“JUST THE FACTS PLEASE”

Letter to the Editor
Samoa News

In your article, “Togiola Claims Eni Is Playing Politics To Court Manu’a Vote,” I believe there’s some truth to what Togiola is saying but let’s look at the facts.

Eni admits he has lost in Manu’a several times but says “the difference was not substantial.” Eni’s claim is laughable. In fact, Eni’s opposition (remember her name??) has beat him 2 to 1 in Manu’a.

The Congressman is very glib. He claims Manu’a is not being served by the Governor, but I don’t think that’s accurate. I personally believe Togiola has taken steps to respond to the needs of the people of Manu’a but he too needs to do more because the same lady who has beaten Eni over and over in Manu’a also outpolled Gov.Togiola in Manu’a in 2004. She was the highest vote getter that year, followed by Togiola, then by Afoa. Eni placed fourth in terms of the votes cast in Manu’a for him. Check it out if you don’t believe me. It’s all in record.

So was Eni’s move to try to earmark funds for Manu’a without working with the Governor a political move to get Manu’a’s attention? You bet!

Both the Governor and the Congressman need to intensify their efforts to help Manu’a because 2008 is around the corner and they are going to need those votes.

Congratulations, Manu’a, you got it right all along. I hope that lady runs again. Her perseverance alone is awesome, just my personal opinion. Thanks for sharing my comments with your readers.

F. Samisone Tafaoata

By Blue Chen-Fruean
Samoa News Correspondent

Manu’a District Governor Tufele Li’amatua has written a letter to Congressman Faleomavaega, voicing his opinion on, among other things, suggestions that the Manu’a Islands should set up its own separate government.

In his letter, Tufele acknowledges and thanks Senator Daniel K. Inouye for his great assistance to the people of Manu’a. He also addresses several issues Congressman Faleomavaega has brought to the fore recently concerning Manu’a.

Tufele says that as chairman of the Future Political Status Study Commission (FPSSC), it is important at this time “to put to rest statements which have been made regarding the future political status options for the Manu’a Islands,” particularly the notion that Manu’a should set up its own separate government.

He described the Manu’a people as “loyal and proud Americans of American Samoan ancestry.”

“Culturally, economically, socially, geographically, and politically, such a political option would not reflect the wisdom which moved our forefathers to define and promote our current relationship with the United States,” Tufele wrote.

He referred to the fact that Tutuila and Manu’a have received “unprecedented and unparalleled benefits and goodwill as a result of our affiliation with the United States,” and as FPSSC chairman, Tufele said he has maintained that the present relationship with the United States is serving our very aspiration.

“American Samoans are free to travel and set up residences in the United States,” he continued. “We continue to boast that we still own our lands and are free to practice our cultural traditions.”

“You have often raised the point that we must decide whether American Samoans wish to become US citizens and I concur that the question must be answered.”

However, Tufele says that the privileges do have latent costs, which must be clearly identified, discussed, and understood, before any question is asked.

He points out that with the exception of the privilege to vote for the President of the United States, American Samoans enjoy practically all of the privileges accorded to U.S. citizens.

“Our people are extremely patriotic, evidenced by the highest per capita enlistment rate in the United States Armed Forces, protecting the basic freedoms that Americans treasure,” Tufele pointed out.

Tufele said that while their approaches might vary and interpretation of circumstances may yield differing perspectives, “we all agree that our intentions all center on our individual commitments to improve the lives of our people.”

“I refuse to accept the thinking that politics causes divisiveness. Political maneuvering which causes the lives of our people to improve is good politics,” continued Tufele. “Since the common thread which binds us together as political leaders is to improve the welfare of our people, we should be working together to advance this desire. Collaboration, in my humble opinion, guards against waste, not only in terms of money, but also in terms of time.”

He said he is “thrilled” that the needs of the Manu’a Islands have been afforded tremendous attention, but he is also very cautious of his jubilation.

