Faleomavaega Rips Obama, Kerry Over PRIMNM Announcement

A clearly frustrated Faleomavaega has lashed out at President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry over Obama’s decision to sign an Executive Order creating a Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM).  While expressing his appreciation that  the conservation zone expansion would only involve Wake Island, Jarvis Island and Johnston Atoll, he said “I am displeased that the White House rushed this decision just so Secretary Kerry could have a sound bite at the United Nations.”

“Given the seriousness of the issue, I believe the Administration should have been more thoughtful about this process,” argued the delegate, “[because t]his decision affects the economies of Hawaii, American Samoa, CNMI and Guam, and every stakeholder among us deserved to be heard.”  Reflecting disappointment that he was crowded out of the decision-making process, he continued: “[I]t is unfortunate that the White House and State Department really didn’t engage in a meaningful discussion with local leaders or Congress about this initiative.”

Pointing to stalled negotiations for foreign fishing rights in the Pacific, Faleomavaega again accused Kerry of rushing for a sound bite while “the Administration may have failed to consider that its expansion just might spell trouble later for the American tuna industry in light of an un-negotiated South Pacific Tuna Treaty.   An un-negotiated treaty,” he warned, ”means less fishing grounds for our tuna boats and, environmentally, may lead to overfishing if Pacific Island nations open up fishing grounds to the highest bidders and if Asian and European vessels are given the green-light to do as they please. . . . In consideration of these facts, I believe if the Administration is truly serious about conservation, then it would have made the renewal of the South Pacific Tuna Treaty a higher priority than the expansion of PRIMNM.”

He gamely tried to reclaim his relevance by saying that he had been told by White House aides on September 24 of the President’s intentions to sign the Executive Order but was asked not to say anything until Kerry announced it in New York at a follow up meeting to his June Our Ocean Conference.  Faleomavaega did not attend the Apia meeting and while it is unclear if he also were not at the follow on gathering, judging from his news release that makes no mention of it, he was not.

It had to be annoying to him that by not announcing the White House decision, his thunder was stolen because the lead story in the September 25 Samoa News was based on a press release issued late in the afternoon of the 24th by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, which apparently was not under the same embargo, ignored it or was faster on the draw, leaving Faleomavaega relegated to saying “me, too.”   Wednesday afternoon National Geographic also published a story on Kerry’s Wednesday morning announcement, so it seems more likely that the delegate’s crack press staff, which long has been accustomed to dictating what and when off-island news is reported locally, was caught napping.  

It is curious that Obama has given Faleomavaega such back-handed treatment considering the delegate went out of his way to take a gamble and endorse the president’s first bid for the White House in 2007 when the Illinois senator was still considered a long shot.  Both men were raised and schooled in Hawaii and Faleomavaega apparently felt a kinship with him.  In fact the relationship was considered so close that some conspiracy theorists charged that during the campaign on one of the delegate’s frequent trips to Indonesia, he was asked to negotiate with Jakarta authorities to get Obama’s childhood school records sealed.  

However, the latest attack on Obama and Kerry is another sign that he is distancing himself with the soon-to-be lame duck president and secretary of State as he tries to tries to mend fences with Kerry’s predecessor Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner for the 2016 Democratic Party nomination for president.  That break was underscored when he also said he would cross party lines to back legislation by a Republican in the upper house.  Referring to his objection to the PRIMNM order, he said: “This is why I stand with Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska who has introduced legislation to change the law so that no President will ever have the power to lock up millions of acres of public lands and waters without Congressional approval.”  A dramatic move for a man who just three-and-a-half years ago was chairman of the subcommittee that had jurisdiction over the global environment.

With virtually every member of the House, except those not running for re-election, having left Washington for home for the critical final weeks of the campaign, it is curious that Faleomavaega is still there.  There was a Washington dateline on September 25 press release, which Samoa News buried in a larger story recounting the reactions of a number of organizations to the conservation zone.  Having missed the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) summit in Apia, it seemed possible that Faleomavaega might have wanted to recoup by attending the U.N. Secretary General’s Climate Change summit in New York just ahead of this year’s General Assembly speeches but there is no evidence he traveled to New York for that gathering of even for Indian Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with Members of Congress.

Indeed, the only evidence of Faleomavaega activity was a press release pathetically announcing he participated in the annual White House picnic for Members of Congress.  Since this event is held every year, is open to all Members of the House and Senate and their families regardless of party and is not meant for conducting business, it is hardly newsworthy and only the Samoa Post ran a story.  Neither Samoa News nor Radio KHJ-FM found it newsworthy.  As with the annual Easter Egg roll and the White House Christmas party, this event is purely for socializing and photographs. 

In addition to the usual pictures with Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D), Faleomavaega made a point of mentioning (and providing the press a photo with) “my good friend, Chairman Frank Lucas of the House Committee on Agriculture, which has responsibility over American Samoa’s food stamp and voucher programs that I have worked on all these years to keep in place and increase our funding.” 
 
Why single out Lucas?  Perhaps because one of his election opponents also had a photo taken with Lucas when the chairman passed through Pago Pago in August as part of a Natural Resources Committee-led Congressional Delegation on which the second most senior Democrat, Faleomavaega, was noticeably absent.  And so it goes.

FALEOMAVAEGA SLOW ON THE DRAW

Since it cannot be as a result of his travels, it must be a result of his lingering illness and the inattention of his chief enforcer, Lisa Williams, that resulted in over a month’s delay in his formally filing with President Obama his objections to the expansion of a Pacific conservation zone by presidential fiat.  In Washington style, it is formally known as the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument or, by its unpronounceable acronym, PRIMNM (prim nim?).

Obama’s announcement was made on June 17 at Secretary of State John Kerry’s Our Ocean Conference, which Faleomavaega did not attend but was prompt enough to respond in a July 19 press release expressing his concern at having had no prior consultation or warning of Obama’s proposal.  Being left out of the loop must have come as a bitter disappointment to the delegate, who was one of Obama’s earliest and strongest supporters but who does not seem to have derived any benefits from his loyalty over the past five years.  He has a score of photographs with the president but every member of Congress, regardless of party, gets those by standing in line to greet the president at the annual Christmas party, barbecue or other standard White House function held annually.

To get additional face time with presidents, Faleomavaega for years—until he took ill—has been among the small group of House members who arrive at the chamber hours before the annual State of the Union address to grab a seat at the aisle that the President uses to walk to the podium.   The Washington Post reported on this well known practice last year.

It is puzzling why it took nearly a month for the ailing delegate to file a formal letter with Obama pleading with him not to take any action that would harm American Samoa’s economy and culture.  It is quite possible that he misjudged the strength of the negative reaction of the American Samoa business community, the tuna industry, other island governments and regional fishing organizations.  In other words, even if, as a former subcommittee chairman whose jurisdiction included the “global environment,” his heart were with his fellow left-leaning environmentalists, the politics of the situation forced him in the other direction.  It is an election year, after all, and sometimes your constiuency has to come first.

