Del. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (D) Elected 1988, 8th term
Born:	Aug. 15, 1943, Vailoatai
Home:	Pago Pago
Education:	Brigham Young U., B.A. 1972, U. of CA, LL.M. 1973
Religion:	Mormon
Marital Status:	married (Hinanui)
Elected  Office:	AS Lt. Gov., 1984-89.
Military Career:	Army, 1966-69 (Vietnam).
Professional Career:	A.A., U.S. Del. from AS, 1973-75; Cnsl., U.S. House Interior Cmte., 1975-81; AS Dpty. Atty. Gen., 1981-84.
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American Samoa has elected a delegate to Congress since 1980. Delegate Eni F. H. Faleomavaega is a Democrat first elected in 1988. He went to high school in Hawaii, to Brigham Young University, then to law school in Houston and Berkeley; he served in Vietnam in the Army. In the 1970s he worked on the Natural Resources Insular subcommittee staff and for Utah Democrat Gunn McKay. In 1981 he became deputy attorney general of American Samoa, and in 1985 lieutenant governor.

Faleomavaega (he uses his last name in his press releases, rather than the first name used to refer to Samoan chiefs) serves on the Resources Committee, where he has been ranking Democrat on three subcommittees--Native Americans and Insular Affairs in January 1995; National Parks and Public Lands in January 1998; Fisheries, Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans in January 1999. He is also a member of International Affairs and ranking member on its East Asian and the Pacific Subcommittee. Faleomavaega worked to improve conditions at the StarKist tuna plant and to get the British Ceramic Tile Company to make the largest investment in American Samoa since the canneries were built decades ago. He led the congressional protest against the French nuclear tests in the Pacific, and was stopped by the French for approaching the French nuclear testing site at Mururoa Atoll and imprisoned in Tahiti in 1996. In September 2000 he met in Washington with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and discussed the political strife in Fiji between island natives and the descendants of Indian laborers; he said it was not solely a racial conflict, but was rooted in colonialism.

Faleomavaega has expressed fears that American Samoa will be threatened by an "invasion" of Asian small businessmen, comparing it to Fiji. With help from Senator Daniel Inouye and Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha, Faleomavaega got into the October 1998 omnibus budget free transportation on military aircraft for veterans approved for VA health care in Hawaii; in July 2000 he complained that the VA was not cooperating and only one veteran had flown to Hawaii. In late 2000 he urged American Samoa veterans to enroll as a first step in establishing a VA medical clinic in American Samoa. In January 1998 he congratulated two Samoans who played in the Super Bowl, Maa Tanuvasa of the Denver Broncos and Esera Tuaolo of the Atlanta Falcons; he hailed other Samoan athletes, professional wrestler Dwayne Johnson, known as "The Rock," and heavyweight fighter David Tua, and helped arrange for the November 2000 championship fight between Tua and Lennox Lewis to be seen on free TV in American Samoa. In 2000 Faleomavaega's Fisheries Subcommittee passed bills to increase funding for coral reef preservation, to transfer a NOAA research vessel to the American Samoa government for future transport of cargo and passengers to the Manu'a islands and to prohibit the practice of shark finning in American waters. In December 2001 he expressed fears that expanding the Andean Trade Preference Act to include tuna would result in StarKist moving its cannery from American Samoa to Ecuador, where wages are much lower; a company spokesman said it had no intention of leaving. When Guam's Robert Underwood in February 2002 amended the National Sea Grant college program in the Resources Committee to earmark money for five colleges in the northern Pacific, Faleomavaega offered and then withdrew an amendment to earmark $2 million for American Samoa Community College and the University of the Virgin Islands (presumably to get Donna Christian-Christiansen's vote). When the Science Committee considered the bill a month later, Vern Ehlers's motion to delete the Underwood amendment passed by voice vote. In August 2002 Faleomavaega and three Florida congressmen asked the Justice Department to investigate the shooting by a Pasco County Sheriff's deputy of a woman with many relatives in American Samoa. That month he also appeared at a House Resources Committee hearing in Pago Pago, where members--Chairman Jim Hansen of Utah, Dan Miller of Florida, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Dennis Rehberg of Montana and Anibal Acevedo-Vila of Puerto Rico--reviewed Interior Secretary Gale Norton's comprehensive report on American Samoa's economic and development needs, prepared over the last two years.

In three of the last four elections, Faleomavaega has failed to get 50% of the vote and has been forced into runoffs, which are held two weeks later; he has argued for a longer interval, since two weeks is not enough to get ballots to and from Samoans serving in the U.S. military. On Election Day 2000 he won 46% of the vote, to 30% for Independent Gus Hannemann and 22% for Republican Aumua Amata Coleman. There was some bitterness here: Faleomavaega had endorsed Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris in his September 2000 primary against Hannemann's brother, Honolulu Councilman Mufi Hannemann. In the runoff two weeks later Faleomavaega won 61%-39%. In 2002 he faced Fagafaga Langkilde, Tufele Lia's running mate in the 1996 governor election and a former chairman of the territory's Democratic party, and, once again, Aumua Amata Coleman. Faleomavaega talked of his accomplishments in Washington, Fagafaga Langkilde said he would take "us to a level where the interests of American Samoa will once again be put at the top of our political agenda" and Aumua Amata Coleman said she would work on "bread and butter" issues like education, jobs, vocational training and health care. On November 5 Faleomavaega got 41% of the vote, Langkilde 32% and Coleman 27%. Faleomavaega stayed on island for the two weeks of the runoff campaign, thereby missing the November 14 Democratic Caucus where Bob Menendez defeated Rosa DeLauro for Caucus chairman by one vote (he would have voted for Menendez); given the infrequency of flights to and from American Samoa, there was no way he could have attended the caucus meeting and done any campaigning. Staying home paid off: He won the runoff 55%-45%. Fewer votes are cast in American Samoa than in any other House race--10,393 on November 5 and 9,042 in the runoff.

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DC Office
2422 RHOB 20515, 202-225-8577; Fax: 202-225-8757; Web site: www.house.gov/faleomavaega

State Offices
Pago Pago, 684-633-1372.

Committees

• International Relations (4th of 23 D): Asia & the Pacific (RMM); Western Hemisphere.
• Resources (3d of 24 D): Energy & Mineral Resources; Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife & Oceans.
• Small Business (5th of 17 D).