Eni Faleomavaega

Faleomavaega and former president of the Marshall Islands Kessai Note.

Faleomavaega, a superdelegate, announces the distribution of American Samoa's delegate votes as part of the roll call of the states during the third day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Faleomavaega was elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives in 1988, serving from January 3, 1989 until January 2015.[5] As a delegate, he has worked to receive more federal funding for his home territory, particularly for health care and other essential services. He has opposed free trade deals involving meats and seafood, as nearly one-third of his territory's population is involved in the tuna industry. He proposed legislation that would allow residents of US territories to vote in presidential elections if they are active duty members of the military.[6] Faleomavaega also participated in a boycott of Jacques Chirac, who made a speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress in 1996, due to French nuclear testing in the Pacific.

Faleomavaega was a member of the following committees in the House of Representatives:

• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
  • Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs

• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus

Faleomavaega has said that it is more opportune if the United States could refrain from interfering in internal affairs of Sri Lanka. He took the initiative of briefing members of the Sub Committee on Asia and the Pacific of the US House of Representatives in this respect.[7]

In 2012, both Faleomavaega and Togiola Tulafono, American Samoa's Governor, called for the populace to consider a move towards autonomy if not independence, to a mixed response.[8][9]

Faleomavaega was known for his vocal support of Bahrain's monarchy during the Bahraini uprising. One of Faleomavaega's top campaign donors, William Nixon, is a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist whose firm, Policy Impact Communications, founded the pro-monarchy Bahrain American Council.[10] He has taken various paid trips to Bahrain to meet with that country's rulers.[11]

On March 31, 2017, President Donald Trump signed H.R. 1362 into law. H.R. 1362 names the VA clinic in Pago Pago, American Samoa, the "Faleomavaega Eni Fa'aua'a Hunkin VA Clinic."[12] The bill was sponsored by Delegate Amata Coleman Radewagen, Faleomavaega's successor as representative from American Samoa, and co-sponsored by five others.[13]