As the September 2 election filing deadline rapidly approaches, Faleomavaega finally has made public his letter to Obama, which he had kept secret, he said, as “a courtesy to the President and to give him an opportunity to respond.”  More likely he was hoping to keep the letter secret to save him the embarrassment of having the public learn that yet again he has been ignored.  Predictably, Obama indeed has ignored him and with the governor now also weighing in with a letter to the president, the pressure to answer both allies and critics alike as to why he was remaining silent must have been too much to bear.

Clearly, courtesy to the president is a lame excuse since he dispensed with such courtesy earlier this year  when he blasted Obama, Kerry and Kerry’s predecessor Hillary Clinton (not the smartest move) for U.S. policy towards India, which he believes is misguided.  In this instance, he most likely was under particular pressure from various elements of the tuna industry, whose executives and boat owners already have contributed heavily to his re-election campaign.  They must believe he has some magic power and influence in Washington because many of their contributions were made in the first quarter of 2014 at a time it was unclear if Faleomavaega even would recover from his illness--with some believing he might even have been in a coma--let alone run for another term.

The list of his major donors, including some who have given the very maximum amount allowable, $2,600 per person, reads like a Who’s Who of the industry: executives from StarKist, TriMarine and Bumble Bee, plus owners of the vessels that deliver the fish to the canneries.  All of them must believe Faleomavaega has the clout to help their industry.  Well, if that were their motivation, as Obama’s PRIMNM initiative shows, they have been sadly mistaken and have wasted their money.  The truth is, from all the statements and letters we have seen filed with the White House to protest creation of PRIMNM, his is the weakest. 

The biggest waste of a campaign contribution may have been the $1,500 donation made by Bumble Bee executive James Hines.  Since Bumble Bee has no operations in American Samoa and Faleomavaega has been critical of the company’s human rights practices, perhaps Hines was hoping he would tone it down.  No such luck.  Faleomavaega will do his own thing, regardless who contributes to him.   In his letter to Obama he expressed “my disappointment that Bumble Bee was singled out and publicly recognized by Secretary Kerry during the Our Ocean Conference.  While it may be true that Bumble Bee advocates for ocean policy, we cannot and must not turn a blind eye to Bumble Bee’s human rights abuses.  Bumble Bee is well-known for using suppliers in Thailand that employ child labor to clean tuna.  Bumble Bee even owns a stake in one of those companies where Asian children and other exploited workers are paid about $0.75 cents an hour to manually cut off the head, fins and tail, and scrape off the skin of a tuna.”  Perhaps when the next campaign finance reports are filed, we will see that environmental interests have made contributions in order to buy his acquiescence.   

Even though he was in town and working “limited office hours” in June, he skipped Kerry’s Our Ocean Conference.  However, he gets another bite at the apple at the Small Island Developing States Conference that opens in Apia on September 1.  It is unclear if he would have an opportunity to address the conference and it is unclear if he would be part of any delegation.  He was not includes in the State Department’s announcement of the U.S. delegation although Samoa News reported that the governor had been invited to be a member of the U.S. delegation.  Nor is Faleomavaega on the list of the American Samoa delegation issued by the governor’s office.   Subsequently, Talanei.com reported  that the governor has decided not to go since, as a member of the U.S. delegation, he would not have a speaking role.  The same might be true for Faleomavaega.

The deadline now has passed for public comments on the President’s proposed PRIMNM.  If he does reverse course or make modifications, it will not be because of Faleomavaega’s weak objections.  Indeed, Obama has pressures from his allies in the environmental community to stay the course.  In an interview with Radio KHJ-FM,  Michael Gravitz of the non-profit Marine Conservation Institute dismissed the concerns of the opponents of the president’s proposal.  

Curiously, there has been no press release at all on Faleomavaega’s website since his August 21 release making public his letter to Obama.  So nothing formal has been said about his travel even though Radio KHJ-FM News Director Monica Miller has reported that she has been told by his office that he would be home at the end of the month and would stay until after the election.  If he were coming down here to file his candidacy papers personally on Tuesday, it is difficult to imagine he would not also be attending much of the SIDS conference as well and if were coming down for SIDS, it is difficult to imagine he would not be here Tuesday to file his papers.

Soon the mystery should be over.

[Note to readers:  You have until Tuesday to vote in our preliminary poll asking who should replace Faleomavaega in Congress.  Once the Election Office releases the names of those who have qualified for the ballot, we will pull down this list of speculated candidates and replace it with a list of those who will be on the November 4 ballot.]

Democrat Nod Goes to Faleomavaega in a Slick Maneuver

Former Governor Togiola Tulafono (D), a Clinton delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Tua'au Kereti Mata’utia (D), the Governor’s Deputy Senior Policy Adviser and other candidates for Congress who identify themselves as Democrats must have been furious when they learned that the local Democratic Party, which is chaired by a former chief of staff to Eni Faleomavaega, endorsed the ailing House member, who was an Obama delegate to the 2008 convention, for an unprecedented 14th term in Congress in November.

The notice of a July 23 party meeting was in the newspaper but it is unclear if it were billed as a meeting to nominate or endorse candidates for this year’s elections.  Moreover, without access to the party bylaws or rules, there is no way to know what requirements there are for notifying party members and potential candidates that an endorsement meeting will be held, or even if there were any such a requirement at all.

However, it was a slick maneuver in which the party chairman read a letter from Faleomavaega’s district office chairman in his capacity as the campaign committee chairman saying Faleomavaega would be seeking re-election and would like the party’s endorsement.  Had they known about it, Togiola and the others very well might have liked to have competed for that endorsement.   The party chairman then called for a vote and, according to Radio KHJ-FM, the dozen party attendees present (out of 600 people said to be members) unanimously endorsed Faleomavaega for re-election.  Again, without benefit of knowing party procedures, it is not possible to ascertain what constitutes a quorum for such an action.

What makes this move so slick is that Togiola almost surely would have reminded party members of his fealty to Clinton, who is favored to be the party’s 2016 presidential nominee and current front runner for election to succeed Obama, who cannot run again.  Clinton is reported to keep a list of past supporters and Togiola no doubt would have reminded his party mates that he is on it and Faleomavaega is not.

Faleomavaega’s emissary apologized for the delegate not appearing in person, citing the press of congressional business but skeptics continue to wonder if the delegate's continuing health problems prevented his return for the meeting; he has not set foot in American Samoa since suffering an as yet undisclosed illness last October.  His letter, however, does now make it clear who picked up the congressional campaign packet from the election office.

Interestingly, Radio KHJ ran the story of the endorsement meeting while Samoa News did not.  Anyone familiar with Faleomavaega’s looks will see from what is obviously a more recent photograph than KHJ heretofore had been using, that the delegate has lost substantial weight and looks every bit the age of the elderly man now in his eighth decade that he is.

