Faleomavaega Still Finds Ways to Travel

When the Democrats took over Congress in 2007, it meant at long last Del. Faleomavaega (D-AS) would find himself in the majority with enough seniority to be given a subcommittee to chair.  Not that he lacked the means to travel earlier in his career (how many Members do you think have visited Thursday Island in the Torres Straits once, let alone twice?), but as various waves of reform have swept over Congress in the past quarter century—especially in the wake of the Abramoff scandals, the rules have been drawn tighter and tighter around the travel process.

But giving Eni a gavel meant giving him a budget, and that was like sending a child into a candy store with a couple of bucks to spend.  To make his travel life even sweeter, House Democrats even tacked onto his portfolio “Global Environment,” which gave him license to travel anywhere his heart desired.  So, when there was unrest over land rights in Rapanui, an integral part of Chile, thus not under the jurisdiction of the foreign affairs committee, there was no question in our mind that the roving delegate would find a rationale to make his way there anyway—and he sure did.  One place he did not go, however, was Copenhagen for a U.N. conference on climate change.  Speaker Nancy Pelosi took a planeload of House members but somehow the chairman of the subcommittee overseeing “Global Environment” got left off the manifest.

But we digress.  The National Journal magazine has published an article titled “How Lobbyists Still Fly Through Loopholes” and it should not surprise anyone that our South Pacific flyboy is among the Members of Congress featured.  Says the Journal: "It's widely believed that the 2007 rewrite of congressional travel rules spurred by the scandal that sent lobbyist Jack Abramoff to prison banned such international dalliances. But that's far, far from true. A National Journal investigation has found that despite efforts to clip the wings of congressional travel planned and paid for by special interests, lawmakers are again taking flight. Indeed, the reality is that lobbyists who can't legally buy a lawmaker a sandwich can still escort members on trips all around the world.”

NJ outlines the various ways lobbyists get around the rules and focused on a trip to Taiwan in 2012 as one example.  On their travel reports, two Democrats each listed Fu Jen Catholic University as the sole sponsor of their $27,000 week long journeys.  What's more, the itinerary said that Faleomavaega joined Reps. Boren and Ross for large chunks of the trip. But Fu Jen didn't pay for Faleomavaega's free trip the Taiwanese government arranged it through the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act (MECEA) program.

The 1961 MECEA law allows foreign governments to shuttle members of Congress and their staffs abroad if the State Department has approved the destination nations for "cultural exchange" trips. About 60 countries have such clearances. Despite the 2007 post-Abramoff travel law, lobbyists are still able to plan and attend these MECEA journeys.

“How did trips planned and paid for by a private university so seamlessly mesh with one planned and paid for by the government,” asks the Journal?  “Fu Jen and the Taiwanese government wouldn't say. They declined to answer specific questions.”  

Readers of this blog will remember our April 3, 2012 post which covered a report in the ProPublica investigative news service, which focuses on ethics in government.  They reported that Faleomavaega traveled to Bahrain under MECEA funding at the behest of a friend who was a Bahrain lobbyist.  We speculated that the exposé could hurt him in his bid for the full committee ranking member slot and ultimately he was passed over for the position, even though eventually he did throw his lobbyist friend under the bus to try to save himself by reversing his position on Bahrain.

So it is no surprise that Faleomavaega was able to maintain his brutal travel schedule when he sank back into the minority in 2011 and "Global Environment” was eliminated from the Asia-Pacific subcommittee, to which he returned as (and remains) Ranking Minority Member.  Considering he, himself, spoke of his poor health during his 2012 re-election campaign, almost boastfully acknowledging having had knee, heart and eye surgery, as well as being diabetic, having high blood pressure and other ailments, including being obese, it then came as no surprise either that it was during travel that he suffered what appears to be a stroke in October.  He still has refused to confirm his medical condition but his office has not refuted it was a stroke. 

Ironically, it was on one of his rare trips back to American Samoa that he fell ill and had to be medivaced back to the states.  He can be thankful it did not happen on Thursday Island, Rapanui, Kazakhstan, Mururoa Atoll, the jungles of West Papua or any of the other exotic haunts he frequents.  MECEA or not, the only flying he seems likely to do doing at any time soon will be from Utah to Washington, DC.  Whether lobbyists can come up with a creative way to cart around the world a delegate who now adds stroke to his list of ailments remains to be seen.

SECRET OF FALEOMAVAEGA TRAVEL FUNDING REVEALED

It is no secret that Faleomavaega loves to travel. Going back to his days as lt. governor of American Samoa, he always has been on the road (or at sea or in the air) for a significant portion of each year. He once spent six weeks aboard a sailing canoe while in office (but the governor was said to be glad to be rid of him).. He is one non-voting delegate who probably was not unhappy about being stripped of his privilege of voting in the Committee of the Whole on the Floor of the House because his record of absenteeism is otherwise not recorded. One year, he was the most absent member of the entire House.