“Funding earmark is only the beginning step of the process. Implementation is the key. It would be unfair not to acknowledge the efforts of the Governor and the Fono, who I extend my thanks to for recognizing the needs of Manu’a,” said Tufele. “It is my hope that in the future, we will present the needs of American Samoa through a unified front so that the Congress of the United States is clear and under locally determined priorities.”

Osini Faleatasi Inc. dba Samoa News reserves all rights.

By Fili Sagapolutele
Samoa News Correspondent

The Senate has requested Congressman Faleomavaega to withdraw a federal measure he introduced in the U.S. House seeking the Secretary of Interior to place three questions on the November 2008 ballot.

The questions are 1st) whether individuals who are born in American Samoa should become citizens of the United States; 2nd) whether Senators should be elected by the qualified electors from the respective counties; and 3rd) whether American Samoa should have its own Federal district court with limited jurisdiction.

The Senate’s request is outlined in a Senate Resolution, signed by 17 senators, conveying its “strong opposition” to the proposal. The missing signature is Sen. Faiivae Galeai, who has been absent since the start of the Special Session due to health reasons.

Prior to the close of the First Session in March, Faiivae had argued that its up to Faleomavaega as to what bill he wants to introduce in Congress and challenges his colleagues as to what they are afraid of, having such questions placed on the ballot.

The “Senate strongly opposes this legislation which it feels the Congressman unilaterally and without proper consultation with the leaders and people of American Samoa introduced,” the resolution says.

Regarding the issue of persons born in American Samoa to become a U.S. citizen, the Senate says this matter has been the subject of comment in the territory’s history “as far back as our forefathers who established milestones in our development, to the political status study commissions and constitutional conventions of more recent times.”

“During these occasions the people of American Samoa concluded that U.S. National is the appropriate status for themselves and their future generations because of the conditions that make life in this small island community uniquely different from that which exists in the United States,” the resolution said.

In the matter of electing Senators, the resolution points out the “wisdom of our forefathers to institutionalize Samoan culture in the decision making process of modern government, by mandating that members of the Senate…..be elected by Samoan culture, assures the preservation of a way of life that is directly dictated by the physical and spiritual environment in which the Samoans live.”

The resolution notes the “people of American Samoa acknowledge with humility the material and spiritual benefits received through their relationship with the United States based on the values of mutual love and respect.”

It further states that the “Senate believes that the issues that have direct impact on the future political status and the preservation of our way of life, such as those raised by Congressman Faleomavaega in Congress, must emanate from within American Samoa.”

The Senate therefore requests Faleomavaega to withdraw this measure from Congress in favor of awaiting public discussions in the territory.

Copies of the resolution were to be forwarded to Governor Togiola, Interior Secretary, House Speaker Savali Talavou Ale, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Hawaii’s congressional delegation and other Congressional members.

St. Patrick’s Day

THE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, D.C. Aumua Amata was invited by the White House to attend the Shamrock Ceremony in the Roosevelt Room Friday with Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland. In a ceremony to symbolize in a very special way the bonds between the Irish and American people, the PM presented a bowl of Irish shamrocks to President Bush who thanked him for his strong leadership in resolving the issues of Northern Ireland and reiterated that he stands ready to help. Following the ceremony the White House held a reception with an elaborate of food and beverages to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day.

Said Amata, “Although the United States and Ireland are countries that contrast each other in different ways, their peoples are linked in a unique way. Through the Shamrock Ceremony, both peoples were saluted to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day as well as the many contributions of Irish people who helped build America. Ireland today enjoys peace and success and it has been a long journey to make it a reality.”

Prime Minister Ahern stated that in order to achieve the Northern Ireland peace, his country has been able to count on the United States as a true partner and generous friend. He added that America has stood with Ireland at all times, helped her peace and contributed enormously to her economic success and therefore, it is a moment to celebrate and say thank you.