However, Samoa News Editor-in-Chief Rhonda Annesley on August 1 published a signed editorial  that included a public note to the delegate: 

“Eni: At least give those poor six people who have declared themselves as running for your seat some relief. ARE YOU RUNNING OR NOT? And for the voters, WHAT EXACTLY DID YOU SUFFER FROM? A stroke, food poisoning… what are you in ‘re-hab’ for — drugs? Too much ava? Not enough air? WHAT?

"Here’s a thought for all you ‘public’ figures in public offices — WE, THE VOTERS, HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW HOW COMPETENT YOU ARE — MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY — TO CARRY ON YOUR DUTIES THAT WE VOTED YOU IN TO DO!“ [emphasis hers]

Samoa News has been somewhat schizophrenic in its coverage of Faleomavaega since he took ill: sometimes running his press releases as if he were going at full steam in Washington and other times gently raising the health question.  This time, however, it seems that, as the election approaches, the editor has thrown down the gauntlet. So far, there has been no response out of Faleomavaega’s office. 

It also well may be that Samoa News has decided the time has come to hold the delegate’s feet to the fire.  In the comments section of the Internet edition of the paper, under the editorial one reader pointed out that Faleomavaega actually did announce for re-election at the July 23 party meeting.  The webmaster responded “We're well aware the local dems have endorsed Eni, after all the Dem's committee woman is our copy editor (and Eni's sister-in-law). However we have not heard it from the congressman and until we do, it's not a story Samoa News chooses to publish.

In fact the webmaster is correct.  The endorsement request read by party chairman Ali’imau JR Scanlan was signed not by the congressman but by the delegate’s district office director, who also serves as his campaign committee chairman.  How cozy.  The webmaster went on to say that “[w]e assume he will run, but have had no official word. In the meantime, if the PR his office releases is of vital interest and the only source for the info we will publish it, whether he is running or not. That's the advantage of being the incumbent. If it is just propaganda BS we don't use it, whether it is an election year or not. Hey we're not stupid.”

A quick look at recent back issues shows that the paper indeed has not published a number of his press releases, particularly those relating to his foreign affairs work rather than his work for American Samoa.  In one instance, when publishing a story based on his release about a bill passing the Senate that has provisions for American Samoa, Samoa News took the unusual step of editorializing in the headline that it would not likely pass the House, thus taking the wind out of Faleomavaega’s sails.   The headline on the Faleomavaega release read “Senate Passes S. 1237, Omnibus Territories Bill with Faleomavaega's Provisions for American Samoa Included”   but the Samoa News headline read: Omnibus Territories Act passes Senate,unlikely to pass U.S. House.

His release stated “While passage by the Senate is a victory, the Omnibus Territories Act still needs to be passed by the House, and I look forward to working with my colleagues as we try to move this forward.  I will keep the people of American Samoa updated as the matter progresses, and I offer my sincere appreciation to the Senate for supporting the Territories…”   While carrying his quote, Samoa News concluded its story: “GovTrack.us, a website that tracks legislation and legislators in the U.S. government, gives the Omnibus Act a 36% chance of being enacted.”   So, maybe now that the stakes are so high with the election approaching, Samoa News plans to adopt a consistent "get tough" approach to covering him.

So far from Washington, this blog could not be published without access to all the material available on the Internet.   It appears Samoa News realizes it has access to the same resources to check the veracity of Faleomavaega's claims while KHJ now has a Washington correspondent to do the same.   That could be bad news for Faleomavaega, who has gotten away with murder in previous elections, especially if he tries to hide out in Washington until the last moments of the campaign.  He had better hope for a late adjournment of the House or be prepared to explain why he isn't on the first plane back home the moment the adjournment gavel bangs down.

It is also worth pointing out that Faleomavaega gets an extra benefit out of this party’s endorsement that in itself is a story worth Samoa News covering.  The information is all at hand on the Internet.  Under Federal law, candidates for the Congress may take no more than $2,600 from an individual and $5,000 from a political committee per election.   What few people here realize is that in lieu of primaries, nominating conventions and caucuses (such at the Democrats’ July 23 gathering) count as a separate election.  So, all those donors who already contributed the maximum amounts to him earlier this year or last year after he filed for re-election on January 31, 2013 now can again give him their maximum amount again. 

In other words, the individuals who gave him $2,600 already now can give him another $2,600.  According to Federal Election Commission records, he already has amassed over $40,000 in contributions, much of it from maximum donors.  He ought to be able to go back to these same folks and be able to double the size of his treasury overnight.  Keep an eye on the FEC website.

At the same time, those candidates who are running as independents have no intervening election, so their donors will be limited to the maximum amount once only.  Now it becomes obvious why it was so important for Faleomavaega to have the formal endorsement of his party.  Togiola and Tua'au are attorneys.  It would come as no surprise to find that they are looking through the American Samoa Democratic Party rules to see if all the endorsement procedures were followed correctly.  Much is at stake.

Obama Humiliates Faleomavaega; Tuna Interests Seem Clueless; Obamacare also a Problem; The Campaign is Well Underway

Announcement of Zone Humiliates Delegate

Even though he was not on the roster of speakers nor was he anywhere to be seen at Secretary of State John Kerry’s elaborate, international “Our Ocean” Conference, American Samoa Congressional Delegate Eni Faleomavaega, the Ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Asia-Pacific subcommittee, isn’t dead.  Nor is he in a coma and is not even bedridden any more.  Indeed, he has been seen ever more frequently, even if only for photo opportunities, since he first emerged in March from his still unrevealed illness last October.  

In fact, after a nine month and three day absence, he returned to the dais of the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week for a hearing on one of his pet issues: U.S. – India relations.  Watching it from here on the Internet, he appears to have regained some of the weight he lost but he spoke from a prepared statement for his opening remarks, repeatedly stumbling over the text.  Moreover, he seemed listless in the subsequent round of questioning, but he did stay for the entire hearing.

So, he clearly is well enough to consider substantive issues so imagine the humiliation Faleomavaega must have felt when, without any prior consultation with him, President Obama via video announced to the Our Ocean conference that he would be creating the world’s largest  ocean reserve  between American Samoa islands and Hawaii, a move that could have enormous ramifications for the fishing industry that is the foundation of the territory’s private sector.

The program of this year’s annual “Pacific Day” having been set before Obama’s surprise announcement, it does not appear that this embarrassment played any part in Faleomavaega not being on the program of an event he has dominated in years past.  Even though he reportedly put in a brief appearance at the New Zealand embassy at the tail end of the embassy’s “Pacific Day” program and was introduced from the podium, he did not speak nor was he at the earlier seminar that was held prior to the island-style dinner and cultural entertainment.

Rather, Faleomavaega limited himself to issuing a subdued press release.  While gamely playing the loyal foot soldier in the Obama army by saying he appreciated  the President’s "focus on combating threats of overfishing and carbon pollution in the Pacific and their long-term negative effects on the health of our marine ecosystems and the livelihood of our people,” he went on to admit he was “very concerned that the stakeholders, including Territorial Delegates, the House Committee on Natural Resources, and U.S. tuna fishermen and processors, were not consulted in advance about the possible impact some of these initiatives may have on Pacific Island economies, including American Samoa, which is a single-industry economy almost entirely dependent on the U.S. tuna fishing and processing industry.”

