[House Hearing, 108 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
H.R. 2010, TO PROTECT THE VOTING RIGHTS OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED
SERVICES IN ELECTIONS FOR THE DELEGATE REPRESENTING AMERICAN SAMOA IN
THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
=======================================================================
LEGISLATIVE HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
__________
Serial No. 108-73
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Resources
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/
house
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Committee address: http://resourcescommittee.house.gov
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COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES
RICHARD W. POMBO, California, Chairman
NICK J. RAHALL II, West Virginia, Ranking Democrat Member
Don Young, Alaska Dale E. Kildee, Michigan
W.J. ``Billy'' Tauzin, Louisiana Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, American
Jim Saxton, New Jersey Samoa
Elton Gallegly, California Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii
John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee Solomon P. Ortiz, Texas
Wayne T. Gilchrest, Maryland Frank Pallone, Jr., New Jersey
Ken Calvert, California Calvin M. Dooley, California
Scott McInnis, Colorado Donna M. Christensen, Virgin
Barbara Cubin, Wyoming Islands
George Radanovich, California Ron Kind, Wisconsin
Walter B. Jones, Jr., North Jay Inslee, Washington
Carolina Grace F. Napolitano, California
Chris Cannon, Utah Tom Udall, New Mexico
John E. Peterson, Pennsylvania Mark Udall, Colorado
Jim Gibbons, Nevada, Anibal Acevedo-Vila, Puerto Rico
Vice Chairman Brad Carson, Oklahoma
Mark E. Souder, Indiana Raul M. Grijalva, Arizona
Greg Walden, Oregon Dennis A. Cardoza, California
Thomas G. Tancredo, Colorado Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam
J.D. Hayworth, Arizona George Miller, California
Tom Osborne, Nebraska Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts
Jeff Flake, Arizona Ruben Hinojosa, Texas
Dennis R. Rehberg, Montana Ciro D. Rodriguez, Texas
Rick Renzi, Arizona Joe Baca, California
Tom Cole, Oklahoma Betty McCollum, Minnesota
Stevan Pearce, New Mexico
Rob Bishop, Utah
Devin Nunes, California
Randy Neugebauer, Texas
Steven J. Ding, Chief of Staff
Lisa Pittman, Chief Counsel
James H. Zoia, Democrat Staff Director
Jeffrey P. Petrich, Democrat Chief Counsel
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C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on Wednesday, October 29, 2003...................... 1
Statement of Members:
Faleomavaega, Hon. Eni F.H., a Delegate in Congress from
American Samoa............................................. 3
Prepared statement of.................................... 5
Letters and resolution submitted for the record.......... 12
Pombo, Hon. Richard W., a Representative in Congress from the
State of California........................................ 1
Prepared statement of.................................... 3
Statement of Witnesses:
Sunia, Hon. Aitofele, Lieutenant Governor, Pago Pago,
American Samoa............................................. 9
Additional materials supplied:
Fuimaono, Hon. Lutu Tenari S., President of the Senate,
Legislature of American Samoa,Letter submitted for the
record..................................................... 24
Radewagen, Amata Coleman, National Committeewoman for
American Samoa, letter submitted for the record............ 25
LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON H.R. 2010, TO PROTECT THE VOTING RIGHTS OF
MEMBERS OF THE ARMED SERVICES IN ELECTIONS FOR THE DELEGATE
REPRESENTING AMERICAN SAMOA IN THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
----------
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Resources
Washington, D.C.
----------
The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 2:10 p.m., in Room
1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Richard W. Pombo
[Chairman of the Committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Pombo, Rehberg, Faleomavaega,
Inslee, Tom Udall of New Mexico, Grijalva, and Bordallo.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE RICHARD W. POMBO, A REPRESENTATIVE
IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
The Chairman. The Committee on Resources will come to
order. The Committee is meeting today to hear testimony on H.R.
2010, a bill to protect the voting rights of members of the
Armed Services in elections for the Delegate representing
American Samoa in the U.S. House of Representatives, and for
other purposes.
Under Rule 4(g) of the Committee rules, any oral opening
statements at hearings are limited to the Chairman and Ranking
Minority Member. This will allow us to hear from our witness
sooner and help members to keep to their schedules. Therefore,
if other members have statements, they can be included in the
hearing record under unanimous consent.
On behalf of the full Committee, I would like to welcome
everyone in attendance today, and specifically our witness. We
are fortunate to have with us today an individual from American
Samoa who should be able to better inform us about their
election laws and his thoughts on the effects of enacting H.R.
2010.
Our full Committee hearing today will focus on legislation
introduced by my colleague from American Samoa, Mr.
Faleomavaega, who has worked on crafting this legislation for
years. We will hopefully be able to directly address the two
related issues that the bill presents: an interest in
protecting the voting rights of members of the Armed Services,
as well as making the Delegate representing American Samoa be
subject to an election by a plurality vote.
When discussing the issue of voting rights of the members
of our Armed Services, the war in Iraq presents us with a good
example. Thousands of men and women are in the Middle East and
across the globe protecting our country from further attack
while encouraging the new-found freedom of others. Congress has
recognized the importance of ensuring their right to vote, even
when on active duty in foreign countries, when it passed the
Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act in 1986.
Specifically this legislation requires that the States and
territories allow certain groups of citizens, including members
of the United States uniformed services, to register and vote
absentee in elections for Federal offices.
Further, under an executive order from 1988, the
Presidential designee for the administrative responsibilities
associated with the legislation is the Secretary of Defense. In
turn, the Secretary of Defense has assigned the work of
protecting the right to vote by these soldiers to the Federal
Voting Assistance Program. The FVAP actively monitors the voter
registration and absentee voting opportunities provided to the
members of the Armed Services. The issue at hand today, though,
is in part how effective this Act is applied to American Samoa.
In 2001 the General Accounting Office released a report
saying that the voting assistance to military and overseas
citizens should be improved. Our hearing today will hopefully
shed some light on the effectiveness of the current law for
those members of the Armed Services from American Samoa and how
can it can be changed if necessary. We must also remember the
extent of the current powers offered under the existing law.