In accepting the shamrocks, President Bush jokingly told the Prime Minister that Saint Patrick’s Day brings together two distinct groups of Americans: those with Irish descent and those who wish they were. Said Bush, “Whether they’re Irish today or every day, Americans are grateful for our Nation’s Irish heritage and the enduring friendship that exists between Ireland and the United States is strong.” The President quoted President George Washington, referring to him as ‘the first George W’ which brought laughter, who, in 1783 wrote to recent Irish immigrants in New York that “America is open to receive the oppressed and persecuted of all nations,” and he expressed his wish that the blessings of equal liberty and unrestrained commerce would one day prevail in Ireland.

Aumua Amata concluded by saying, “Speaking as a proud Samoan with a wee bit of Irish heritage, it was truly an honor and I thank the President for including me. The will of the people in Ireland is unmistakable and undeniable and in last week’s election in Northern Ireland, they gave a clear and strong signal. And on St. Patrick’s Day 2007 the emigration from Ireland over the centuries which brought to these shores that proud Irish heritage is widely and embraced. I am humbled that the President invited me to be part of this ceremony at the White House.”

LTE reprinted from Samoa News
“WHAT IS A DECENT WAGE, FALEOMAVAEGA?”

Dear Editor,

I’ve been following the minimum wage debate going on in our island with some interest. It’s interesting to see all the political gymnastics that’s going on with our elected representatives. And no leader has done more intellectual gyrations than our congressman.

It’s ironic that our congressman, a Democrat, opposes this increase that was such a big part of the national democratic agenda hailed by the new Democrat majorities in Congress. The Democrat party has had the increase of the minimum wage on its platform for years. I’ve always wondered where our congressman has stood on the issue. Now we know. He stands on both sides.

In Friday’s paper, he is quoted as saying that he agrees the minimum wage increase is a bad thing for our territory and would devastate our local economy. But in the same sentence he says, however, local wages are “unacceptable” and that they are “insulting.”

But apparently, they’re not insulting enough for him to agree to a minimum wage hike. Which begs the questions; if $3 an hour is “insulting” to our low wage earners, but $7 an hour “devastating” to the economy, what rate is acceptable to the congressman? Is $4 an hour less insulting? Is $5 and hour less devastating to our economy? He said he will continue to fight to make sure our workers are paid a “decent wage”.

Tell me congressman, what is that “decent wage?” Since $3 and hour is “insulting” and $7 and hour is “devastating,” please give us a number. And then tell us how you arrived at that number.

The congressman wants to have it both ways. He wants to be for the minimum wage, but also against it. I guess he’s taking a play out of the playbook of democrat Senator John Kerry who famously said in the last presidential elections that he voted for the troops before he voted against them.

Perhaps Eni will vote for the minimum wage increase before he votes against it.

Soifua,
Ailani Galeai

Grassley enters ‘fishy’ debate over American Samoa wages
By Susan Crabtree

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is wading into a “fishy” debate about the minimum-wage bill that has caught American Samoa in the crossfire between a group of scrappy House Republicans and the new Democratic majority.

Late last week Grassley filed two nearly identical amendments to the minimum-wage bill that the Senate is set to vote on today or tomorrow. The measures would apply federal minimum-wage laws to all territories and would abolish a special committee in American Samoa that has helped keep wages in the island territory much lower than the federal minimum and replace it with a formula for regular wage increases. The provision also would allow the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to use the same formula as a way to implement federal minimum-wage laws in a less costly and less bureaucratic way.

“I urge my colleagues to support my amendment,” Grassley said on the Senate floor. “Let’s treat everyone the same.”

The amendment aims to resolve a heated House debate over Democratic efforts to bring the CNMI under federal minimum-wage laws, something former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) worked with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is now in jail, to prevent while Republicans held the majority in the House.