Perhaps it gave him some solace—certainly some cover--to point out that he was not the only one caught by surprise but none of the others he named were among Obama’s earliest supporters when as a junior senator in 2008 Obama announced he would challenge Hillary Clinton for their party’s presidential nomination.  It has been nearly six years now since Obama took office and the ailing delegate has little to show for his loyalty to the President. Every election he runs ads listing all the federal funds that have come to American Samoa during his tenure but ninety percent of those programs are formula grants that do not depend on who is representing the territory in Congress.

Obamacare Ruling Another Setback for Faleomavaega

As a matter of fact, Faleomavaega suffered yet another setback this week when the Obama administration took away Obamacare (ACA) from the territories.  He and the other congressional delegates had backed their island governments’ pleas for tailoring the program to their special needs but up until now the response always has been “the law is the law and there is nothing we can do.”  However, some government official discovered the Public Health Service Act definition of “state” had not been broadened to include the territories, so they solved their headache by pulling the rug out from under the islands altogether.

Once again Faleomavaega was forced to put his best face on the disaster by issuing a press release that played down the setback by saying “While I am pleased that a response has been issued, the response falls short of the request put forward by the Territorial Delegates to allow additional time for Congress to reconsider how our constituents could more fully benefit from the ACA.”  The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (WPFMC), which also was not consulted, issued a much tougher press release of its own, in which it said Obama's Marine Monument Expansion "Betrays US Fishermen."  

Even though Faleomavaega said the White House had informed him that Obama “will seek input and comments from stakeholders, including fishermen, scientists, conservation experts, elected officials, and others in the region, to share their views before moving forward with these initiatives,” one WPFMC official lamented that he had never seen one of these zones modified once they had been announced. In other words, this is a done deal.

At the same time on ACA, while the delegate said “I will continue to work with my Congressional colleagues towards resolving our concerns,” he knows full well that his party does not have the votes it did in 2010 when Obamacare passed and he certainly is in no position now to get congressional changes to the law—not even if all the territorial delegates—all Democrats—acted in concert.  If anything, the Republican held House most likely would want to strip Obamacare from the 50 states, not restore the program to the territories.

And that brings us to politics.  If recent trends hold, Republicans will gain, not lose, seats in the House, further relegating Faleomavaega to long-term minority status and prospects look good for the GOP capturing the Senate as well.  So perhaps the best hope he would have to mitigate the commercial damage of the new conservation zone is to enlist a Republican-controlled Congress to find a way to block Obama.  But as a Democrat who has made a career of attacking Republicans, he is hardly in a position to have much influence on that side of the aisle. Nevertheless, Rep. Don Young (R-AK) has offered rollback legislation, but even if passed, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) wouldn’t consider it.

So, considering the fragility of his health and his lack of influence, Faleomavaega could not be faulted for retiring.  Why put up with repeated humiliation at the hands of the President he backed so strongly at the risk of alienating Hillary Clinton?  When the then Secretary of State stopped in Pago Pago a couple of years ago, the then-governor (now one of Faleomavaega’s opponents), Togiola Tulafono, asked her to allow American Samoa to take observer status at the Pacific Islands Forum, a request she granted.  At the same time, Feloemavaega asked her to consider debt relief for Cambodia, a request she ignored.  There may be a reason for that.  While Faleomavaega was an early Obama supporter, Togiola backed Hillary Clinton for the presidential nomination.

Earlier this year, Time Magazine revealed that Hillary keeps an enemies list and quoted a book on Hillary that said “Almost six years later most Clinton aides can still rattle off the names of traitors and the favors that had been done for them, then provide details of just how each of the guilty had gone on to betray the Clintons—as if it all had happened just a few hours before.”  Most likely, as the Pago Pago episode demonstrates, Faleomavaega is on that list.  

So it should come as no surprise that, as  inappropriate as it was in the context of the hearing at which he was speaking in January last year, Faleomavaega tried to extend an olive branch to Secretary Clinton.  CNS reported he “used his time during the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya to essentially give his endorsement for Hillary Clinton to run for president in 2016, saying, ‘I salute you and I look ahead to 2016, wishing you much success and extending to you my highest regards.’"   CNS also noted the irony that while he used his questioning time to open with a political statement, he went on to say “It is no good for any of us to use this tragedy for political gain. This was a terrorist attack, first and foremost.  We must not lose sight of this brutal fact.”   Irony?  Try hypocrisy.

The Campaign Has Begun

Clearly he was trying to desperately make amends with the exiting chief U.S. diplomat but it is likely too little too late.  That time was when he chose to endorse Obama. Yet, by all indications, he plans to push on.  The American Samoa election office has made filing papers available to prospective candidates and six campaigns have picked up petition packets.  The media have identified five candidates who have announced for the seat but the election office has declined to identify who has picked up the six packets. 

While the media for some reason refuse to speculate, it is most logical to believe Faleomavaega supporters have picked up the sixth packet.   Making a formal announcement and holding a campaign kickoff are not required.  Indeed, in 2012 Faleomavaega did neither and still won a solid victory.  As far as federal government authorities are concerned, one becomes a candidate for Congress when one files a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission, and Faleomavaega has done that, albeit prior to his illness.  (Note the timing: Faleomavaega made his endorsement of Clinton on January 23, 2013 and filed his 2014 candidacy on January 31, 2013).  As far as the territorial government is concerned, one becomes a candidate when the papers and sufficient petition signatures are filed and fees paid by September 2.

Tuna Interests Seem Clueless; Or Is It Appeasement?

More telling as to his plans, he already has raised substantial funds since falling ill—over $40,000.  That is more than all than all his opponents combined.   As usual, many of the donations so far have come from big donors with Asian names.  Perhaps surprising, however, he also has attracted a number of large donations from tuna interests.  Surely they knew at the time there was little he could do for them, particularly while still recuperating in bed, but a more likely explanation is they donated to keep him from hurting them, even if he cannot help.

The fishing folks vividly recall Faleomavaega’s harangues against StarKist over the years for paying its executives major salaries while cannery workers have been paid well below the U.S. minimum wage.  And they painfully know his role in promoting the law that is set to bring canneries workers under the U.S. minimum wage.  Then there also is a secret amendment he offered on a Coast Guard authorization bill that would have loosened the rules on tuna boats that could fish Pacific waters under U.S. license without guaranteeing delivery to the territory's canneries.

Even if the media are not connecting all these dots for the voters or even reporting on the candidates who are, you can bet that Faleomavaega’s opponents are working the villages to convince the voters the time has come to thank Eni for his service by retiring him so he can spend his remaining time more fully recovering from illness and enjoying his family. We can only hope they succeed.

Will Faleomavaega Join the Old Bulls Leaving Congress?