At this time under section 105 of the Uniformed and
Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the Attorney General is
authorized to bring civil actions to enforce the law. This
typically occurs when the FVAP notifies the Department of
Justice that there is a risk that some overseas voters may not
have time to return their ballots in the time allotted by the
State or the territory.
Even as recently as last year, two more cases were decided
where it was discovered the local laws were prohibiting people
from exercising their right to vote.
H.R. 2010 also makes a change in current law to provide for
the election of the Delegate by a plurality vote instead of a
majority vote in runoff elections that take place quite often.
I am hopeful that our witness today can inform the Committee of
the structure of the elections in American Samoa, with the
understanding that the election for the Delegate is written in
Federal law.
Further, any potential change as provided for in Mr.
Faleomavaega's bill that is in part subject to decisions made
at the local level is an issue that should be examined.
I thank the Lieutenant Governor for flying across numerous
time zones to be with us today in Washington, D.C., and look
forward to his testimony.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Pombo follows:]
Statement of The Honorable Richard W. Pombo, Chairman,
Committee on Resources
The hearing will come to order. Good morning.
On behalf of the full Committee, I would like to welcome everyone
in attendance today and, specifically, our witness. We are fortunate to
have with us today an individual from American Samoa, who should be
able to better inform us about their election laws and his thoughts on
the effects of enacting H.R. 2010.
Our full Committee hearing today will focus on the legislation
introduced by my colleague from American Samoa, Mr. Faleomavaega, who
has worked on crafting this legislation for years. We will hopefully be
able to directly address the two related issues that the bill presents;
an interest in protecting the voting rights of members of the Armed
Services as well as making the Delegate representing American Samoa be
subject to an election by a plurality vote.
When discussing the issue of voting rights of the members of our
Armed Services, the war in Iraq presents us with a good example.
Thousands of men and women are in the Middle East and across the globe
protecting our country from further attack, while encouraging the
newfound freedoms of others. Congress has recognized the importance of
ensuring their right to vote even when on active duty in foreign
countries when it passed the Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee
Voting Act in 1986.
Specifically, this legislation requires that the states and
territories allow certain groups of citizens, including members of the
United States Uniformed Services, to register and vote absentee in
elections for Federal offices.
Further, under an Executive Order from 1988, the presidential
designee for the administrative responsibilities associated with the
legislation is the Secretary of Defense. In turn, the Secretary of
Defense has assigned the work of protecting the right to vote by these
soldiers to the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP). The FVAP
actively monitors the voter registration and absentee voting
opportunities provided to members of the Armed Services.
The issue at hand today, though, is, in part, how effective this
Act is applied to American Samoa. In 2001, the General Accounting
Office released a report stating that the ``voting assistance to
military and overseas citizens should be improved.''
Our hearing today will hopefully shed some light on the
effectiveness of the current law for those members of the Armed
Services from American Samoa, and how it can be changed if necessary.
We must also remember the extent of the current powers offered
under existing law. At this time, under Section 105 of the Uniformed
and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the Attorney General is
authorized to bring civil actions to enforce the law. This typically
occurs when the FVAP notifies the Department of Justice that there is a
risk that some overseas voters may not have time to return their
ballots in the time allotted by the State or Territory.
Even as recently as last year, two more cases were decided where it
was discovered the local laws were prohibiting people from exercising
their right to vote.
H.R. 2010 also makes a change in current law to provide for the
election of the Delegate by a plurality vote instead of a majority vote
and runoff elections that take place quite often.
I am hopeful that our witness today can inform the Committee of the
structure of elections in American Samoa, with the understanding that
the election for the Delegate is written in Federal law. Further, any
potential change as provided for in Mr. Faleomavaega's bill that is, in
part, subject to decisions made at the local level is an issue that
should be examined.
I thank the Lieutenant Governor for flying across numerous time
zones to be with us today in Washington, D.C., and look forward to his
testimony.
______
The Chairman. At this time, I'd like to recognize Mr.
Faleomavaega.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, A DELEGATE IN
CONGRESS FROM AMERICAN SAMOA
Mr. Faleomavaega. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I also would
like to offer my personal welcome of the distinguished
Lieutenant Governor of American Samoa, Mr. Aitofele Sunia, and
certainly I am very, very appreciative of his taking the time
to travel all the way here to Washington to be a witness for
this hearing this afternoon.
Mr. Chairman, I want to personally thank you and also our
senior Ranking Member, Mr. Rahall, for holding a hearing on
H.R. 2010, a bill I introduced after consultation with local
leaders to protect the voting rights of active duty members
whose home or residence is American Samoa.
As you know, this matter is not new to the people or the
Legislature of American Samoa. The truth is that this matter
has been before the people and our local leaders for the past 5
years now. Since 1998, I have written to our Governors, past
and present. I have written and testified before our local
legislature. And I would like to ask that the copies of my
testimony, my letters, and local responses be made part of the
record.
The Chairman. Without objection.
Mr. Faleomavaega. I have also brought this matter to the
attention of my constituents through press releases,
newsletters, radio and television programs. In fact two years
ago, I conducted a congressional survey, and approximately 85
percent of those surveyed agree that American Samoa's active
duty members in the service, in the military, should be
afforded the same rights and privileges as every other American
serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Unfortunately, American Samoa's military men and women have
been disenfranchised, in my opinion, from the political process
and have been denied the right to vote in Federal elections
held in the territory. In part, this has been due to two
complications. One, American Samoa law has until recently
required uniformed and overseas voters to register in person,
and this has been contrary to the Uniformed and Overseas
Citizenship Voting Act of 1975.
While I am pleased that as of last year our legislature has
addressed the registration process to make it easier for
military members to register for local and Federal elections,
our uniformed and overseas voters have also been denied their
right to vote as a result of a public law that was passed in
1978 by the Congress. This public law provides that the
Territory of American Samoa is to be represented by a nonvoting
Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives and mandates that
if no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, that on
the 14th day--that is, two weeks after the first election--that
such a runoff election shall then be held between the
candidates receiving the highest and the second highest number
of votes cast.