House Republicans have spent the last three weeks accusing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Education and Labor Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) of using the minimum-wage bill to “exempt” American Samoa from an increase because Del Monte, which owns StarKist Tuna, is based in her district and owns one of two packing plants in Samoa that employ a large portion of the islands’ workers.

Last week, House Republicans even passed out stickers depicting Charlie the Tuna with the words “something fishy” around to Republicans on the House floor.

The bill doesn’t mention American Samoa or the fact that Samoa has had measures in place since 1956 that have kept its wages lower than the federal minimum. While in the majority, House Republicans were not exercised about Samoa’s exemption from full U.S. minimum-wage requirements even while other territories such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands increased their wages, ultimately reaching the full U.S. minimum.

Political contributions from Del Monte employees suggest that the company leans Republican, not Democratic, and neither Pelosi nor Miller has received any contributions from them, according to PoliticalMoneyLine.com. In the last three election cycles, only one StarKist employee has donated politically, just one time: $500 to Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) in 2000. Del Monte employees aren’t big givers either, but, of the approximately $18,000 Del Monte employees have handed out in the last three election cycles, $13,000 has gone to GOP candidates, PACs and party committees. Del Monte’s owner, David De Benedetti, has repeatedly given to the National Republican Congressional Committee, the Republican National Committee and President Bush’s reelection campaign.

Brian Kennedy, spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), said Grassley’s amendment appears to address the point House Republicans were raising about Samoa, but noted that his boss would need to take a close look before deciding whether to support it.

“You can’t argue the merits of raising the minimum wage without protections for those who are going to be forced to pay it and in the same breath argue that it would devastate the economy of American Samoa,” Kennedy said. “It stands to reason that without tax breaks and other protections for other small-business owners, there are hundreds of small communities spread throughout the United States that would meet the same fate that Democrats claim American Samoa would face if they were subject to the minimum wage. [Democrats] can’t have it both ways.”

Calls to American Samoa Del. Eni Faleomavaega (D) yesterday were not returned. Last week Faleomavaega, along with Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), sent a letter to Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and ranking Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), arguing in favor of giving the CNMI the same kind of wage review committee that keeps Samoa’s wages low.

“The proposal would allow the CNMI to transition into the [Fair Labor Standards Act] using the Special Industry Committee, and thus treat the CNMI in the same manner as American Samoa,” Faleomavaega and Inouye wrote. “… The inherent weakness of remote island economies remains a fact, and so the need for a Special Committee mechanism remains.”

Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) sent a similar letter to Kennedy and Enzi last week.

Kennedy does not support the Grassley amendments, a spokesman for the Massachusetts senator said.

Many Democrats have serious reservations about Grassley’s amendment because it fails to provide pressure to increase wages in communities like Samoa and the CNMI, where there are large numbers of non-voting guest workers whose status is more akin to that of indentured servants, according to one knowledgeable Senate source.

“The Education and Labor Committee is looking at the industry committee process to see if it is working and that we make sure that workers throughout the U.S. and its territories are treated fairly,” said Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill.

If American Samoa’s minimum wage is tied to U.S. federal levels, as is being proposed by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the result will “kill” the territory’s economy, says Governor Togiola Tulafono.

American Samoa is currently excluded from a minimum wage measure that is working its way through the U.S. Congress. The bill, which would increase the U.S. minimum wage from its current $5.15 an hour to $7.25 over two years, for the first time includes the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands under federal minimum wage provisions. The CNMI’s minimum wage is $3.05 an hour.

American Samoa has a minimum wage structure that varies from $2.63 to $4.09 an hour, depending on the industry.

According to news reports, Speaker Pelosi now says she will push to have American Samoa covered by the congressional initiative, which has passed the U.S. House and is now before the Senate, where approval is expected to be assured. The measure will likely have to go through a conference committee comprised of members of both chambers to work out differences.