Everyone knows that Faleomavaega is a sick man. He has said so himself. Just before the 2012 election Radio New Zealand International reported that he freely admitted that he “has had a double by-pass heart surgery, had his appendix taken out, underwent a knee operation, both his eyes are lasered with artificial lenses and he had high blood pressure, gout and Type 2 Diabetes. He adds it's likely he has been exposed to the deadly chemical dioxin found in Agent Orange while he served in Vietnam."

But, while admitting that he has new health problems from which he is still recovering, he has not yet been as forthcoming about them as he was about his earlier ailments nor has he announced whether he will seek re-election this fall.

Nonetheless, we have clues to the answers to both questions. His office in the few statements made has referred to his “rehabilitation,” a word normally used in connection with a stroke. Indeed, there is widespread belief he suffered two strokes last October. Although he has resumed “limited” office hours, he has skipped countless hearings and caucus meetings since he return. While he has made three appearances on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives where he has spoken without sign of impairment, there is anecdotal evidence that he may be suffering residual brain damage even if his motor skills have fully recovered.

On the question of re-election, the Federal Election Committee reports that his campaign committee is functioning and he has raised $40,000 towards re-election just since taking ill. There is no law, just tradition, that requires him to make any formal announcement. However, he has simply filed the required paperwork before without any formal announcement or campaign kickoff event without any impact on his votes and could do so again. So we will have to keep a close eye on our election office to see if and when he or someone on his behalf picks up a packet containing the petitions that must be circulated and filed before he formally becomes a candidate. The filing period opens July 14 and closes September 2. 

Not only has he missed many normal functions of participating in Congress, there is no evidence Faleomavaega has traveled since becoming ill, other than evacuation from Tutuila to Honolulu, where he was hospitalized at Tripler Hospital, then quietly moved to the Mainland for additional treatment in the west (some say at his residence in Utah; others say at a VA rehab facility in California; perhaps both). Then he returned to Washington in late winter and has remained there ever since. It is also said that his wife, who for many years has lived apart from him first in Nevada and now Utah, has returned to Washington to care for him.

If, indeed, he suffered one or more strokes, it would account for why there is no evidence he has traveled at all by air since returning to Washington. He may be under doctor's orders. We do know that he did not return for Flag Day or Memorial Day, two occasions that no politician ordinarily would dare miss in an Election year. So everyone is waiting to see when he will make his re-appearance. Will he pick up and/or file his own papers? Will he have a campaign kickoff event? Will he participate in candidate debates? Will he run a Curley/Spellman/Johnson type of campaign (James Michael Curley won election in Boston while in prison; Gladys Spellman won in Maryland while in a coma; Tim Johnson won a SD senate seat while hehabing from a stroke)?  Or will he wait as long as possible to assess his health then quietly retire if he, his family, friends, allies and/or doctors decide he no longer is up to the job?

Frankly, one has to wonder why he would want to continue. He is in the Minority and no one believes the Democrats have any chance of resuming control of the House this fall. The earliest date most analysts believe the Democrats can come back is in 2022 after redistricting when Faleomavaega would be pushing 80.  In fact, if anything all indications are that Republicans will gain additional House seats and perhaps enough Senate seats to gain control of the Senate in November. Even in the Majority he, as a non-voting delegate, would have very little opportunity to accomplish very much. Moreover, continuing health problems may force him to curtail if not curtail if not eliminate his extensive foreign travel. Over the past quarter century, it would come as no surprise to find that he has traveled more miles than any other Member of Congress even without counting the miles traveling back and forth from American Samoa.

Unlike the other delegates, he has no legislative record of which to speak and little prospect of building one. His signature bill, the so-called ASPIRE Act, introduced when his party controlled the House, never got reported out of subcommittee and even members of his own party spoke against it in a hearing. Despite his seniority, he was denied the Ranking Member position on the full Foreign Affairs Committee, authority over global environment was stripped from the subcommittee, he has been stripped of his vote in the House Committee of the Whole and the Clerk no longer reports his seniority or that of the other delegates—all Democrats—in the House seniority list. It is shown separately at the end of the list. He also was passed over in favor of a freshmen legislator for the chairmanship of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus despite having served loyally for a number of years as vice chairman to Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA). Adding insult to injury, his place as vice chairman went to another delegate, Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo of Guam.

Despite being on Tutuila at a time then-Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was in Samoa meeting with the region's foreign ministers, he did not travel over there, even though he was chairman of the Asia Pacific subcommittee at the time, because Rice declined to give him an opportunity to address the gathering. And when then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came through Pago Pago a couple of years ago, she ignored his plea on Cambodian debt relief while granting the then-Governor (who will seek to replace him this fall) was granted his request to allow American Samoa to have official observer status at the Pacific Islands Forum in a major reversal of U.S. policy.

His extensive travels over the years frequently have taken him to Bangkok, home of the parent company of Chicken of the Sea brand tuna and Seoul, home of StarKist's parent company. Although he touted those visits as opportunities to meet with American Samoa;s major private sector employers, Chicken of the Sea closed its plant and StarKist's long-term future remains in as much doubt as Faleomavaega's ability to get legislation to protect the company's tax advantages and wage structure. One trip he missed was a U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen even though the global environment was under his subcommittee's jurisdiction at the time. Even though he was chairman, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)--whose political action committee once gave him $10,000 towards re-election (she wanted his caucus vote for Leader)—did not include him in her 21-Member delegation. 

He once got Pelosi to show up at a summit of Pacific Leaders in Washington only to have that triumph go sour when the then-Speaker showed up over a half hour late, annoying the heads of government and others alike, all trapped in an auditorium for the occasion,  They all were there for an evening of food and entertainment--to which Pelosi's appearance was a hastily arranged add-on.

More recently, his continued lack of influence was underscored by President Obama's decision to pick Esther Kia'aina over his choice, Nikolao Pula, as assistant secretary of Interior for insular affairs and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned less than two days after Faleomavaega took to the House Floor to urge him to stay. Indeed, although Faleomavaeva was one of Obama's earliest supporters in his first run for president, there is no evidence Obama ever has returned the favor. Oh yes, Faleomavaega has lots of pictures with the president, but so does every Member of Congress—Republican and Democrat alike. It comes with the job.  One has to wonder if he realizes he is telegraphing his irrelevance by frequently punctuating his remarks with "I've been saying for years . . . " (even if he does not conclude with "but no one listens to me").

He has gone as far as his seniority will take him. Acquiring more now will not advance him further, get him a better office or increase his pension, which topped out at 20 years of service 2009. So why does he go on? We can only surmise that the limelight must continue to outweigh the humiliations, particularly since neither the local media nor his political opponents make any concerted effort to address his record or prospects for future success in Congress. Seemingly, as long as he can continue to flash his pe'a, strum his ukulele, carry a tune and dance, and have enough money to buy a boatload of radio and newspaper advertisements that cleverly list all the federal money that comes to the territory while only implying but being careful specifically not to claim it is due to him, as well feed the voters, there will be enough voters to get him re-elected.