Like the Governor of American Samoa, The Honorable
Tulafono, I believe that this 1978 Federal law requiring a
runoff election to be held only 14 days after the general
election creates, as Governor Tulafono says, and I quote, a
situation where it is virtually impossible for the American
Samoan Election Office to send out absentee ballots to the men
and women in the military and expect to receive them back in
time for those votes to be counted in runoff elections. This is
especially also true with the college students.
Given that our mail is delayed and our air service limited
to two flights a week, the Governor and I agree that some
measure should be put in place to assure that the voters--the
votes of our military men and women are counted and that this
injustice be corrected.
Actually, Mr. Chairman, in 1977 I worked on the legislation
which the late Congressman Phil Burton introduced to provide
that the Territory of American Samoa be represented by a
nonvoting Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. As a
young Hill staffer then for Congressman Burton, I was
instructed to draft legislation to provide for the election
also of American Samoa's Governor as well as the Delegate. The
law that governed this election and the operation of his office
were as a result of a bill that was passed by the Fono, and I
am referring specifically to the Office of the Governor.
It should also be noted that at that time the appointed
Governor, whose name was Owen Aspinall, signed a bill into law
despite U.S. Department of the Interior's opposition to having
American Samoa be represented here in the U.S. House of
Representatives. In fact, Governor Aspinall signed the bill as
a way to get back at the Department of the Interior for not
extending his term as Governor.
While this bill allowed for the local representative in
Washington, it did not provide for a representative to the U.S.
Congress, because the Fono and the local government had no
authority to enact Federal legislation. And this is the reason
why the Paramount Chief Tui Manu'a and High Chief Lutali,
although they served as delegates representing the territory of
Washington, but they were never officially members of the U.S.
House of Representatives--in fact, it was High Talking Chief
Fiti Sunia that was duly the first elected Congressman
representing American Samoa in 1980.
I want to say that in the interest of time I want the full
substance of my statement to be made part of the record, Mr.
Chairman.
I would like to say that H.R. 2010 is a historic bill. It
is a bill that immediately restores the voting rights of our
military men and women as well as college students from
American Samoa. It is also a bill that makes clear in no
uncertain terms that the legislature is vested with the
authority it needs that for some time in the future it wants to
hold primary elections, it can pass local law to provide for
that.
H.R. 2010 also protects American Samoa's future in the U.S.
Congress. Without 2010, future delegates could miss out on key
committee assignments and could be ranked more junior as a
result of delayed outcomes of runoff elections. And like
Governor Tulafono, I do not believe that American Samoa's
future should be weakened or disadvantaged. And this is one
more reason why I appreciate the Governor's support of H.R.
2010.
And, again, Mr. Chairman, I thank you for the hearing, and
I look forward to hearing from our Lieutenant Governor.
The Chairman. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Faleomavaega follows:]
Statement of The Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, a Delegate in
Congress from American Samoa
Mr. Chairman, I want to personally thank you and Congressman Rahall
for holding a hearing on H.R. 2010, a bill I introduced after
consultations with local leaders to protect the voting rights of active
duty service members whose home of residence is American Samoa.
As you know, this matter is not new to the people or the
legislature of American Samoa. The truth is this matter has been before
the people and our local leaders for the past five years. Since 1998, I
have written to our Governors, past and present. I have written and
testified before our local Legislature, or FONO, and I would like to
ask that copies of my testimony, my letters, and local responses be
made part of this record.
I have also brought this matter to the attention of my constituents
through press releases, newsletters, radio and tv programs. In 2001, I
conducted a Congressional survey and 85% of those surveyed agreed that
American Samoa's active duty service members should be afforded the
same rights and privileges as every other American serving in the U.S.
Armed Forces.
Unfortunately, American Samoa's military men and women have been
disenfranchised from the political process and have been denied the
right to vote in federal elections held in the Territory. In part, this
has been due to two complications. One, American Samoa law has until
recently required uniformed and overseas voters to register to vote in
person and this has been contrary to the Uniformed and Overseas
Citizens Voting Act of 1975.
While I am pleased that as of 2002 our legislature has addressed
the registration process to make it easier for military members to
register for local and federal elections, our uniformed and overseas
voters have also been denied the right to vote as a result of Public
Law 95-556 passed on October 31, 1978. Federal, or PL 95-556, provides
for the Territory of American Samoa to be represented by a nonvoting
Delegate to the United States House of Representatives and mandates
that if no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, on the
fourteenth day following such election, a runoff election shall be held
between the candidates receiving the highest and second highest number
of votes cast.
Like the Governor of American Samoa, The Honorable Togiola T.A.
Tulafono, I believe this 1978 federal law requiring a runoff election
to be held only 14 days after the general election creates, as Governor
Togiola says, ``a situation where it is virtually impossible for
American Samoa's Election Office to send out absentee ballots to the
men and women in the military and expect to receive them back in time
for those votes to be counted in a run-off election.'' Given that our
mail is delayed and our air service is limited to two flights a week,
the Governor and I agree that some measure should be put in place to
assure that the votes of our military men and women are counted and
that this injustice is corrected.
During the 107th Congress, I introduced H.R. 3576, a bill to
establish primary elections and which also made sure that the Delegate
was elected by a majority of the votes cast. When introducing this
bill, I pointed out that both Guam and the Virgin Islands were once
bound by the two week federal runoff requirement but established
primary elections to resolve similar problems. Notwithstanding, the
American Samoa Government (ASG) chose not to support this bill due to
the cost of primary elections.
Given ASG's financial difficulties and out of respect for its
concerns, I introduced H.R. 4838 which called for voting by plurality
in lieu of primary elections. As I explained when introducing H.R.
4838, 49 of the 50 states use plurality voting to elect their
Representatives to Congress. The counties of Tualauta and Itu'au in
American Samoa also elect their representatives by plurality vote.
