving in the 

17 United States military. 

18 (9) In March 2006, it was reported to Congress 

19 that the sacrifice of American Samoa in the Iraq 

20 war was disproportionate to the territory’s small 

21 size, as residents of the territory were 15 times more 

22 likely to be killed in action in Iraq than residents of 

23 the United States as a whole. 

24 (b) POLICY.—The Federal Government should pro25 vide employment stabilization and economic development 


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1 assistance to the people of American Samoa, including in2 centives for the continued operation and development of 

3 American Samoa’s tuna processing industry, as the terri4 tory now faces severe economic conditions. 

5 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF GENERAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 

6 TO AMERICAN SAMOA. 

7 Section 601 of the Act of December 24, 1980 (48 

8 U.S.C. 1469d(d)) is amended by inserting at the end the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(e) EMPLOYMENT SECURITY AND ECONOMIC DE11 VELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FOR AMERICAN SAMOA.— 

12 ‘‘(1) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) The Secretary of the Interior is fur14 ther authorized to provide technical assistance 

15 to the territory of American Samoa in the form 

16 of grants to sellers and buyers of whole tuna di17 rectly delivered to tuna processors located with18 in American Samoa for processing in American 

19 Samoa, in the following amounts: 

20 ‘‘(i) For each processor of whole tuna 

21 directly delivered to American Samoa for 

22 processing, as ‘processing’ is defined in 

23 paragraph (6)(B): $200 per metric ton, 

24 provided that this amount shall be ad25 justed each May 25 by a ratio equal to the 


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1 ratio of any increase in the federal min2 imum wage for American Samoa as com3 pared to the Federal minimum wage in 

4 American Samoa the prior year. 

5 ‘‘(ii) For each fishing vessel with a 

6 United States fishery endorsement (issued 

7 pursuant to section 12113 of title 46, 

8 United States Code) and which is other9 wise authorized to fish for tuna in areas 

10 under the authority of the Western Pacific 

11 Regional Fishery Management Council or 

12 areas covered by the United States South 

13 Pacific Tuna Treaty, or which has an 

14 American Samoa Longline Limited Access 

15 Permit (issued pursuant to the Fishery 

16 Management Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of 

17 the Western Pacific Region established 

18 under the authority of section 1801 et seq. 

19 of title 18, United States Code): $200 per 

20 metric ton. 

21 ‘‘(iii) For each fishing vessel that does 

22 not meet the requirements of clause (ii) 

23 but is United States-documented pursuant 

24 to section 12103 of title 46, United States 

25 Code, and is otherwise authorized to fish 


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1 for tuna in areas under the authority of 

2 the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Man3 agement Council or areas covered by the 

4 United States South Pacific Tuna Treaty: 

5 $100 per metric ton. 

6 ‘‘(B) A recipient of a grant under this sub7 section may be eligible either as a seller of di8 rect-delivered whole tuna or as a processor buy9 ing direct-delivered whole tuna, but not both. 

10 ‘‘(C) Grants provided under this subsection 

11 shall not be considered as gross income of the 

12 recipient for purposes of the Internal Revenue 

13 Code of 1986. 

14 ‘‘(D) Grant amounts provided under this 

15 subsection shall not be subject to reduction by 

16 the Secretary for any operation or maintenance 

17 set aside. 

18 ‘‘(2) COLLECTION OF ANNUAL AND TRANSFER

19 FEES FOR THE BENEFIT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOP20 MENT IN AMERICAN SAMOA.— 

21 ‘‘(A) All vessels meeting the requirements 

22 of clauses (ii) and (iii) of paragraph (1)(A) 

23 shall be subject to a $250,000 annual fee due 

24 and payable to the United States Treasury on 

25 January 31 each year for the immediately prior 


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1 calendar year. This annual fee shall be waived 

2 for any calendar year for which the vessel cer3 tifies to the Secretary that the vessel has made 

4 not less than three direct deliveries in that cal5 endar year of whole tuna to processors on 

6 American Samoa for processing in American 

7 Samoa. 

8 ‘‘(B) Any vessel that is— 

9 ‘‘(i) United States-documented pursu10 ant to section 12103 of title 46, United 

11 States Code; 

12 ‘‘(ii) authorized to fish for tuna under 

13 the United States South Pacific Tuna 

14 Treaty; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) delivers tuna to another vessel 

16 or other location for the purposes of trans17 shipment, 

18 shall be subject to a fee of 6.25 percent per 

19 metric ton per each such delivery, regardless of 

20 the date payment is received for the delivery. 

