SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND POLICY. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) The tuna processing and manufacturing in-
dustry is by far the largest private-sector base of 
employment in American Samoa and serves as the 
critical foundation for the overall economy of Amer-
ican Samoa. The unique local economy created by 
the operation of tuna canneries is largely irreplace-
able as an employment base. The canneries currently 
provide 80 percent of private sector employment in 
American 
Samoa, 
and 
generate 
more 
than 
$80,000,000 (30 percent) of the territory’s income 
from labor according to a recent Department of 
Labor report. Most other private sector jobs in 
American Samoa provide goods or services to the 
tuna processors. Moreover, the economic growth of 
many other private sector employers in the consumer 
retail and service sectors is tied either directly or in-
directly to the tuna industry. 
(2) Over the past 30 years, direct employment 
growth in the fish processing industry has accounted 
for more than one-third of total job growth in Amer-
ican Samoa. Moreover, a recent study reflects that 
every job added to or subtracted from the economy 
by a change in employment in the tuna processing 
industry adds or subtracts another 0.47 jobs from 
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other sectors of American Samoa’s economy, the so- 
called ‘‘multiplier effect’’. 
(3) An important component of the tuna proc-
essing industry’s multiplier effect is derived from di-
rect delivery of tuna by fishing vessels to American 
Samoa for processing, which results in revenue for 
the territory from visitor expenditures on vessel re-
fueling, repair, and other shipyard services, steve-
dores, fishing net repairs, lodging, dining, and a 
host of other services. Unfortunately, while having 
provided limited economic benefit through indirect 
deliveries which ensured a constant supply of fish to 
the canneries, the large majority of the eligible fleet 
which fishes under the auspices of a United States 
flag and United States license no longer provides di-
rect delivery or economic benefit to American 
Samoa, where many of them are home-ported, choos-
ing rather to deliver their catch to massive carrier 
ships for purposes of transshipping their fish to be 
cleaned in low-wage labor rate countries. 
(4) Due to low-wage labor rates of 0.60 cents 
and less per hour for tuna cannery workers in com-
peting countries, increased transportation and en-
ergy costs, decreased volumes of direct-delivered fish 
to American Samoa, recent Federal minimum wage 
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policy changes that have resulted in mandatory an-
nual wage increases, heavy foreign competition for 
United States market share in the tuna industry, 
and a number of other issues, one of American Sa-
moa’s tuna canneries has announced that it will shut 
down by September 2009. This closure will result in 
job loss for nearly 40 percent of the territory’s pri-
vate sector employees, as well as increased energy, 
shipping, and food costs for the remaining busi-
nesses and public entities because the canneries help 
subsidize the costs of these industries. 
(5) Closure of the remaining tuna processing 
plant would result in job loss for another 40 percent 
of private sector employees, and a recent study of 
the territory’s economy concluded that closure of the 
remaining tuna processing plant would result in 
total job loss of 44 percent of all employment in the 
territory, leaving the American Samoan Government, 
which receives significant operational and capital 
grants from the Federal Government, as the terri-
tory’s only significant employer. 
(6) Due to present dependence on the canneries 
and Federal aid, if both canneries leave American 
Samoa, only direct Federal assistance will remain to 
bridge the gap left by the loss of approximately 
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$80,000,000 in private sector income from the tuna 
canneries. 
(7) The Department of the Interior has pre-
viously reported to Congress that in the absence of 
the revenue derived from the canneries, American 
Samoa, with its population of nearly 70,000, will be 
‘‘almost wholly dependent’’ on direct assistance from 
the Federal Government, warning that the American 
Samoan economy will be ‘‘devastated’’; 
(8) Having served, starting at the turn of the 
last century, as an important refueling station for 
American ships in the South Pacific, American 
Samoa has long held a position of strategic and his-
toric importance to the United States, and over the 
years, American Samoans have sacrificed to help 
keep our country free, with many serving in the 
United States military. 
(9) In March 2006, it was reported to Congress 
that the sacrifice of American Samoa in the Iraq 
war was disproportionate to the territory’s small 
size, as residents of the territory were 15 times more 
likely to be killed in action in Iraq than residents of 
the United States as a whole. 
(b) POLICY.—The Federal Government should pro-
vide employment stabilization and economic development 
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assistance to the people of American Samoa, including in-
centives for the continued operation and development of 
American Samoa’s tuna processing industry, as the terri-
tory now faces severe economic conditions. 
SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF GENERAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 
TO AMERICAN SAMOA. 
Section 601 of the Act of December 24, 1980 (48 
U.S.C. 1469d(d)) is amended by inserting at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(e) EMPLOYMENT SECURITY AND ECONOMIC DE-
VELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FOR AMERICAN SAMOA.— 
‘‘(1) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.— 
‘‘(A) The Secretary of the Interior is fur-
ther authorized to provide technical assistance 
to the territory of American Samoa in the form 
of grants to sellers and buyers of whole tuna di-
rectly delivered to tuna processors located with-
in American Samoa for processing in American 
Samoa, in the following amounts: 
‘‘(i) For each processor of whole tuna 
directly delivered to American Samoa for 
processing, as ‘processing’ is defined in 
paragraph (6)(B): $200 per metric ton, 
provided that this amount shall be ad-
justed each May 25 by a ratio equal to the 
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for tuna in areas under the authority of 
the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Man-
agement Council or areas covered by the 
United States South Pacific Tuna Treaty: 
$100 per metric ton. 