Plurality voting minimizes costs to the local government and also
provides active duty service members and other overseas voters with an
opportunity to participate fully in the federal election process.
Despite these considerations, ASG chose not to support this bill either
and the previous and late Governor Tauese P.F. Sunia said that he
believed ``the intent of Congress when they established majority vote
was to ensure a strong mandate for American Samoa's Delegate.''
Actually, in 1977, I worked on the legislation which Congressman
Phil Burton introduced to provide that the Territory of American Samoa
be represented by a nonvoting Delegate to the U.S. House of
Representatives. As a young Hill staffer working for Congressman Burton
on the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, I also worked on the
legislation to provide for the election of American Samoa's Governor
and I would like to include it should be noted that in 1970 when
American Samoa first elected a delegate at large to serve as the
government's special representative to Washington, the law that
governed his election and the operations of his office were as a result
of a bill that was passed by the Fono.
Appointed Governor Owen Aspinall signed the bill into law despite
the U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI) opposition to American
Samoa having an elected delegate. In fact, Governor Aspinall signed the
bill as a way to get back at the DOI for not extending his term as
Governor. While this bill allowed for a local representative to
Washington, it did not provide for a representative to the U.S.
Congress because the Fono and Governor Aspinall had no authority to
enact federal legislation. This is why PC Fuimaono and HC Lutali never
actually became official delegates to the U.S. Congress. American
Samoa's first Congressional Delegate was HTC Fofo Sunia who was elected
in 1980 after Congress enacted legislation to provide that the
Territory be represented by a nonvoting Delegate to the United States
House of Representatives.
To be clear about this, I would like to provide this Committee with
a legal history of how election law was determined for American Samoa.
In 1951, President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 10264 which
transferred administrative responsibility for the islands of American
Samoa from the Secretary of the Navy to the U.S. Secretary of the
Interior. The Secretary of the Interior, in turn, appointed our
Governors.
In 1960, the people of American Samoa adopted a Constitution. The
Constitution was revised in 1966 and was approved by the Secretary of
the Interior on June 2, 1967. In 1967, the Revised Constitution of
American Samoa provided for an elected Legislature, or Fono, consisting
of a Senate and a House of Representatives. However, it did not provide
our people with the right to elect our own Governor and Lieutenant
Governor and, at the time, American Samoa was the only remaining off-
shore area of the United States which did not have a popularly elected
Governor and Lieutenant Governor.
On June 10, 1976, Congressman Phil Burton took notice of American
Samoa's situation and introduced a bill to make it possible for our
Governor and Lieutenant Governor to be popularly elected rather than
appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. As staff counsel the
Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Congressman Burton
instructed me to draft this legislation which the U.S. House of
Representatives overwhelmingly passed by a landslide vote of 377 to 1.
Instead of sending his bill to the Senate, Congressman Burton
decided to consult further with the Secretary of the Interior, Rogers
C.B. Morton, about American Samoa's unique political status as an
unincorporated and unorganized territory which was and is unlike the
organized territories of Guam and the Virgin Islands. As a result of
their consultations, the two agreed that Secretary Morton would issue a
Secretarial Order (No. 3009) authorizing the American Samoa Government
to pass enabling legislation to provide for an elected Governor and the
Lieutenant Governor.
Secretary's Order No. 3009 amended American Samoa's Constitution to
specifically provide for an elected rather than an appointed Governor
and Lieutenant Governor. Secretary's Order 3009 was also in keeping
with the will of the majority of voters in American Samoa who voted in
favor of electing their own Governor and Lieutenant Governor in a
plebiscite that was held on August 31, 1976.
Furthermore, Congressman Phil Burton introduced legislation on
August 2, 1978, to provide that the Territory of American Samoa be
represented by a nonvoting Delegate to the U.S. House of
Representatives. I also was tasked with drafting this legislation which
became Public Law 95-556 and was made effective October 31, 1978.
I can assure you that in the case of the Delegate, American Samoa's
federal election laws were patterned after those of the Virgin Islands
and Guam. At the time, consideration was not given to whether or not
majority or plurality voting should be established for American Samoa.
Congress simply enacted legislation to provide American Samoa with
representation in the U.S. Congress and we could not foresee some 25
years ago that American Samoa's men and women would serve in record
numbers in the U.S. Armed Forces which consequently made it impossible
for them to participate in runoff elections held two weeks after
general elections.
Today, we are keenly aware that this requirement to hold a runoff
election 14 days after the general election is outdated, unreasonable
and unjust. To right this wrong and after further consultations with
our local leaders, I introduced H.R. 2010 which includes the
suggestions of Governor Togiola. In a letter dated September 11, 2003,
Governor Togiola informed me that he had reviewed the copy of H.R. 2010
that I sent to him and that he was satisfied that this bill will
provide an immediate solution to address the concerns we have regarding
the voting rights of our men and women in the military services. In a
letter dated September 15, 2003, I thanked Governor Togiola for his
support and I would like to ask that our letters be made part of the
record.
Although we have had some differences regarding this issue,
Governor Togiola and I have always agreed that our military men and
women should have the right to vote especially when they contribute
almost a million dollars per year in taxes to our local government. I
am pleased that Governor Togiola is now happy with this bill and I
again commend him for supporting its passage.
I also want to thank the President of the American Samoa Senate,
The Honorable Lutu Tenari S. Fuimaono, for his support. In a letter
dated October 28, 2003, President Fuimaono stated that he fully
supports H.R. 2010 and that he wishes Chairman Pombo the best of luck
in moving forward on the bill. I would like to ask that his letter also
be included as part of the record.
Finally, I would like to say that H.R. 2010 is an historic bill. It
is a bill that immediately restores the voting rights of our military
men and women. It is also a bill that makes clear in no uncertain terms
that FONO is vested with the authority it needs to establish primary
elections for the office of the Delegate, if it so chooses. H.R. 2010
also protects American Samoa's future in the U.S. Congress. Without
H.R. 2010, future Delegates could miss out on key committee assignments
and could be ranked more junior as a result of delayed outcomes and
run-off elections. Like Governor Togiola, I do not believe American
Samoa's future should be weakened or disadvantaged and this is one more
reason I appreciate his support of H.R. 2010.