One of the values of seniority is building friendships and alliances to help a Member reach his legislative goals. Much of Faleomavaega's investment in that relationship building process has been lost in the past three years with the retirement of Sen. Dan Akaka (D-HI), the death of Sen. Dan Inouye (D-HI) and the defeat of then-Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA), whose re-nomination Faleomavaega unsuccessfully backed in 2012. The wave of Old Bulls going out has continued unabated this year with the announced retirements of Reps. John Dingell (D-MI), George Miller (D-CA) and Henry Waxman (D-CA), all Faleomavaega allies with whom he serves for many years a fellow member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

The signs are present that other senior Members also may be on their way out. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) has a tough primary challenge this month and Rep. Nick Joe Rahall (D-WV), a Faleomavaega ally who was Ranking Democrat on House Natural Resources, is thought to be in danger of losing his seat in November. All of the aforementioned Members are ex-Members who have or had seniority substantially exceeding Faleomavaega's 13 terms.

Dingell, the longest serving person in the history of the House, will be joined in retirement by Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX), at 91 the oldest person ever to have served in the House. Hall, also the last World War II veteran in Congress, was defeated for renomination last week and the man who beat him said a long career of distinguished service does not entitle a person to a lifetime seat in the House. Watch this video interview for his comments.

Once again, do not expect our local media to present this kind of analysis to the voters for their consideration. However, even if others are hesitant to address the ailing delegate's shortcomings, former governor Togiola is not likely to be so shy. Faleomavaega realizes this so perhaps it will given him impetus he needs to pull the plug and go the way of the Old Bulls before the voters finally show him the door.

Faleomavaega on Hillary’s Hit List?

It recently has been revealed that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been keeping a score card or “hit list” of those who did or did not endorse her in her first run for the presidency in 2008 against Barack Obama.  Please read this PoliticoMagazine story for greater details about the list.

It is no secret that Faleomavaega was one of Obama’s earliest backers while then Gov. Togiola Tulafono endorsed then-Sen. Clinton.  When she came through here as Secretary a few years ago, we all watched carefully as Faleomavaega used his precious time with her on the ground to plead for debt relief for Cambodia while Togiola asked that American Samoa be allowed to seek official observer status at the Pacific Islands Forum—a dream that had eluded several governors before him but was always denied by State.

It also did not go unnoticed on the island that when Mrs. Clinton returned to Washington, nothing further was done on Cambodian debt relief but she did announce that State would change its long-standing policy and allow its Pacific territories to participate at the Forum as observers.

With the odds high that Mrs. Clinton will be the Democratic Party’s nominee in 30 months time, the local Democratic party would do well to hustle Faleomavaega into retirement as quickly as possible so that American Samoa is not disadvantaged under a Clinton presidency.  It could be a lose/lose situation for us: Hillary wins and we get punished because Eni is on her hit list; Hillary loses and we get punished because Republicans control the White House as well as the House.

Here is why the time right for Faleomavaega to put in his retirement papers:

•  he supported Obama over Hillary in 2008 (and as far as we can tell, has gotten nothing for it) and is probably on her hit list described in the Politico article;  

•  he is suffering severe health problems and is no longer up to the job;  even if he were not ill, he now is over 70 years old and while age and wisdom are valued in our culture, not so in Washington; there are few members of the House over 70;  

•  he no longer has Senator Inouye on whom to rely in a tight legislative spot; had the Senator still been alive and been in charge of appropriations on the Senate side, the reduction of Buy America for tuna never would have been in the final appropriations bill and Eni was not around to try to stop it himself;

• the retirements of allies Reps. George Miller and Henry Waxman take away two people on whom he could rely for help in the House (although it was Miller who sandbagged him and continues to sandbag him on minimum wage);

• even if he were healthy, he served on a committee, Foreign Affairs, of little value to us and we have seen no evidence that his service as the senior Democrat on the Asia-Pacific subcommittee has brought us any benefits; he is in and out of places like Seoul and Bangkok all the time but there is no evidence that StarKist or Chicken of the Sea are influenced by him at all;

• he never will serve in the Majority again--ever;  Democrats already pretty much are conceding control of the House this fall, with even the DNC chairman saying so; the earliest that Democrats might return to power in the House is 2022 after the next redistricting; were he still alive and in office, Eni would be approaching 80;  we need someone new to start building seniority now; if you aren't in the Majority, you are nothing; if you are a non-voting delegate in the Minority, you are less than nothing, particularly if you have a worthless committee assignment;

Over the years, Faleomavaega has been one of those who has taken the time to stake out his ground on the House floor so as to be seen on television.  We watched very carefully this year and while we saw the Guam and Virgin Islands delegates well positioned to greet the President as he strode past them on the way to the dais, Faleomavaega was nowhere to be seen.  Even though his office continues to furiously pump out news releases (including one commenting on Obama’s speech), and our local media continue to use them (especially Samoa News, where his sister-in-law is on the editorial staff) as if he were back in his office, we have no evidence to suggest he is in Washington at all.

We have not yet called for his early retirement but if this Buy America problem does not get resolved, then maybe he needs to reconsider.  It is clear that representing American Samoa by press release and letters issued from bed is not doing the job.  It may be time to go.

Woes Mount for Faleomavaega

President Obama can console himself over having a bad week by measuring himself against Faleomavaega, whose horrible year continues. Clearly he is bracing himself for a challenge for reelection by Gov. Togiola, who is barred by law from running for re-election last year.

Not one for much legislative activity over the course of his career, Faleomavaega has introduced or co-sponsored a flurry of bills the past few weeks to bolster his credentials with his electorate and to strengthen his chances for reelection next November. He also has tossed a bone to Organized Labor in an obvious effort to pave the wave for major contributions from the unions to his campaign by publicly endorsing the idea of establishing a workers' union at the local StarKist tuna cannery.

One of his bills would convert long-time resident aliens to U.S. Nationals. Were he to succeed in getting this bill passed, of course, he would have the gratitude of a group of new voters that would be large enough to cement his reelection. However, he knows that this bill has no more chance of passing in the current climate in Washington than did his laughable ASPIRE bill in the last Congress. Readers will recall that even though his party controlled Congress and the White House, he even had fellow party members speak out against the bill, which never passed out of the subcommittee.

The clever Faleomavaega knows that even though Congress is not likely to make it easier for more immigrants to get into the country, many of these long term resident aliens have numerous children born in the territory who now are adults (and all eligible to vote). It is their gratitude he is seeking at the ballot box.

Faleomavaega long has prided himself on being the voice of the Pacific in Washington (when he's there) and an influential senior policymaker. Apparently Hawaii's two House members bought this load of baloney because when the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to abolish the Hawaii-based East West Center, they turned to their Samoan colleague, a member of the committee, to save the day. At a mark up of the bill, the delegate argued against the closure and offered an amendment to retain the institution that was quickly voted down. Needless to say, his arguments fell on deaf ears and it will be up to the two Hawaii congresswomen to try to save the Center when the bill comes before the full House.