‘‘(B) A recipient of a grant under this sub-
section may be eligible either as a seller of di-
rect-delivered whole tuna or as a processor buy-
ing direct-delivered whole tuna, but not both. 
‘‘(C) Grants provided under this subsection 
shall not be considered as gross income of the 
recipient for purposes of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986. 
‘‘(D) Grant amounts provided under this 
subsection shall not be subject to reduction by 
the Secretary for any operation or maintenance 
set aside. 
‘‘(2) COLLECTION OF ANNUAL AND TRANSFER 
FEES FOR THE BENEFIT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOP-
MENT IN AMERICAN SAMOA.— 
‘‘(A) All vessels meeting the requirements 
of clauses (ii) and (iii) of paragraph (1)(A) 
shall be subject to a $250,000 annual fee due 
and payable to the United States Treasury on 
January 31 each year for the immediately prior 
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calendar year. This annual fee shall be waived 
for any calendar year for which the vessel cer-
tifies to the Secretary that the vessel has made 
not less than three direct deliveries in that cal-
endar year of whole tuna to processors on 
American Samoa for processing in American 
Samoa. 
‘‘(B) Any vessel that is— 
‘‘(i) United States-documented pursu-
ant to section 12103 of title 46, United 
States Code; 
‘‘(ii) authorized to fish for tuna under 
the United States South Pacific Tuna 
Treaty; and 
‘‘(iii) delivers tuna to another vessel 
or other location for the purposes of trans-
shipment, 
shall be subject to a fee of 6.25 percent per 
metric ton per each such delivery, regardless of 
the date payment is received for the delivery. 
This fee shall be payable to the United States 
Treasury and shall be due no later than 30 
days after the date of delivery. 
‘‘(3) CREATION OF THE AMERICAN SAMOA ECO-
NOMIC DEVELOPMENT TRUST FUND.— 
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‘‘(A) There is created within the Treasury 
of the United States a trust fund to be known 
as the ‘American Samoa Economic Develop-
ment Trust Fund’ (in this subsection referred 
to as the ‘Trust Fund’), consisting of such 
amounts as may be credited or appropriated to 
the Trust Fund under this subsection or any 
other provision of law. 
‘‘(B) There is hereby appropriated to the 
Trust Fund amounts equivalent to the amounts 
received in the Treasury pursuant to subpara-
graphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2). 
‘‘(C) The Trust Fund shall be adminis-
tered by the Office of Insular Affairs of the De-
partment of Interior. The Office of Insular Af-
fairs shall pay monies from the Trust Fund to 
carry out the purposes of paragraph (1)(A) of 
this subsection. The Office of Insular Affairs 
may use any excess amounts to provide finan-
cial assistance to the territory of American 
Samoa in accordance with any of the Office’s 
existing or future programs. 
‘‘(4) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act but prior 
to May 1, 2010, whichever comes first, the Secretary 
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shall prescribe such regulations and other guidance 
as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the 
provisions of this subsection. Such regulations shall 
provide that the Technical Assistance Division of the 
Office of Insular Affairs shall be responsible for ad-
ministering the provisions of this subsection and 
may not delegate its duties with regard to this sub-
section to any person or entity outside the Depart-
ment of the Interior. 
‘‘(5) 
AUTHORIZATIONS
AND
APPROPRIA-
TIONS.— 
‘‘(A) There is hereby authorized and ap-
propriated to the Secretary of the Interior 
$25,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 to carry out 
the purposes of paragraph (1)(A). Further, 
there is hereby authorized such annual sums as 
may be necessary to carry out the purposes of 
paragraph (1)(A) in fiscal years after 2010. 
Sums appropriated pursuant to this subpara-
graph (A) shall remain available until expended, 
and shall not be available for administration of 
this subsection by the Department of the Inte-
rior. 
‘‘(B) There is authorized to be appro-
priated to the Secretary $300,000 for the Sala-
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ries and Expenses account of the Office of In-
sular Affairs to carry out the duties of the Of-
fice of Insular Affairs under this subsection, 
which amount shall remain available until ex-
pended and shall be in addition to any other 
amount appropriated to the Secretary for the 
Office of Insular Affairs. 
‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—As used in the subsection– 
‘‘(A) DIRECT DELIVERY.—The term ‘direct 
delivery’ means whole tuna caught by and 
moved from a fishing vessel that meets the cri-
teria in clause (ii) or (iii) of paragraph (1)(A) 
directly to a processing facility located in Amer-
ican Samoa, for preparation for end-user con-
sumption in the United States and its terri-
tories, which shall include placing the product 
in consumer-ready packaging. ‘Direct delivery’ 
excludes the delivery of frozen tuna loins. 
‘‘(B) TRANSSHIPMENT.—The term ‘trans-
shipment’ means unloading any or all of the 
fish on board a fishing vessel onto another ves-
sel or entity for the purpose of transporting 
that fish to another location for processing.’’. 
Æ 
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