Given the importance and urgency of this bill, I am hopeful that
members of this Committee will also work for the successful passage of
H.R. 2010. H.R. 2010 is the right thing to do and, as a Vietnam
veteran, I will not rest until we fully guarantee that our active duty
service members have the right to vote in federal elections held in
American Samoa. To alleviate any concerns that I will personally
benefit from this legislation, I would like the Chairman, the Ranking
Member, and Members of the Committee to know that I intend to introduce
an amendment in the nature of a substitute for purposes of changing the
effective date of this bill from January 2004 to January 2006. If
supported, any change in law will not go into effect until the 2006
election cycle and the 2004 election requirements will remain as is.
While I am aware that some members of the FONO continue to have
disagreements with this legislation, I respect their opinions and I
thank them for their efforts to address this issue locally. However,
only Congress can vest the American Samoa Legislature with the
authority it needs to establish primary elections.
As I have repeatedly stated, H.R. 2010 in no way affects how the
American Samoa Government chooses to elect its local leaders and,
having made every change requested of me by our local leaders and after
years of good-faith efforts on my part, I believe the time has come to
put aside our differences and do right by our men and women in the
military. Our sons and daughters have fought and died to preserve our
freedoms and I will do everything in my power to protect their right to
vote. I urge your support of H.R. 2010 and I thank you again for
holding this hearing.
[NOTE: The attachments listed below submitted for the record by Mr.
Faleomavaega have been retained in the Committee's official files.]
ATTACHMENTS
04/05/00-- Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Sunia, Lieutenant Governor,
President of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of the House and
Representatives, Attorney General
11/20/01-- Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Sunia, Lieutenant Governor,
President of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of the House and
Representatives
12/20/01-- Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Sunia, Lieutenant Governor,
President of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of the House and
Representatives
01/02/02-- Governor Tauese Sunia to Faleomavaega, ASG Lieutenant
Governor, President of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of the House
and Representatives, Chief Election Officer
01/28/02-- ASG Speaker of the House to Faleomavaega, ASG Governor,
Election Office, President of the Senate
02/27/02-- Faleomavaega to ASG Speaker of the House
03/05/02-- Faleomavaega to ASG Senate President and Senators
05/23/02-- Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Sunia, Lieutenant Governor,
President of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of the House and
Representatives
07/10/02-- ASG President Pro Tem and Speaker of the House to The
Honorable James Hansen, Chairman of U.S. House Committee on Resources,
ASG Governor Tauese Sunia, Senators, Representatives, Chief Election
Office, The Honorable Nick Rahall (Ranking Member of the U.S. House
Committee on Resources), Congressman Eni Faleomavaega, Members of the
U.S. House Committee on Resources
07/11/03-- Governor Tauese Sunia to Faleomavaega, Chairman of the
U.S. House Committee on Resources, ASG President of the Senate and
Senators, Speaker of the House and Representatives, Chief Election
Officer
07/15/02-- Faleomavaega to The Honorable Nick Rahall, Ranking
Member, U.S. House Committee on Resources
07/15/02-- Faleomavaega to The Honorable James Hansen, Chairman,
U.S. House Committee on Resources
07/23/02-- Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Sunia, Chairman and Ranking
Member of the U.S. House Committee on Resources, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, ASG Lieutenant
Governor, President of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of the House
and Representatives, Chief Election Officer
07/23/02-- Faleomavaega to The Honorable James Hansen, Chairman,
U.S. House Committee on Resources
07/23/02-- Faleomavaega to The Honorable Nick Rahall, Ranking
Member of the U.S. House Committee on Resources
09/05/02-- Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Tauese Sunia
09/05/02-- Faleomavaega to ASG President of the Senate and Senators
09/05/02-- Faleomavaega to ASG Speaker of the House and
Representatives
09/12/02-- Faleomavaega Statement before the American Samoa
Legislature
05/07/03-- Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Togiola Tulafono,
Lieutenant Governor, President of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of
the House and Representatives
09/05/03-- Senator Te'o J. Fuavai to Faleomavaega
09/11/03-- ASG Governor Togiola Tulafono to Faleomavaega, ASG
Lieutenant Governor, President of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of
the House and Representatives
09/15/03-- Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Togiola Tulafono,
Lieutenant Governor, President of the Senate and Senators, Speaker of
the House and Representatives
09/19/03-- Senate Resolution
10/16/03-- Faleomavaega to Senator Te'o J. Fuavai
10/27/03-- President of ASG Senate, Lutu Fuiamono, to Faleomavaega.
10/28/03-- Office of the Governor to Lieutenant Governor, Aitofele
T.F. Sunia.
07/21/76-- Congressional Record, Providing for an Elective Governor
and Lieutenant Governor of American Samoa
10/03/78-- Congressional Record, Providing the Territory of
American Samoa with a Nonvoting Delegate
______
The Chairman. I would like to now introduce our witness for
today's hearing. I would like to welcome Lieutenant Governor
Aitofele Sunia who has taken it upon himself to travel to
Washington today from American Samoa. I know it is more than a
hop, skip and a jump for you to get all the way here, and I
really appreciate you making the effort.
Before you begin your testimony, I wish to continue my
customary practice of swearing in all the witnesses as provided
under rule 4(f). If I could have you stand and raise your right
hand.
[Witness sworn.]
The Chairman. The record will show that you answered in the
affirmative.
Thank you very much. Welcome to the Committee. If you are
ready, you can begin.
STATEMENT OF AITOFELE SUNIA, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR,
PAGO PAGO, AMERICAN SAMOA
Mr. Sunia. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and honorable members
of the Committee. Good afternoon and talofa. It is indeed my
pleasure and honor to appear before your honorable Committee
this afternoon. I had traveled here to present to you, sir, and
your Committee, members of your Committee, a written statement
of the Governor's position in support of this legislative
measure and also to appear in person to respond to any
questions that you may have. Hopefully I can answer them for
you should there be any questions that Mr. Chairman and members
of the Committee wish to address on this issue.
