I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4711 
To establish a Federal District Court of American Samoa. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 8, 2006 
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To establish a Federal District Court of American Samoa. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal District Court 
of American Samoa Act of 2006’’. 
SEC. 2. FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT FOR AMERICAN SAMOA. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established for and 
within American Samoa a court of record to be known as 
the Federal District Court of American Samoa. Terms of 
court shall be held on Tutuila and at such other places 
in American Samoa and at such times as the court may 
designate by rule or order.
(b) JURISDICTION
OF
THE
FEDERAL
DISTRICT 
COURT.—The jurisdiction of the Federal District Court 
of American Samoa shall, to the extent that the Constitu-
tion and laws of the United States apply to American 
Samoa, be limited to the jurisdiction of a district court 
of the United States and that of a bankruptcy court of 
the United States, except that— 
(1) the Federal District Court shall in no case 
have jurisdiction of a case or proceeding that puts 
in issue the tenure to any communal lands located 
in American Samoa, or any matter pertaining to the 
adjudication of traditional chieftain or matai titles; 
and 
(2) the Federal District Court and the High 
Court of American Samoa shall have concurrent ju-
risdiction over cases involving the interpretation of— 
(A) the 1900 Treaty or Deed of Cession 
between the Islands of Tutuila and Aunu’u and 
the United States, and the 1904 Treaty or 
Deed of Cession between Manu’a Islands and 
the United States; and 
(B) the 1967 Revised Constitution of 
American Samoa, and any amendments thereto. 
(c) RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COURTS OF UNITED 
STATES AND COURTS OF AMERICAN SAMOA.—The rela-
tions between the courts established by the Constitution 
or laws of the United States and the courts of American 
Samoa with respect to appeals, certiorari, removal of 
causes, the issuance of writs of habeas corpus, and other 
matters or proceedings shall be governed by the laws of 
the United States pertaining to the relations between the 
courts of the United States, including the Supreme Court 
of the United States, and the courts of the several States 
in such matters and proceedings. 
SEC. 3. APPOINTMENT OF JUDGE, U.S. ATTORNEY, AND U.S. 
MARSHAL. 
(a) APPOINTMENT OF JUDGE.—The President shall, 
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint 
a judge for the Federal District Court of American 
Samoa, who shall hold office for the term of 10 years and 
until his or her successor is chosen and qualified, unless 
sooner removed by the President for cause. The judge 
shall receive a salary payable by the United States which 
shall be at the rate prescribed for judges of the United 
States district courts. 
(b) TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENTS.—The Chief Judge of 
the Ninth Judicial Circuit of the United States may assign 
a judge of a local court of record in American Samoa, a 
circuit or district judge of the ninth judicial circuit, or a 
recalled senior judge of the United States District Court
for the District of Hawaii, or the Chief Justice of the 
United States may assign any other United States circuit 
or district judge, with the consent of the judge so assigned 
and of the chief judge of that circuit, to serve temporarily 
as a judge in the Federal District Court of American 
Samoa whenever such an assignment is for the proper con-
duct, administration, and necessary business of the court. 
(c) U.S. ATTORNEY
AND
U.S. MARSHAL.—The 
President shall appoint, by and with the advice and con-
sent of the Senate, a United States attorney and United 
States marshal for American Samoa to whose offices the 
provisions of chapters 35 and 37 of title 28, United States 
Code, respectively, shall apply. 
SEC. 4. RULES OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE. 
Where appropriate, the rules of practice and proce-
dure promulgated and made effective by the Congress or 
the Supreme Court of the United States pursuant to titles 
11, 18, and 28, United States Code, shall apply to the 
Federal District Court of American Samoa and appeals 
therefrom; except that the terms ‘‘Attorney for the govern-
ment’’ and ‘‘United States Attorney,’’ as used in the Fed-
eral Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall, when applicable, 
include the Attorney General of American Samoa or such 
other person or persons as may be authorized by the laws 
of American Samoa to act therein.
SEC. 5. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 
(a) APPEALS.—The item relating to the Ninth Cir-
cuit in the table contained in section 41 of title 28, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘American Samoa,’’ 
after ‘‘Guam,’’. 
(b) RETIREMENT AND SURVIVORS’ ANNUITIES.— 
(1) RETIREMENT.—Section 373 of title 28, 
United States Code, is amended in subsections (a) 
and (e) by inserting ‘‘, the Federal District Court of 
American Samoa,’’ after ‘‘the District Court of 
Guam,’’. 
(2) SURVIVORS’ ANNUITIES.—Section 376(a) of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended in para-
graphs (1)(B) and (2)(B) by inserting ‘‘the Federal 
District Court of American Samoa,’’ after ‘‘the Dis-
trict Court of Guam,’’. 
(c) U.S. TRUSTEE.—Section 581(a)(15) of title 28, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, American 
Samoa,’’ after ‘‘Guam’’. 
(d) COURTS DEFINED.—Section 610 of title 28, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the United 
States District Court for the District of the Canal Zone’’ 
and inserting ‘‘the Federal District Court of American 
Samoa’’. 
(e) MAGISTRATE JUDGES.—Section 631(a) of title 
28, United States Code, is amended—