It would have been worse when he took over the chairmanship of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific in 2007, to which was added jurisdiction over the “global environment” to give him license to wander all over the world for the ensuing four years, but he got the gavel about the same time post-Abramoff reforms were put in place, so having access to the committee’s purse strings was insufficient to sate his wanderlust (over the course of his tenure he even has visited Thursday Island twice; not once but twice. It is an obscure island in the Torres Straits and is a domestic part of Australia--thus not part of Faleomavaega’s responsibilities at all).

When he returned to the minority after the 2010 election, we expected he would be more Washington-bound but were amazed that not having access to the committee travel budget did not seem to slow him down at all. Besides having no travel budget he also lost his floor vote again but that also freed him of any responsibility to stay in Washington and he could step up his travel if he could find a way. With reforms in place, we did not think he could but we were wrong.

Thanks to another investigation by ProPublica, we have learned that Faleomavaega can travel abroad under a little known 1961 law called the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act (MECEA). That act must bring tears of joy to his eyes because, under its provisions, he does not need to disclose his travel expenses at all. His little trips to Bahrain were covered under MECEA, which is how ProPublica discovered it. They stumbled over it in search of Faleomavaega’s relationship with a Bahrain lobbyist.

Once again do not hold your breath waiting for Samoa News, American Samoa’s daily newspaper, where his sister-in-law, who is the territory’s Democratic National Committeewoman, is an editor, or KHJ-FM, the one radio station that has local news programming, to cover this story. They both are in the tank for the delegate. The station’s news director seems enamoured with his seniority. The previous ProPublica story was buried in the online edition of the paper as an “opinion” piece (which it is not) and the radio never mentioned it all. This second story did not get even so much as a link.

It is curious that Faleomavaega has not hit back at either story but maybe he is still traveling, since the House is in recess and he has not been forced to react to any local treatment of the stories. Maybe he has decided instead to try quietly to explain his actions to his caucus leadership in order to preserve his leadership position on the committee and the possibility of rising further.

This being a national election year with the House up for grabs, you can bet there are campaigns all over the country (but probably not in American Samoa) that are furiously trying to piece together congressional travel under MECEA. ProPublica says it will be a time consuming process. If you want to read about this bubbling scandal, you can read ProPublica here.

Faleomavaega Bahrain Story May Ease Path for Dem Decision on His Future

If Faleomavaega follows past practice, he will go after ProPublica tooth and nail over the Pulitzer-Prize-winning on-line investigative journal’s revelation that the Samoan delegate’s ties to a Washington lobbyist may be prompting his choice of causes. If he chose to ignore it, there probably would be few consequences at home, where the biggest threat to his re-election—the outgoing governor, already has taken himself out of the running.

Moreover, Faleomavaega continues to be protected by the local media, with the territory’s only daily newspaper, Samoa News, as we predicted, buried the Bahrain story in its on-line edition with a hyperlink in the opinion section, not the much more widely read news section. That the story has been little noticed so far is evident by the absence of any on-line reader comments. Compounding difficulties in gaining traction, Faleomavaega’s sister-in-law is an editor and occasional correspondent for Samoa News, which seems not to notice she also is the territory’s Democratic National Committeewoman.

Both she and Faleomavaega, of course, will be delegates to the Democratic National Convention this summer, where they can high-five each other at their success at keeping bad news from the Samoan public.

However, the reason Faleomavaega can be expected to strike out against the Bahrain story is that left unchallenged the piece could fatally damage his aspirations of becoming the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In so doing, he would become the first non-voting territorial delegate ever to chair a full committee and his prospects for achieving that distinction (and that place in history) have risen considerably with the retirement of Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), one of the two House members ahead of him on the panel, and the electoral difficulties of the other.

A poll reported just yesterday by the Roll Call newspaper shows the committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), losing his re-election bid to fellow Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) at this point. The two congressmen, who were thrown together into a new district by the California redistricting process, will face off in a June 5 primary in which the top two finishers, regardless of party, win face each other in November. Both men are well ahead of other challengers and are expected to survive the June tilt.

In the event Sherman does defeat Berman in November while Democrats are regaining control of the House, incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) would face the immediate decision of whether to elevate Faleomavaega to the chairmanship; but even if her party falls short of capturing control, as Minority Leader she still would need to decide whether to allow Faleomavaega to succeed Berman as Ranking Minority Member. To do so would make it much harder to dislodge him at a future election in which Democrats would become the ruling party again.

This Bahrain story could make it much easier for her to tap someone like Rep. Elliott Engel (D-NY) for the top slot, particularly since Engel actually is just above Faleomavaega in caucus seniority (thanks to the alphabet—they both came into office the same day); he ranks below Faleomavaega on the committee because he joined it later.