Basically it is a very simple matter. It is a matter of
extending or providing the mechanics or vehicle so that our men
and women in uniform and college students can exercise their
constitutional right to vote. Without this measure, they had
been denied this right to cast their votes for the seat to the
U.S. Congress, and I believe that this measure will enable them
to exercise this right. And I don't have to emphasize how
important the right is, but I believe it is to them.
And the way that our elections are set up, this runoff two
weeks after the general election in reality does not afford the
opportunity for these people to cast their votes, because by
the time the airplane gets back to us two weeks later--they
only fly down there twice a week--and by the time the airplane
gets down there with those ballots, the votes have already been
counted, and they are counted out, not in. And that is not
fair.
And that is basically why I am here, Mr. Chairman, and
members of the Committee. It is as simple as that. If there are
further questions on it, I hope I will be able to respond.
Thank you very much.
The Chairman. Thank you, sir.
The Chairman. In terms of the plurality voting, I know that
there are a number of States that have plurality voting and
runoff elections. Can you explain to the Committee why that has
proven to be a problem in Samoa?
Mr. Sunia. Well, I am not sure if it is a problem, sir. Our
local legislature is elected by plurality. This is one of the
English words I have a hard time pronouncing. Plurality.
The Chairman. I have a hard time with it, too, so don't
feel bad.
Mr. Sunia. And that is how we elect all members to our
local legislature, by plurality. And when it was originally set
up for the election of our Delegate to Congress--I apologize,
but I don't know why it was set up the way it is. Maybe the
Congressmen can enlighten the Committee on that.
But as to your question, as to the two methods of
elections, there is no--there is really no problem. We're happy
with the way the local members of the local legislature are
elected, and that is plurality. There are no qualms with that,
that I know of.
The Chairman. Now I will ask my colleague if he could
respond to that.
Mr. Faleomavaega. If the Chairman will yield, the situation
in providing for the election of the Delegate of American
Samoa; as the bill was introduced in 1978 here in the Congress,
we just simply patterned the same provisions as that of
electing the Delegates from Guam to the Virgin Islands, which
was 10 years before that. I think the first elected delegates
from Guam and the Virgin Islands was in 1970. And what that did
was just simply provided that if there was no majority--
specifically, this is how the law was written. If no majority
is provided under the first round of the election, then a
runoff election is to be held two weeks thereafter.
I tried, as much as I could, to find the legislative
history how or who the authors were of this Federal legislation
that provided for this requirement, that two weeks was all that
was sufficient to provide for the runoff election. I suppose 30
years ago, or 40 years ago, the presumption being that the
majority of the voters were still on an island like Guam or the
Virgin Islands and that there was never really any serious
consideration about those who served in the military and
students who left. And now in the years pursuing, how Guam and
the Virgin Islands have elected their Delegates, they went
ahead and initiated the primary process for--which then allows
this majority requirement still in place for Guam and the
Virgin Islands. Unfortunately with us, we still have this
provision there that requires that there is to be a runoff in
two weeks. And probably the worst place to have mailings and
letters and things of the sort to be provided, it takes a week
just to prepare the ballots for the runoff, and then by the
time the ballots are sent off island, the election is over. So
I think this is how the situation evolved with our election in
the territory.
The question of plurality was raised as to where does it
say in the Constitution or whether by Federal law that you have
to have a majority vote in order to legitimize an election? And
as much as I could remember, at least in reading the
legislative history, there is no constitutional requirement
that a person elected to the U.S. House of Representatives has
to be elected by a majority vote.
The fact is I recall--
The Chairman. There's not. In California you can win with a
plurality vote, and it is whoever has the most votes on
Election Day wins.
Mr. Faleomavaega. Right. In fact, my recollection, I think
49 out of 50 States do elect their Members in the House by
plurality. So this was the reason why I felt that the election
of a Delegate is in compliance with not only the constitutional
requirements but the fact that 48 other States also have the
same requirements.
The problem that comes into play is when you have four or
five candidates running--and I have tried earnestly to find out
really if there was some Federal provision or constitutional
mandate that a federally elected person to the House of
Representatives has to be by majority, and I did not find any
provision anywhere that Members of the U.S. House of
Representatives have to be elected by a majority vote.
I did add a provision in the bill, Mr. Chairman, to the
effect that if at some point in time in the future our local
government or the legislature should decide to hold primary
elections, that authorization is provided for in the bill--and
this is one critical factor that the Governor has lent his
support--that the fact that our local government is given that
prerogative if it should decide to do so sometime in the
future.
The reason why they did not want a primary is they say it
is too expensive. So the rights of our men and women in the
military to vote versus too expensive, I find it difficult
sometimes to make that as a valid reason for not having
primaries; but here again, that is what they've chosen to do,
and I believe that the proposed bill will accommodate that need
if at sometime in the future the legislature and the local
administration will want to have primaries.
The Chairman. I am going to go ahead and recognize Mr.
Faleomavaega if he has any questions to the Lieutenant
Governor.
Mr. Faleomavaega. I do not have any questions for the
Lieutenant Governor other than to thank him for making such a
long trip to come before our Committee hearing, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to ask unanimous consent that the--one of our
senators, local senators, had expressed his objection to the
proposed bill, and I'd like to ask unanimous consent that his
letter and the resolution that was passed be made a part of the
record, and also the letter that I had written to Senator Te'o
also be made a part of the record.
The Chairman. Without objection.
[The letters and resolution follow:]
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The Chairman. Mr. Rehberg.
Mr. Rehberg. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And real quickly, I
want to thank Mr. Faleomavaega and the Lieutenant Governor for
their kind hospitality when I was in Samoa a year ago in the
heart of the election, and I can tell you it was a mess. If I
remember correctly, the year plurality was, what, 6- or 9,000
votes in the final analysis? And that was a lot of heartache
and a lot of controversy over so resounding a victory, and it
just--it seems to be a problem that should not exist.
