FALEOMAVAEGA CYNICISM REACHES NEW LEVEL

When Faleomavaega introduced his “ASPIRE” bill in the last Congress, which essentially would have subsidized Star-Kist to keep its cannery—the territory’s major private employer—in the territory, it seemed that the frenetic delegate had reached a new level of cynicism, since there never was any chance the bill would pass.  Nevertheless, hope was held out by hundreds of not thousands of Samoans that their jobs could be saved in the wake of the departure of the other cannery, Chicken of the Sea.

Of course, even though his own party controlled both houses of Congress and the White House, Faleomavaega got get nothing more than a hearing on the measure.  It died in the subcommittee chaired by a fellow delegate, Guam’s Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D).  Virtually everyone but Star-Kist testified against the bill, including the Obama administration, which would have been a major embarrassment for Faleomavaega if the American Samoa media had reported the story.  But they didn’t, and once again he skated.

If he could not move a bill through a friendly House, he knew he was not going to move it once Republicans took over in 2011 so he didn’t even try.  But he also knew that he was likely going to face his toughest re-election fight this year when Governor Togiola (D) would be barred by law from seeking a third full term in office.  So, in order to either scare Togiola to the sidelines or bolster his own popularity, Faleomavaega made his next and even more cynical move: promise citizenship to nationals and national status to aliens.  Last year he announced he would introduce a bill that, if enacted, would allow U.S. nationals to become U.S. citizens without having to move to the states.  At the same time, he also said he wanted to push legislation that would allow long term resident aliens, mostly people from nearby independent Samoa, to apply for U.S. national status, a status now that is reserved exclusively to persons born in American Samoa.

Of course, aliens cannot vote but many have them who have been in the territory for more than 20 years have large families who can vote and would be more disposed to reward Faleomavaega for trying to make their parents nationals.  What makes this so cynical is that Faleomavaega knows such a bill would not have a prayer in Congress.  It would be considered, if considered, by the judiciary committee, not one of the committees on which he serves.  To underscore the point, Faleomavaega’s Northern Marianas colleague recently tried to sneak a bill through the House by unanimous consent that would have conferred citizenship on a tiny number of people in the Northern Marianas until immigration hawks caught the maneuver and had it killed at the 11^th hour.

So, now comes Faleomavaega’s most cynical move yet.  He has teamed up with other delegates on a bill to extend the Supplemental Security Income program to American Samoa.  This was one of his promises in his early campaigns and once elected he did offer such a bill.  But, like ASPIRE, it went no where, even in the go-go era of the 90s when the U.S. treasury was flush with cash and his party controlled Congress under President Clinton.  With record trillion dollar deficits and Republicans in control of the House, Faleomavaega has no more hope of passing SSI than he did 20 years ago.

However, ASPIRE, citizenship and SSI may have been enough to do the trick, as Togiola announced on his radio program last weekend that he would not run for Congress this year.  Faleomavaega and his staff undoubtedly did a high five and breathed a sigh of relief.  However, we are not convinced of Togiola’s sincerity.  He is under attack on a number of fronts these days for decisions he has made so it makes sense for him to get out of the spotlight for now.   We would not be surprised if he has a “change of heart” this summer and decides to run after all.  Keep an eye on the election office come July to see who picks up a congressional packet.