Eni has never been especially known for bipartisanship (his Memorial Day press release was filled with invective against Republicans) except in one area: he has roundly criticized administrations of both parties for neglecting the Pacific. Indeed, it is ironic that the U.S. Involvement in the region has decreased as steadily as Faleomavaega's seniority (and, ostensibly, “influence”) has increased over the past 23 years. He even criticized Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for not making visits to the island countries on her Australia and New Zealand trip earlier this year.

As a result of that trip, however, she did send Assistant Secretary Kurt Campbell on an eight-nation mission to the islands. Curiously, there was not a peep out of Faleomavaega about Campbell's trip. No words of praise or anything else. It would be our guess that Faleomavaega wanted to go on the trip but was turned down. So he said nothing either out of pique or embarrassment, just as he said nothing when Clinton's predecessor, Condoleeza Rice, held a summit in Apia with Pacific foreign ministers but declined to let Faleomavaega have any role beyond being a member of her delegation. Even though he was just a few miles away in Pago Pago at the time, he pouted at not being allowed to speak and stayed home altogether. Campbell, a career foreign service officer long active in the Pacific, was aware of this incident and also knows Faleomavaega's reputation as a loose cannon. Most likely he wanted the delegate nowhere near his eight-nation visit.

To add insult to injury, it is his rival Togiola who has scored big on the diplomatic front. When Clinton stopped in Pago Pago on her way back to Washington from her Australia-New Zealand trip, both the governor and the congressman were there to greet her. Despite American Samoa's dire economic straits, Eni used his brief time with the secretary to urge her to give debt relief to Cambodia. In fairness, it should be conceded that Cambodia is part of Clinton's portfolio and American Samoa is not, but the governor wisely used his time to ask the Secretary (whose campaign for president he had endorsed in 2008 while Eni supported Obama) to review the U.S. policy not to permit its territories to seek official observer status at the Pacific Islands Forum.

As far as is known, Cambodian debt relief has gone nowhere but this week Clinton wrote Togiola to advise him she has changed the policy on Forum observer status and, moreover, she has invited to be a member of the U.S. delegation to the Forum next month in New Zealand, where the U.S. will formally ask that body to grant observer status to all its territories. Watch very closely in the next few days for press releases from Faleomavaega's office to see what he has to say about this policy change. Watch also whether he will be part of the U.S. delegation to the Forum.

So, it has been a very bad couple of weeks for Faleomavaega in what has been a very bad year. With the change of control of the House after the November 2010 election, of course, he lost his subcommittee chairmanship in January. To make matters worse, the following month he lost the one House chairmanship he expected to get when Freshman Congresswoman Judy Chu was named chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Since the formation of the caucus many years ago, it always had been a practice to have a Mainland APA in one of the two top positions and someone from the islands (Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa and, more recently, the Northern Marianas) in the other post. Traditionally, the chairmanship rotated annually, with the vice chairman automatically moving up. Guam Congressman Robert Underwood served as vice chairman at one point and then became chairman the following year.

Seven years ago, Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) rotated into the chairmanship but, unlike his predecessors, he continued in the position until this year. All during his chairmanship, Faleomavaega served as vice chairman. So, when Honda announced he was stepping down, Eni was ready to take the gavel but Honda stabbed him in the back by recommending the chairmanship go to the freshman Chu, his fellow Californian and the first woman of Chinese descent to be elected to the House. The stunned Faleomavaega let it be known he would not oppose Chu but it was a huge blow to him. Guam's Madeleine Bordallo took his position as vice chairman. It will be interesting to see if and when she rotates into the chairmanship. If it is any time soon, one might surmise that Honda held on to the chairmanship as long as he did to wait for someone new to be elected to the House while he blocked the unpredictable Eni's ascent to the chair.

The announcement this week by Faleomavaega that he will receive an award from the Japanese American Citizens League for his service in Congress was most likely pushed by the Japanese American Honda as a sop to Faleomavaega for having stabbed him in the back in February. Otherwise, why now? Did the JACL only just discover Faleomavaega after 23 years in Congress?

Perhaps Faleomavaega should count himself fortunate not to have become CAPAC chairman. After all, he was one of Obama's earliest supporters but has received no substantial favors from him in return. He may blame Republicans for wanting to abolish the East West Center, for example, but it was his friend Mr. Obama who had proposed in his own budget to cut the Center's funding in half. In the nearly three years the Hawaii-born Obama has been president, he has seen fit to meet formally with the Congressional Black and Hispanic caucuses but not the APA caucus. At a meeting with staff at the White House just last week, Honda complained about this and Obama's staff finally committed to setting up a meeting. Had Faleomavaega been chair, perhaps such a meeting still would be nowhere on the horizon, giving further evidence of his lack of clout in Washington.

Of course, few people in American Samoa are aware of any of these stories because the local daily newspaper, Samoa News, where Eni's sister-in-law (who also is Democratic National Committeewoman for the territory) is one of the editors. [Can you imagine the howls of protest if any dominant paper in the states had as an editor a member of either party's national committee?] The paper gladly publishes all of his press releases, mostly verbatim, but don't look for any negative stories. Nor is there ever any analysis, tying all these threads together. No, you have to read it here if you are going to read it at all.

Togiola Upstages Faleomavaega with Hillary Clinton

Following his recent re-election, Faleomavaega decided to stick around the island for awhile, because Secretary of State was due through for a refueling stop on the final leg of her recent trip through Asia.  Faleomavaega, of course, is still chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific until January 3, 2011, when he will lose that post as his party sinks into the minority in Congress.  According to press reports, Faleomavaega used the little time he has with Clinton during her 90 minute stop to raise the matter of the Cambodian war debt while Governor Togiola stuck to issues of much more concern to American Samoa.  He was able to extract out of the secretary a promise to look into allowing American Samoa to have observer membership in the Pacific Islands Forum, a desire that every American Samoa governor has had going back to Peter Coleman.   He also asked her to devise a means to allow American Samoa to participate in U.S. policy making on APEC issues, especially fisheries.

Some observers believe this may be the opening salvo in a 2012 congressional campaign that would pit the two men against each other.  Togiola is term limited and cannot run for governor again.  Even though Faleomavaega has won 12 times, Togiola knows he remains vulnerable.  While all the other delegates to Congress long since have consolidated their constituencies, Faleomavaega consistently has had reasonably close races in good Democrat years and bad.   This was a bad year for Democrats but he had his subcommittee chairmanship and seniority to argue for another term.  Now he loses the gavel and probably his vote in the Committee of the Whole.  There also is a real possibility Republicans will abolish the Natural Resources subcommittee on insular affairs.

From his perch as governor, expect Togiola over the next two years to set up situations where he can emphasize how little Faleomavaega has actually accomplished in Congress for American Samoa and, as he did with the Clinton visit, show how he concerns himself with American Samoa issues while Eni is still focused on Asia.  I am sure it did not hurt this time that Togiola was an early Clinton supporter in the 2008 presidential primaries while Faleomavaega was an early Obama backer.  So far, Faleomavaega's Obama connection has gotten him nothing out of the Obama administration.   Stay tuned.