So, Faleomavaega cannot afford to let this story go unchallenged. He is with a congressional delegation in Bahrain at this moment so it may be a few days before his response is issued. That is probably a good thing for him because in the past he has shown a proclivity for having knee-jerk reactions to unfavorable stories in the press. He really needs to have a cooler head this time because ProPublica is not some right wing blog put out by some pajama-clad zealot on his laptop in his bed but a well financed, well regarded, lower Manhattan-based, Pulitzer-prize-winning organization that employs a number of Pulitzer-winning investigative journalists and partners with some the country’s most powerful publications that carry its reports, including the New York Times, The Washington Post and television’s 60 Minutes program.

Readers who want to learn more about the credibility of ProPublica can watch this speech on YouTube delivered by its top editor, Paul Steiger. Steiger, who has a 41-year journalistic track record that concluded with 15 years as managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, acknowledges that some skeptics question ProPublica’s political leanings because its founders and some of its other major funders are linked to prominent liberal organizations. However, if anything, their integrity on this heavily sourced story is reinforced because Faleomavaega himself is a Liberal Democrat who in fact was a founding member of the far left Congressional Progressive Caucus (although after initially defending his membership in response to a critical story in a regional newsmagazine, he quietly left the group a few years ago).

Faleomavaega’s challenge, then, is to effectively rebut the ProPublica story without attacking the organization in a way that would cause a backlash against him. Clearly, we think the pages of this blog provide plenty of leads to other questionable actions on his part over the years. Those who have the resources are welcome to start digging.

Watch Kaptur Struggle for Clues on Faleomavaega

It does not take a rocket scientist or a Capitol Hill insider to get a feel for the internal politics of Congress. You can be thousands of miles away from Washington and all you need is a Google news alert for the right subjects and publications and contact numbers for or e-mail addresses of a few staffers in the House to get a sense of what is happening. Rep. Marci Kaptur (D-OH), fresh off her primary victory over Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), may have an even tougher battle ahead to ascend to the top Democratic slot on the House Appropriations Committee. As this story points out (http://thehill.com/homenews/house/216873-pelosi-looms-over-contest-for-top-slot-on-approps),
Despite Kaptur’s seniority Nita Lowey (D-NY) will challenge her and Nancy Pelosi will have a lot to say about who gets the position. If Democrats retake the House, the winner of this caucus battle will become the chair of the very powerful Appropriations Committee.

In a previous post, we made the same point about Faleomavaega, who will be in line to take the top Democratic seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee if the current Ranking Democrat, Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), loses his primary to Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) in June. Both the Berman-Sherman and Kaptur-Kucinich primaries are a result of census-mandated redistricting in their states.

There are several signs that Faleomavaega would not have an easy path to the chairmanship, starting with precedent that would be set in giving a full committee chairmanship to a non-voting delegate. This situation has not arisen in the past because the other delegates all have departed Congress before the question arose. By contrast, Faleomavaega keeps hanging on.

The question may not arise this year, either, because Berman very well could hold on to his seat and there is no guarantee Democrats will regain control of the House. Still, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi might not want to let Faleomavaega have the ranking position because it would be more awkward to dislodge him if her party regains control in two or four years’ time.

Of course, Faleomavaega has to win reelection, too, but that seems likely. If Pelosi is forced into having to make a choice, there are some signs that point to trouble for the delegate. First, when he was chairman of the House foreign affairs subcommittee on Asia, Pacific and Global Environment [emphasis added], he was not included in a 20+ member House delegation led by Pelosi to an international global warming conference in Denmark a couple of years ago. This is viewed by some as a sign of her low regard for Faleomavaega. Some believe global environment was added to his portfolio primarily as a way to keep him away from Washington by letting him justify his world-wide travels as being environmentally related and give him access to a congressional budget to fund his wanderings.

Second, after years of loyal service as Rep. Mike Honda’s (D-CA) vice chairman of the Asia Pacific Congressional Caucus, when Honda stepped down he stabbed Faleomavaega in the back by endorsing a freshman California House member to succeed him. Rather than face embarrassing defeat, Faleomavaega stepped aside in his quest for the chairmanship and his vice chair slot went to another junior territorial delegate, Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU), leaving him out in the cold altogether.

Third, there is pressure on all Democratic House members to pay dues (make contributions) to the House Democratic Campaign Committee to help elect more Democrats to the House as this story points out: http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/217495-dccc-has-no-room-for-deadbeats. Faleomavaega typically has relied on a handful of big contributions from Asia-American donors on the West Coast to win re-election and likely does not have additional resources to make any large contribution to the campaign committee.