And I am here to lend my support and I will continue to
support it if you don't give me any more tuna. Jeff Flake asked
me today if I was still eating tuna, and I said, yes, I was,
and he is too. Glad to do it. Just no more tuna fish.
Mr. Faleomavaega. I thank my good friend from Montana for
his support of the bill. Appreciate it.
The Chairman. Ms. Bordallo.
Ms. Bordallo. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and
Congressman Faleomavaega. Talofa. Welcome, Lieutenant Governor
Sunia. And before I begin, I have a couple of questions here. I
would like to extend the condolences from the people of Guam to
the people of Samoa on the passing of Governor Sunia. I
remember being with the Governor and the First Lady on their
last visit to Washington, and we're certainly very sorry about
that.
And I want to thank you, Lieutenant Governor Sunia, for
traveling all those many thousands of miles to be here, but I'd
also like to remind the Chairman that Guam is many more
thousands of miles away, just so we remember. And we're looking
forward, Mr. Chairman, for your trip in January to American
Samoa and to Guam and I think to Australia. Is that right?
The Chairman. Yeah. At least those two.
Ms. Bordallo. Lieutenant Governor, can you share with us
your views on whether U.S. law currently provides American
Samoa adequate authority to authorize and provide for a primary
election for the office of Delegate?
Mr. Sunia. As I understand it--thank you, Madam Member of
the Committee--the election of a Delegate to the U.S. Congress
is provided for by Federal law, and if I understand your
question correctly, as to whether or not present law is--
Ms. Bordallo. Local law.
Mr. Sunia. Local law?
Ms. Bordallo. Local law for a primary election.
Mr. Sunia. For a Delegate to Congress?
Ms. Bordallo. Or the U.S. law provides for a primary
election.
Mr. Sunia. We look to you as law to provide for this for
this particular election. Our own local elections for
gubernatorial and the local legislature is provided for by our
local law, but the election of the Delegate to the U.S.
Congress, we abide by Federal law. It supersedes our local law.
Maybe the Congressman can enlighten.
Mr. Faleomavaega. Will the gentlelady yield?
Ms. Bordallo. Yes.
Mr. Faleomavaega. I think there's a little complication
here to understand that when we first--the first Delegates that
we elected to Washington in 1970 came about because of the
local laws that we passed to provide for it, and this is the
same thing with Guam. You pass local law to provide for that.
Over the years, there has been a lot of misunderstanding,
thinking that this is the same laws that govern the current
Delegate position, and I've had to explain to the people that
the only reason why we have a Delegate here in the U.S. House
of Representatives is because the Congress passed a Federal law
to provide for it. The local government does not have the
authority to provide for that.
Now, the contrast here with Guam, like your Governorship,
is governed by organic legislation. We are not. In fact, our
Governor--Office of the Governors is governed by the
secretarial order of the Secretary of the Interior. So there
was no Federal legislation to provide for the elected Governor.
However, the Delegate, the office of Delegate, is governed
by Federal law, and this is the reason why I am proposing this
bill to amend the Federal law because of the deficiencies
contained in the current law, which the 2-week runoff election
and the fact that at one time our local laws even stipulated
that people in the military had to personally appear in the
territory to register to vote, which was totally contrary to
the Federal law that currently allows any person in the
military stationed anywhere in the world to file an absentee
ballot, whatever a claim of residency, whatever State or
territory. So these are some of the things that we've tried to
correct.
Ms. Bordallo. But the primary election is part of your
local government?
Mr. Faleomavaega. The primary election, if it so chooses--
this bill authorizes the local government to provide local law
with reference to primary election if it so chooses. Right now
they are still debating over it. Right now they discussed the
issue, and the latest reason for not having a primary election
is they think it is too expensive; but the bill definitely does
provide that at some future time, the local government can
provide for local--I mean for primary elections if it so
chooses. And this is what this bill provides.
Ms. Bordallo. But the primary election that is in place now
is part of your--
Mr. Faleomavaega. We have no primary election.
Ms. Bordallo. You have no primary--
Mr. Faleomavaega. No primary elections. That is the problem
we're having right now.
Ms. Bordallo. But it can be reestablished if the local
government sees fit?
Mr. Faleomavaega. It can be established if the local
government wants it.
Ms. Bordallo. My second question would be, would
establishing a primary election be a priority of the Government
of American Samoa, do you think?
Mr. Faleomavaega. I know that the issue of primary
elections was--in fact it was--the proposed bill was held about
two years ago. It did not pass, and the basic reason for their
not wanting to get into the primary elections is they say it
was too expensive.
Ms. Bordallo. And that is the sentiment of the people
still--
Mr. Faleomavaega. Well, that is the feeling of the members
of the Fono, I mean, the local legislature, that they did not
want to pass local law to provide for primary elections because
they think it is too expensive.
Ms. Bordallo. Lieutenant Governor, I have one more
question. Can you give the Committee a sense of how many
students attend a university in the U.S. mainland, and do you
know how many servicemen and women list American Samoa as their
home of record? I just wanted to get some idea of how many
people, you know, where absentee ballots would come in place.
Mr. Sunia. As to the number of students, it is around 120,
and this is a number that I had gotten from last year, being
the government treasurer, when I was sending out checks to pay
for their scholarship, education.
As to the number of soldiers, I am sorry. I cannot give--
Ms. Bordallo. Would you know that?
Mr. Faleomavaega. Offhand, there has never been a literal
active count of the number of soldiers or men and women in the
military from American Samoa, but I would hazard a guess; I say
relatively about 2,000 currently serve in the military. And
interestingly enough, too, we have 5,000 veterans that live in
the territory, and so this is basically my guess on the number
of our active duty men and women in--
Ms. Bordallo. And registered voters?
Mr. Faleomavaega. No. This is the problem. A lot of them
have never bothered to register.