Communist Group Credits Faleomavaega

Saying “His call for Washington to assert its own position on Fiji and other regional matters now appears to have received a favorable hearing in the State Department,” the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), through its official World Socialist Website, has credited American Samoa congressional Delegate Eni Faleomavaega with playing the key role in changing the U.S. government’s position on dealing with the Fiji dictatorship.

The ICFI is the international Communist organization that follows the Marxist teachings of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, a leading rival to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin until Stalin had him assassinated in 1940. Although Faleomavaega was for years a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, from its inception in 1991 until he quietly dropped out when his membership threatened to become a campaign issue earlier this decade, and the caucus has ties with Democratic Socialists of America, it is unclear what ties, if any, Faleomavaega may have with the ICFI or other Trotskyite organizations.

Nonetheless, in addition to his vigorous defense of Fiji military dictator Commodore Frank Bainamarama, Faleomavaega also has been cozy with autocratic leaders in Kazkhstan, Laos and Vietnam, the last where he praised Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi a couple of years ago.

As evidence of the shift in U.S. policy, the ICFI in the article points to

• Obama recently issuing a personal statement marking the 40th anniversary of Fijian independence;

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton including the Fiji Foreign Minister in an hour-long meeting in New York with senior Pacific leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in later September;

• Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell’s testifying before Faleomavaega’s subcommittee that “Our objective is to put Fiji back on track for . . . elections no later than 2014,” tantamount to endorsing a timetable which now puts “Washington . . . at odds with Canberra on this question:”

• the U.S. recently announcing it will re-establish an AID mission in Suva after a 15-year absence;

• State Department opening a new multi-million dollar regional embassy in Suva;

• The U.S. government issuing no comment on the arrest of former Prime Minister and current Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry, “on spurious charges of breaking an emergency decree . . .”

Faleomavaega no doubt approves of all these developments. At the hearing at which Campbell testified, he said “Clearly, the Australian and New Zealand policy of sanctions and isolating and punishing Fiji has not only failed but totally been counterproductive. For too long we effectively outsourced our policymaking toward the Pacific Islands to Australia and New Zealand. “

“Unfortunately,” he continued, “the sometimes imperious attitudes and actions of our friends in Canberra and Wellington toward the Pacific Islands have fostered a degree of resentment and distrust that has limited their influence as well as their ability to represent US views and interests . . . By deferring to the foreign ministries of Canberra and Wellington, we left a vacuum in the Pacific that China has been only too eager to fill.”

Given Faleomavaega’s closeness to Communist China in recent years, it is unclear why he is expressing concern about China’s activities in the Pacific and the article in this publication sheds no light on that.

Over Obama, Clinton Objections, Faleomavaega Casts Deciding Vote on Genocide

Faleomavaega has continued to stake out his maverick course in dealing with the Obama administration by recently voted for a House Foreign Affairs Committee resolution that, if passed by the full House, would put Congress on record calling for Turkey to acknowledge and apology for a genocide imposed on its Armenian minority during World War I. Turkey over the years has refused to accept that it conducted such a genocide.

Although Faleomavaega is not very influential in Congress, he does have a full vote in committee and in this case his vote turned out to be very influential, because it was the tie breaker in a 23-22 vote in favor of the resolution. President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have signaled to House speaker Nancy Pelosi that they hope the resolution will not be put to a test on the Floor of the House.

For someone who represents a constituency that is so reliant on the federal government for assistance, Faleomavaega is either very brave or very foolish to buck the White House so often. His genocide vote comes only weeks after he condemned the very same Obama and Clinton for failing to include meetings with Pacific Island leaders on her maiden trip to the region. That trip was truncated in Hawaii because of the Haiti earthquake and despite promises by Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary for the region, at a recent Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that Clinton would include island leaders on her rescheduled trip, it is by no means certain she will do so, especially if Faleomavaega continues to pummel the administration.

In addition to the genocide vote and the criticism of the Clinton trip, at the same hearing Faleomavaega complained to Campbell that the 176,000 dollars U.S. has given Communist Laos to clear around 80 million bombs that failed to detonate during the Vietnam was grossly insufficient. "This is absolutely outrageous,” ranted Faleomavaega, “and it's not the America that I would think of." He continued: "They never declared war against us. We're the ones that just simply went over there and bombed the heck out of them." But Campbell stood his ground, insisting that while both Vietnam and Laos want better relations with the U.S., much needs to be done in the area of human rights and democracy before real progress can be made. Once again, the ultra liberal Faleomavaega seems to turn a blind eye to such matters when it comes to his favorite left-wing and right-wing dictatorships.

Meanwhile, there has been no word out of the White House as to whether Obama will accept Faleomavaega’s invitation to visit American Samoa on his return from Indonesia-Australia trip later this month. He leaves for the Pacific in just nine days’ time: March 18. Rahm “The Enforcer” Emanuel no doubt is weighing Faleomavaega’s behavior towards Obama in the deliberations. Perhaps that is what Faleomavaega hopes to achieve: carve out an independent course and use that as an excuse if Obama declines to visit the territory. It’s all part of the Washington game. And the voters likely will rally around Faleomavaega for the discourtesy Obama would have shown. Never mind any discourtesies Faleomavaega might have shown the White House.

Faleomavaega Continues Assault on Clinton

Despite the backlash caused by his intemperate public attack on President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for Clinton ignoring the small Pacific Islands in her first visit to the region, which was truncated by the Haiti earthquake, Faleomavaega appears intent on continuing the assault, regardless of the consequences.

At a recent appearance before Pacific Island students at the University of Utah, according to a story in the Utah Daily Chronicle, he "expressed discontent with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent trip to Asia, during which she passed over a visit to the islands, which he referred to as “fly-by diplomacy.”

The Chronicle quoted the delegate as saying “We have developed a new policy for the Pacific,” referring to a lack of interaction between American Samoa and the United States. “This is sad, but true.”

The Chronicle did not report if he reminded students that as chairman of the House subcommittee on Asia, Pacific and the Global Environment, he shares in the responsibility for developing American policy to the region. In a recent story in Samoa News, the local Republican Party of American Samoa pointed out that American involvement in the Pacific Islands has declined in direction proportion to the rise of Faleomavaega's seniority and supposed influence in Congress.

Has anyone in the media asked the delegate when the last time Clinton has had a private meeting with him to discuss U.S. policy in the region and issues over which his subcommittee has jurisdiction. Not Samoa News, where his sister-in-law is one of the editors. But apparently not the Utah Chronicle either. They headlined their story "Delegate stresses ties to culture for Pacific Islanders." The issue of U.S. involvement in the Pacific was buried in the story's 10th paragraph, right at the end.

As yet, no one seems to have connected the dots. Lisa Williams and the rest of his press staff back in Washington can give themselves another High Five.