Finally, there is another House member available who could take the Foreign Affairs position without it appearing someone junior was jumping over the delegate. Rep. Elliot Engel (D-NY) is behind Faleomavaega in committee seniority because he joined the panel later than the delegate did but actually is just ahead of him in overall seniority in the Democratic Caucus.

Nancy Pelosi won’t be paying much attention to all of this until after June 5 and then only if Howard Berman loses. And even then there won’t be much press attention, given the lack of importance of the committee. So, people looking to see what Pelosi might do should watch what happens with the Kaptur-Lowey battle. Because there is so much at stake in appropriations, that one will get much more press attention.

Faleomavaega Blasts ABCDEFGroup Blog

We have been highly critical of the local media in American Samoa for its "inadequate" coverage of our wandering Congressman, Faleomavaega Eni, who seems to be everywhere in  the world but Washington or American Samoa most of the time.  We have long felt the leading news outlets have given him a pass for his foibles and indiscretions, especially Samoa News, where his sister-in-law is an editor.  Most of the controversies in which he has been involved seem to get sept under the rug.

So, it was a pleasant surprise to see the leading radio news organization, Radio Station KHJ-FM raise questions about some of the campaign money he has raised, based on our report, even if the story were centered on Faleomavaega's condemnation of us for our report.  See: http://www.talanei.com/viewNews.php?storyID=4371.  Give Faleomavaega credit for his ability to divert attention from controversy by attacking his adversary.  Regrettably he sucked KHJ into the diversion.  Instead of condemning our report, he should have attacked the Project of Government Oversight (POGO), the source of our story.  We did not raise the question of whether his campaign contributions might be tied to his support for the dictatorship in Kazahkstan.  POGO did.  We only reported what POGO suggested.   But of course, it makes more sense for him to attack us, since we have an admitted bias against him, rather than attack POGO, which is a respected non-partisan, non-profit organization that has no agenda.

Nevertheless, we salute KHJ-FM for bringing this important story to the attention of the public.  As for Samoa News, we will give them a half salute for carrying a buried link to this story in their on-line edition.  They may not have swept it under the rug but they did manage to push it into a corner.  Until they do their job and carry this sort of news up front in their A section, we will continue to give them a big raspberry for pro-Faleomavaega bias.   It hardly comes as a surprise not only because his sister-in-law is an editor while also serving as Democratic National Committeewoman for the territory, a fact we do not recall seeing ever having been disclosed (she does byline some stories), but because the paper has a leftist bias.  It is no secret Faleomavaega is on the left of the Democrat Party and was a charter member of the socialistic Congressional Progressive Caucus and Samoa News often carries editorials and op-ed columns by such left wingers as Paul Krugman.

KHJ wrote: "Faleomavaega  commended POGO for championing good government but said at no time has the group contacted him to inquire about the Central Asia Caucus, or the contributions mentioned.  Neither has the ABCDEF Group or Samoa News which posted the story on its website."
Let us note for the record that at no time did Faleomavaega contact us to refute POGO's story, either.

Business as Usual for Faleomavaega while American Samoa Sinks

If proof ever were needed that Samoa News, the territory's only independent daily news source, has not a clue what is going on around it, the paper's recent coverage of Faleomavaega's latest travel provided it.  While the Governor was in Washington fighting a last ditch effort to get federal assistance for the territory's tanking economy--with unemployment now over 20%, Samoa News was headlining Faleomavaega's "speaking out" about the need for Pacific Island countries to be included in trade talks between Australia, New Zealand and the U.S.

Was he doing so from his office in Washington, between meetings and appointments with the governor and federal policymakers?   No.  Eni was on his latest and one of his most inappropriate trips abroad: for a conference in New Zealand focused on U.S.-New Zealand commercial relations and a quick dash to Australia to discuss intellectual property rights.  Nowhere in the paper, at which his sister-in-law is an editor, can a question be found about why it was necessary for him to be on this trip while his governor was in Washington trying to save the territory in the face of sharp reductions in federal spending.

Adding further insult to injury, the nine-member congressional delegation of which he was a part, stopped in American Samoa to refuel in both directions, pausing only long enough for a quick ride into town on the return leg of the trip.   Not for lack of trying, the Governor no doubt will come home empty-handed.  Eni was back in Washington in time to take his seat last week at a House oversight hearing on territorial issues but his major contribution was to rebut the Governor's contention that the rise in the minimum wage was the major factor in the territory's economic crisis.

One wonders if they even met at all. 

Faleomavaega already has announced he will be traveling to South Korea.

Faleomavaega Takes On New Cause: Rapa Nui

Stripped of his floor vote, stripped of his committee chairmanship and reduced in personal office budget, Faleomavaega has to be more clever than ever this year to keep up his frenetic pace of travel and he already may have found a way.  Congress always has set aside funds for Members to return home during recesses to connect with their constituencies.  Faleomavaega rarely has gone home during these recesses over the years, preferring instead to use the time to travel abroad on a series of adventures.