Ms. Bordallo. What is the number of registered voters?
Mr. Faleomavaega. So far as I am aware, I think maybe only
about 60 have been known to register to vote, and one of the
reasons why there has been hardly any of the men and women in
the military because that they were told years ago that they
could not register--they cannot vote until they personally come
to the territory to register, which to me is ridiculous.
So if I were stationed out there in Bosnia or in Iraq, I
have to physically come to register in American Samoa. That is
the reason why the Congress passed this Federal Voting Rights
Act for our military men and women, so they don't have to make
any personal appearances to vote--I mean to register to vote.
Ms. Bordallo. Mr. Chairman, if you would, I have one more
question, the $64,000 question. How many NFL players in the
United States from Samoa?
Mr. Sunia. Well, I saw two last Monday night.
Ms. Bordallo. That's good enough, Lieutenant Governor.
Mr. Faleomavaega. If the gentlelady will yield, for a
population of about 180,000, including those living in the U.S.
and American Samoa, we have about 15 NFL players right now on
the roster.
Ms. Bordallo. That is quite a record. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
The Chairman. Mr. Grijalva.
Mr. Grijalva. I have no questions.
The Chairman. Mr. Udall?
How many total registered voters are there in Samoa?
Mr. Faleomavaega. My last reading, Mr. Chairman, is
approximately 16,000.
The Chairman. Sixteen thousand.
Mr. Faleomavaega. Registered voters, that's correct.
The Chairman. OK. Are there any further questions of the
Lieutenant Governor?
I think Mr. Faleomavaega has talked to me about this over
the past several months about moving forward with this bill,
and I do think this is something that the Committee seriously
must give a serious look at in terms of scheduling, moving this
bill, because I know it has presented itself as being a
problem. We have had some people who have contacted the
Committee in opposition to this, and I do think we need to look
at what their opposition is, to see if there is some way of
having some kind of a compromise position on that, because I am
not exactly sure at this point what their opposition is, but I
will work with Mr. Faleomavaega to try to satisfy that.
Mr. Faleomavaega. Will the Chairman yield?
The Chairman. Yes.
Mr. Faleomavaega. I want to note also for the record that
the original bill proposed that the--should this bill become
enacted, that the first election by plurality be held at next
year's election, and I felt that I wanted to change the year of
the election to 2006 so that will dispel any notion by some of
my critics who think that I am doing this for political
advantage. And I'd like to note for the record, that this bill
to me is more important than any election on my part, and I
feel very bad that those who do oppose the bill, for the life
of me, just can't seem to come through in understanding that
this is really a tremendous disservice to our men and women in
the military.
And, again, I just want to offer that to the Committee,
that there is absolutely no reason whatsoever, rhyme or reason,
why this bill is to be opposed.
Unfortunately, it has taken the color now that the local
Republican Party has stated its opposition to this bill, but
for the life of me I find it very difficult to even fathom to
understand what their reasons for opposing the bill are.
The Chairman. I appreciate the gentleman's willingness to
work with the Committee on this. I do think this is important
legislation that we need to move forward with. So I want to
thank Lieutenant Governor, for your testimony; for the members,
their questions.
The members of the Committee may have additional questions
for the witness, and we will ask you to respond to those in
writing. They will be submitted to you in writing if any of the
members have additional questions, and give you the opportunity
to answer those in writing so that we can include those in the
hearing record.
The hearing record will be held open for those responses.
The Chairman. If there are additional testimony, Mr.
Faleomavaega mentioned that he had other information that he
wanted to include. We will hold the hearing record open to give
him the opportunity to have further testimony submitted.
The Chairman. If there is no further business--
Mr. Faleomavaega. Mr. Chairman, I just would--
The Chairman. Mr. Faleomavaega.
Mr. Faleomavaega [continuing]. Offer my appreciation again
to you for your leadership and your initiative and interest in
holding this hearing this afternoon, and I sincerely hope that
this is the beginning of the process. I wanted to thank again
our Lieutenant Governor for traveling all the way here to
testify before the Committee, and certainly my colleagues and
members of the Committee for their participation and assistance
in the bill. And again, I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your
help in this.
The Chairman. Well, I thank you, and I hope you at least
are buying them dinner tonight.
Mr. Sunia. Mr. Chairman?
The Chairman. Yes, sir.
Mr. Sunia. I just wanted to thank you, Mr. Chairman, and
members of the honorable Committee for the opportunity to
appear before you. It is a rare opportunity to be able to
travel to Washington to appear before a congressional
committee, and I don't mind the long flights. I think it is
worth the few minutes that I get to sit here and be able to
speak to an august body like yourselves, and especially I want
to thank the honorable Member from Guam for the kind words of
condolence.
I want to say to the members of the Committee, it was made
mention of a certain commodity from the territory, that I would
instruct my staff back home to replenish this stock here that
you continue to so desire. And I look forward to having you in
American Samoa, Mr. Chairman, and if you should ever make that
trip. Again, thank you very much. May God bless you, sir, and
your Committee. God bless the Congress of the United States.
God bless America and God bless American Samoa.
[Speaking in native language.]
Mr. Faleomavaega. Mr. Chairman, I also would like to add
for the record, by unanimous consent, a letter received from
the President of the Senate supporting this proposed bill, a
letter dated 27 October and signed by the President of the
Senate, Lutu Tenari Fuimaono. I'd like to make that a part of
the record.
The Chairman. Without objection.
[The letter submitted for the record by The Honorable Lutu
Tenari Fuimaono, President of the Senate, follows:]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] 90110.007
Mr. Faleomavaega. Thank you.
The Chairman. Again, I want to thank the members of the
Committee, our witness for testifying today. I do believe this
is an important issue that we will move forward on. I thank all
of you for your participation in this hearing, and the hearing
is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:50 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
[Additional material submitted for the record follows:]
[A letter submitted for the record by Amata Coleman
Radewagen, National Committeewoman for American Samoa,
follows:]
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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] 90110.003
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