21 This fee shall be payable to the United States 

22 Treasury and shall be due no later than 30 

23 days after the date of delivery. 

24 ‘‘(3) CREATION OF THE AMERICAN SAMOA ECO25 NOMIC DEVELOPMENT TRUST FUND.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) There is created within the Treasury 

2 of the United States a trust fund to be known 

3 as the ‘American Samoa Economic Develop4 ment Trust Fund’ (in this subsection referred 

5 to as the ‘Trust Fund’), consisting of such 

6 amounts as may be credited or appropriated to 

7 the Trust Fund under this subsection or any 

8 other provision of law. 

9 ‘‘(B) There is hereby appropriated to the 

10 Trust Fund amounts equivalent to the amounts 

11 received in the Treasury pursuant to subpara12 graphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2). 

13 ‘‘(C) The Trust Fund shall be adminis14 tered by the Office of Insular Affairs of the De15 partment of Interior. The Office of Insular Af16 fairs shall pay monies from the Trust Fund to 

17 carry out the purposes of paragraph (1)(A) of 

18 this subsection. The Office of Insular Affairs 

19 may use any excess amounts to provide finan20 cial assistance to the territory of American 

21 Samoa in accordance with any of the Office’s 

22 existing or future programs. 

23 ‘‘(4) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 days 

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act but prior 

25 to May 1, 2010, whichever comes first, the Secretary 


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1 shall prescribe such regulations and other guidance 

2 as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the 

3 provisions of this subsection. Such regulations shall 

4 provide that the Technical Assistance Division of the 

5 Office of Insular Affairs shall be responsible for ad6 ministering the provisions of this subsection and 

7 may not delegate its duties with regard to this sub8 section to any person or entity outside the Depart9 ment of the Interior. 

10 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATIONS AND APPROPRIA11 TIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) There is hereby authorized and ap13 propriated to the Secretary of the Interior 

14 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 to carry out 

15 the purposes of paragraph (1)(A). Further, 

16 there is hereby authorized such annual sums as 

17 may be necessary to carry out the purposes of 

18 paragraph (1)(A) in fiscal years after 2010. 

19 Sums appropriated pursuant to this subpara20 graph (A) shall remain available until expended, 

21 and shall not be available for administration of 

22 this subsection by the Department of the Inte23 rior. 

24 ‘‘(B) There is authorized to be appro25 priated to the Secretary $300,000 for the SalaVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:16 Sep 17, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3583.IH H3583

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1 ries and Expenses account of the Office of In2 sular Affairs to carry out the duties of the Of3 fice of Insular Affairs under this subsection, 

4 which amount shall remain available until ex5 pended and shall be in addition to any other 

6 amount appropriated to the Secretary for the 

7 Office of Insular Affairs. 

8 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—As used in the subsection– 

9 ‘‘(A) DIRECT DELIVERY.—The term ‘direct 

10 delivery’ means whole tuna caught by and 

11 moved from a fishing vessel that meets the cri12 teria in clause (ii) or (iii) of paragraph (1)(A) 

13 directly to a processing facility located in Amer14 ican Samoa, for preparation for end-user con15 sumption in the United States and its terri16 tories, which shall include placing the product 

17 in consumer-ready packaging. ‘Direct delivery’ 

18 excludes the delivery of frozen tuna loins. 

19 ‘‘(B) TRANSSHIPMENT.—The term ‘trans20 shipment’ means unloading any or all of the 

21 fish on board a fishing vessel onto another ves22 sel or entity for the purpose of transporting 

23 that fish to another location for processing.’’. 

Æ 


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