But last week, to the surprise of many, he showed up in Pago Pago.  The local leaders must have been stunned.  And he also signaled what may be his next big cause: Rapa Nui landowners.   To give him some cover, he had Hawaii Senator Daniel Akaka (D), himself a native Polynesian, cosign a letter to the President of Chile expressing concern over current unrest of Rapa Nui natives over land issues.

So, while we are unsure how he will find the funding, as a minority party non-voting delegate to the House, to go to Rapa Nui, we do expect any day to read about him being on the island locking his arms in solidarity with the native people.

Bet on it.  Take it to the bank.

TRAVEL CURBS WON’T STOP FALEOMAVAEGA

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced a tightening of the rules to curb congressional travel abuse as Democrats head into what looks to be a bad year for majority incumbents, but the new restrictions are unlikely to slow the pace of Faleomavaega, whose time on airplanes borders on insanity.

Among other reforms Pelosi has announced http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/new-rules-for-congressional-travel/, House Members now will be required to travel economy class on flights less than 14 hours. It is unclear from news accounts if the time threshold applies to total time between departure and arrival cities or time on each segment. In the former case, Eni is well covered because most of his Asian destinations are longer than 14 hours away total travel time.

If the restriction is per segment, Eni easily can get around that by flying non-stop to places like Hong Kong or Bangkok in business class then travel economy from one of those hub cities to his final destination. Rest assured, this restriction will not affect his travel one bit.

The speaker also is requiring more documentation for the rationale of committee-arranged trips, known universally as CODELs--short for Congressional delegation. It is not clear if this documentation will be available for public scrutiny but the media in American Samoa have shown little interest in the whereabouts or the whys of the delegate’s travel and there has been no public clamor for the information. Frequently he announces that he is “on assignment” in Asia without ever revealing who is making these assignments, so perhaps this new documentation will shed light on that. Samoa News, where his sister-in-law is an editor, dutifully prints his press releases and the public believes he is on some sort of "assignment."

The new rules also reminded lawmakers that government travel per diem is to be spent for official business and that excess money must be returned. The rules prohibit lawmakers from taking aides from their personal offices along or from putting aides temporarily on the committee payroll to get around the restriction but it would be difficult to determine if Eni heretofore has abused the system in these regards. Faleomavaega routinely apportions some of his staff salaries between his personal office and the Foreign Affairs Committee, but it is not clear whether this is to get around travel restrictions or just to hide the true salaries of some of his staff.

Pelosi also made clear that the costly use of military aircraft would be limited and that to qualify for one of the scarce jets, lawmakers must be traveling on a bipartisan basis and have enough colleagues traveling to justify a government plane. Despite his seniority and position, Eni has not been very successful in obtaining the use of military aircraft, so this new rule should not pose any difficulties for him.

The only rule change that might have made a difference is if Pelosi had required any sort of certification of a member’s health. For years Faleomavaega has had serious health problems and periodically has had to have been hospitalized. In addition to obesity, he has had heart problems, circulatory problems, halitosis and foot problems, including suffering from gout. It has been rumored that on his last trip to American Samoa for Flag Day last month he was so ill he had to be hospitalized and missed the ceremonies.

He reportedly was wheeled to the plane in a wheel chair for the return trip to Washington, was again hospitalized in Honolulu and finally again in Washington, which may have been the reason why he was absent in a photograph of all the other territorial delegates standing behind President Obama when he signed an Executive Order re-establishing an Interagency Group on Insular Affairs.

Perhaps it is illness that also has led to his silence so far on the 40% reduction of work force StarKist announced Friday for its American Samoa cannery. Faleomavaega recently made a point of announcing he had flown to Seoul to meet with the cannery owners and was given assurances that the company did not intend to close its facility in the territory. Perhaps not at the moment, but the handwriting is on the wall.

Sick or not, you can expect that just as soon as he is able to do so, Faleomavaega will be back on another plane to Seoul to hold further meetings with StarKist. The congressional Memorial Day recess is only two weeks away. Count on the travel. In fact, expect there to be a travel frenzy the rest of this year because it increasingly looks like Republicans will be taking control of Congress in November elections.

Republican control will not slow the pace of Faleomavaega’s travel but it will restrict his freedom to choose where he goes. Right now, he can go anywhere in the world because his subcommittee has jurisdiction over not only Asia and the Pacific but “global environment.” The word “global” must have brought tears to his eyes when the Foreign Affairs Committee chairman agreed to give him that responsibility. Most recently he held a hearing on “saving the whales,” although there is another subcommittee that has responsibility for fish, wildlife and oceans. So, I am sure we can expect to hear about Eni’s globetrotting adventures in search of rare whales.