In a statement issued by Togiola, the governor says he regrets Pelosi’s position “but I can appreciate the kinds of pressure that she is working under or responding to.” However, he warned that if American Samoa’s minimum wage is tied to the U.S. federal level, the result would be a disaster for the territory and for Washington.

“The fact of the matter is, if the proposal to include American Samoa in the new minimum wages (is approved), it will kill American Samoa’s economy, and it may not be possible to revive it except for the injection of large federal fundings. This essentially will make American Samoa totally dependent on the United States for funding like it was a short 30 years ago,” Togiola warned.

The South Pacific territory’s two largest employers are two tuna canneries, which together employ over 5,000 workers. If they are forced to raise their pay levels, it is likely the companies that run the canneries would shutter operations. Tuna canneries have operated in American Samoa since the 1950s.

Togiola said the initial exclusion of the territory from the minimum wage bill was “consistent with existing (U.S. federal) laws calculated to assist American Samoa as a territory, and not any particular company operating in American Samoa.”

Togiola, who is in Honolulu recovering from a kidney stone procedure, said he is monitoring the minimum wage legislation “very closely.” He said his administration will work with American Samoa congressional Delegate Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin “and we will discuss a common approach to solve this looming disaster.”

The author of the minimum wage bill, U.S. Rep. George Miller, a California Democrat, has been a long-time critic of the garment industry in the Northern Marianas. Some see the inclusion of the Northern Marianas in the legislation as Miller’s way to respond to earlier labor abuses in that industry. Ironically, the Northern Marianas’ garment industry is collapsing as a result of current international trade rules that have removed duty-free status for garments made in those islands and shipped to the United States.

Happy New Year to all and I hope 2007 will be the best-ever year for you.

On Tuesday evening, as I watched television with my family, the program was interrupted by a “breaking news” report saying that former President Gerald R. Ford has died. This was a man I greatly admired as a political appointee during his administration. A quiet, honest, courageous man who took over the presidency at a time of great turmoil, President Ford will always be remembered for his easy smile, his kindness and gentle ways. I learned to eat my cottage cheese with Worcestershire sauce, thanks to President Ford. He was a down-to-earth, humble man who got along well with everyone and treated each individual as a very important person. I will never forget the time my husband and I attended a reception in Washington with our nine-month old daughter in tow. President Ford came over, took Erika from us, lifted her up in the air a couple of times, then hugged her and returned her to us with a quiet smile. A White House photo of them still hangs in her room.

I was fortunate to have worked in the Ford Administration. After serving American Samoa’s first elected Delegate-at-large Paramount Chief A.U. Fuimaono from 1970-1972, I went to work at the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) under the Executive Office of the President. My father had always told me how important grants are to American Samoa so I jumped at the chance to learn all about the federal grants process. Don Rumsfeld had just left OEO to become the Chief of Staff to President Ford and he took with him to the White House his own OEO chief of staff, Dick Cheney. Rumsfeld left OEO in the capable hands of Frank Carlucci who later went on to become Director of the Office of Management and Budget and, many years later, the Secretary of Defense. Rumsfeld recently left the post of Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush.

When OMB Director Caspar Weinberger became the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, with Frank Carlucci as his Deputy Secretary, they took me from OEO to work for them at HEW.

When Ford became President, the transition to his leadership was one of the most welcomed in the history of the democratic process and people were comfortable with him. He was a man who had worked his way up through the ranks of Congress and had even chaired the House Republican Conference in the early days. Some twenty years later I would work for two consecutive House Conference chairmen, Cong. J.C. Watts and Cong. Deborah Pryce.

President Ford had the enormous challenge of leading his nation at a time of great turbulence and he meant a lot to me as a mentor in my younger days. Tomorrow I will attend his state funeral at National Cathedral.

It gives me strength to remember the thorny problems he faced with such courage and determination and to recall how he tackled those issues with dignity and grace. His leadership was an inspiration and I am a better person for having known him. We remember him in our prayers and he will be missed by us all. May God rest his soul.