But even if he will not be able to call his own shots if Republicans control the House, the bipartisan requirement will remain. During their 12 years in the majority, a number of Republicans found great value in having Faleomavaega around because they knew he was always available to join a CODEL and that gave them the bipartisan cover they needed to put trips together. Meanwhile, now that there is a new requirement for travel justification, it would be interesting to see how he might justify a third trip to the remote Torres Strait Islands. We'd settle for seeing how he justified the first and second trips.

In short: if he’s breathing, he’s traveling.

Faleomavaega attacks Japanese leader; decries vestige of imperialism

At a March 17 hearing of his own Asia-Pacific subcommittee called to examine U.S.-Japan relations, Chairman Faleomavaega in his opening statement attacked Japan Prime Minister Hatayama for his “financial scandals and uneven leadership,” which he says are among the reasons his popularity has deteriorated steeply since his election last year.  So unpopular is Hatoyama that “only one-quarter of voters say they plan to cast their ballots for the party in July’s Upper House elections,” asserted the combative chairman.

He also recalled that the Ryukyu Islands, of which Okinawa is a part, was once a sovereign kingdom that was annexed by Japan and remains a vestige of Japanese imperialism.   He also said Okinawans “face discrimination throughout Japan.”  During a visit to Tokyo in January, Faleomavaega said the wishes of the Okinawan people should be given priority in deciding the dispute over the future of the U.S. military presence on the island.

Here is the relevant text of Faleomavaega’s statement:

The burdens the Okinawan people have shouldered on behalf of the alliance should not be underestimated. With less than one percent of Japan’s land area, Okinawa is host to two-thirds of the American forces based in the country. We should also remember that Okinawa, once the sovereign Ryuku [sic] Kingdom, was forcibly annexed by Japan in 1872, and that during the Battle of Okinawa, one-third of its inhabitants died. To this day, Okinawa remains a vestige of imperialism as it languishes behind the rest of the country economically and educationally, and its people face discrimination throughout the [sic] Japan.

In dealing with the Futenma relocation issue, we must not neglect this history. Politically, we must also recognize that Prime Minister Hatoyama’s approval ratings have deteriorated steeply from almost 80 percent when he took office to 30-40 percent now, largely as a result of financial scandals and uneven leadership. Even worse for the DPJ, only one-quarter of voters say they plan to cast their ballots for the party in July’s Upper House elections.

After Faleomavaega finishes liberating West Papua from its Indonesian oppressors, one wonders if he plans to turn his attention north to pry the poor, subjugated Okinawans away from their Japanese masters.

Meanwhile, Congress is on Easter recess and most House members have returned to their Congressional Districts to explain what Obamacare will mean for their voters.  Not Eni, of course.  He contented himself with issuing a press release, which Samoa News dutifully ran, and headed off to Taiwan to meet with President Ma, who has just concluded a six-nation swing of the South Pacific.  So far, no mention of this trip in Samoa News, where his sister-in-law serves as an editor.

FALEOMAVAEGA CHAMPION ISLANDER JUNKETEER TO ISRAEL

In the wake of the travel scandal that has forced U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel to stop down from his post as chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs has published a study of congressional trips to Israel funded by the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF), which is considered an independent entity from its parent group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which self-identifies as “America’s Pro-Israel Lobby.”

The AIEF was established to get around the congressional prohibition on corporate sponsored travel that Congress imposed on itself following the Jack Abramoff scandals. Rangel was admonished by the House ethics committee last week for traveling to the Caribbean under corporate sponsorship, although he insisted he was unaware of whop bought his ticket.

The whole report can be read here: http://www.israel-palestinenews.org/2010/03/congressional-junket-front-page-news.html but we thought it would be more useful to compare the non-voting delegates and the Hawaii delegation to put the travel into some sort of perspective.

It will come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog that despite having any responsibility for U.S.-Israeli relations, Faleomavaega is by far the biggest recipient of AIEF funds for travel to Israel. Although he only took two trips on AIEF’s nickel, they were beuts, averaging over $16,000 per trip. Runner up was Hawaii Rep. Maizie Hirono, who spent $12,000 of AIEF’s money for a single visit to Israel.

Madeleine Bordallo, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, took only one trip but, at $6,600, it cost only about half of Hirono’s junket. Hawaii Senator Dan Akaka’s one trip was even cheaper at $4,600. These were the only four who took any AIEF sponsored trips at all. The other six did not travel to Israel at AIEF expense. All 10 are Democrats. Here are the figures:

Abercrombie, Neil (D-HI 1) $0.00 0
Akaka, Daniel K (D-Hawaii Senate) $4,610.00 1
Bordallo, Madeleine Z (D, GU-AL) $6,599.15 1
Christian-Christensen, Donna (D-VI AL) $0.00 0
Faleomavaega, Eni F H (D-AS AL) $32,598.15 2
Hirono, Mazie K (D-HI 2) $12,258.26 1
Norton, Eleanor Holmes (D-DC AL) $0.00 0
Inouye, Daniel K (D, HI Senate) $0.00 0
Pierluisi, Pedro (D-PR AL) $0.00 0
Sablan, Gregorio (D-MP AL) $0.00 0

Of course, you can expect Samoa News, where Faleomavaega's sister-in-law is an editor, will sweep this under the rug but it really wouldn't matter because his constituency would be proud to know their champion has once again stuck it to the man. You go, Eni!

Critics of Faleomavaega Visit to Hmong Camp Persist

Faleomavaega’s travel blitz covering Asia, North Africa, Europe and the Western Pacific over the past six weeks has been so truly breathtaking in his scope it is difficult to remember that one of his first stops was Laos, where he pronounced returning Hmong refugees free from persecution in their repatriation camp outside the capital. Early on he was denounced for turning a blind eye to the real situation and even though he is long gone and on to other issues, the criticism persists.

However, that testimony has not pacified many observers concerned about the status of the recently repatriated Hmong. Writing for Worldnet Daily, Anthony C. LoBaido says Faleomavaega’s “testimony has not pacified many observers concerned about the status of the recently repatriated Hmong.”

LoBaido notes that Amnesty International contends Thailand's deportation of the Hmong "violated [Thailand's] obligations under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which provides that state parties must not send people to countries where they risk torture. The government also claimed, after holding them [the Hmong] for three years in arbitrary detention in constant fear of forcible return, that the Hmong agreed to return to Laos voluntarily. In fact, the Thai authorities told them that they would be resettled to third countries only if they first agreed to go back to Laos."

The U.S. ambassador to Thailand wrote in the Bangkok Post that "All the refugees we interviewed in Nong Khai told us on December 28th, that they did not wish to return to Laos, clearly indicating that the return was involuntary. The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program was available to consider referrals of individuals from this community. This was clearly articulated repeatedly by U.S. officials. Both the UNHCR and the Royal Thai Government had, indeed, determined that many among this population were in need of protection. And the United States, along with many other countries, stood ready to provide third-country resettlement as an option, but this course was not allowed."

Like the People’s Republic of China and Vietnam, two other governments Faleomavaega likes to champion, Laos is a Communist dictatorship. One has to wonder what it is about communist dictatorships that Faleomavaega finds so appealing, especially when so many other people see things that seem to escape his attention.

The complete Worldnet story can be found at http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=124605.

We are not holding our breath that Samoa News to cover this continuing story or anything else about his travel. At this point, we would settle for the paper to simplyh inform its readers that over the past six weeks, the delegate has visited Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Morocco, Spain, Austria and Palau in three separate junkets, with very little time in Washington, which, supposedly, is his duty station.

Faleomavaega in Travel Frenzy; Voters Unaware

Once again, we have to use the internet and other methods to find out what is or is not going on in Washington or other parts of the world as it involves American Samoa or our leaders because Samoa News, the primary source of information on this island, DOES NOT INFORM ITS READERS.

Oh yes, we are getting a blow-by-blow report on the trial and now jury deliberations of our lt. governor and one of our senators, but the Governor is in Washington for a whole bunch of important meetings, including the National Governors’ Conference, the Pacific Basin Development Council, the Coral Reef Task Force, congressional hearings and who knows what else. This week all the territorial governors are in DC because of the NGA meeting, which includes a meeting with the President and a dinner at the White House. So a lot of other organizations hold their meetings (and congressional hearings) to take advantage of everyone being there.

Therefore, this week over the years has become one of the busiest and most important for island officials. Has Samoa News ever told us that? No. Will they tell us what is going on this week? Doubtful. Most likely they will wait for the governor’s return and the issuance of a press release. Or, if the governor doesn’t hand one out, they will wait for his radio report to the people, take notes from that and write a story about the radio program. Seriously.

And with this week being as important as it is, all the island delegates in Congress can be expected to be in place, right? Most will be. How about American Samoa? After all, Faleomavaega has his “crucial” ASPIRE bill in the works. You would think he would want to take this opportunity to brief the governor and enlist his support to get the bill moving. You would think he also would want to accompany the governor to the PBDC and Coral Reef meetings so he can follow up with initiatives in Congress. You would think he would want to partipate in an oversight hearing by a subcommittee which he is the senior member of.

Then there is the matter of Faleomavaega’s quite public invitation to President Obama to visit American Samoa on his way back from Australia, which he will visit after Guam and Indonesia next month. Surely he will want to coordinate efforts with his governor, since the governor will be seeing the President twice, once at a White House dinner and again the next day at a White House meeting with governors only. Needless to say, this is the best opportunity to press the case for a stop, which is optional at best since Air Force 1 does not need to refuel between Australia and the U.S. Mainland.

Now, we don’t have any more access to information than anyone else, so we can only speculate. But we can do some fundamental calculations based on time, distance, airplane speeds and access to information on the internet, the same information everyone else has, including Samoa News. In a February 19 CSCE press release, Faleomavaega was quoted making a statement at an interparliamentary meeting in Vienna, Austria that day. The National Governors’ meeting starts Feb. 20 and ends Feb. 22.

Other meetings follow all this week, including two hearings conducted by the House insular subcommittee. One of those hearings, at which the governor surely will testify, is on Feb. 24. It is the Oversight Hearing on the President's Fiscal Year 2011 budget requests for the Office of Insular Affairs. That is the office that funds our ASG operating budget and that is also the subcommittee that has jurisdiction over Faleomavaega’s ASPIRE bill that has gone nowhere since the hearing on it last fall. This is also the chance to brief Congress on the tsunami last September and the urgent need for additional federal assistance. Under the circumstances, no hearing could be more crucial to us.

Yet, I have a PINA news story that says Faleomavaega has accepted an invitation to be the keynote speaker at a Tuna Policy Summit in Palau on February 25. Given the distance to Palau from Washington and adding the international dateline as a factor, it is difficult to see how Faleomavaega can attend two House hearings on the 24th and give a speech in Koror on the 25th. We will be watching the hearings on the internet to see if he is there. It is also hard to imagine he got back to Washington from Vienna in time to have any serious meetings with the governor before the governor went off to be with the president on February 21 and 22.

If there is a verdict in the lt. governor’s trial, you can bet that the Samoa News special correspondent covering the trial will have that result flashed back to Samoa News immediately but while he is waiting, do not expect him to cover any of what I have recounted above. Even if he did file a story, you could bet that Faleomavaega’s sister-in-law, who is one of the editors, would be certain that its readers remained ignorant of their delegate’s outright dereliction of duty. All they know is that he has invited Obama to American Samoa. Never mind whether Obama actually shows up. The fact that Faleomaveaga invited him proves to them how influential he is. It’s not results that count and it’s not even effort that counts. It’s perception of effort is all that matters. Give us a break.

FALEOMAVAEGA ON NORTH AFRICA, EUROPE JUNKET

Tiring of public criticism over their frequent breaks during the year, Congress some years ago renamed their recesses “district work periods” to more accurately reflect what Members were doing during the times Congress was not in session. Right now they are in the midst of the Presidents’ Day district work period and, being an election year in which voter anger at incumbents is extraordinarily high, most Members indeed are back home pressing the flesh and tending to constituent needs.

Most.

But not all.

The American Samoa Fono (legislature), which is part time and only meets for 60 days in two sessions per year, just happens to have resumed its first session of the year. What marvelous timing, because it gives Faleomavaega an opportunity to report to the legislature the progress of his ASPIRE bill designed to dissuade the territory’s remaining tuna cannery from pulling out. There are a whole host of other issues as well and since the President has just submitted his FY2011 budget to Congress, it is timely to make sure the needs of the local government are reviewed so Faleomavaega can have fresh input on the appropriations process on their behalf.

Surely one would expect Faleomavaega to be on hand. After all he sacrificed being in his seat in Washington when his party took charge of Congress in January, 2007 so he could be on hand for the ceremonial opening of the Fono that year. Even though by so doing he was out of town when new Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a flick of the wrist ordered Rep. George Miller to add American Samoa to the minimum wage bill that was first order of business (H.R. 2). Besides, Faleomavaega is just back from an extensive trip to Asia.

Oh, wait. We forgot. Faleomavaega is not in Pago Pago but in Morocco on his way to Spain to visit a naval base and hold bilateral talks. Then it’s off to Austria to participate in a parliamentary meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Hmm. We checked the committee roster and, nope, he’s not on the subcommittee that deals with North Africa-Middle East issues. And, nope, he is not on the Europe subcommittee. And he’s not on the subcommittee that deals with international organizations. Maybe this is his consolation prize for being left out of the Speaker’s delegation to Copenhagan for the U.N. Conference on Climate Change last year—even though that is precisely an issue over which his subcommittee does have jurisdiction.

Even though he will miss the Fono, his Europe meetings should be over in time to get him back to Washington to confer with his governor, who arrives over the weekend for the winter meeting of the National Governors Association and several other groups that will be meeting while all the governors are in town.

Wait until the Fono reads about this in the territory’s only daily newspaper. They will be enraged and so will the voters. Oh, I forgot. They won’t know about this because Samoa News, which carefully protects the dear traveling congressman, won’t tell anyone. Faleomavaega’s sister-in-law, an editor at the paper, will see to that.

And so it goes.