[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 34 (Thursday, March 4, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    LEGISLATION TO AMEND THE 50 STATES COMMEMORATIVE COIN PROGRAM ACT

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                       HON. ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA

                           of american samoa

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 4, 1999

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of 
legislation which is being introduced today by Congresswoman Eleanor 
Holmes-Norton with the four Congressional delegates as cosponsors. The 
legislation would amend the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act to 
extend the program by an additional year for the purpose of including 
the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the 
United States Virgin Islands.
  Mr. Speaker, in the 105th Congress when we passed the Commemorative 
Coin Program Act, the insular areas were omitted from the legislation. 
Current law authorizes the minting of twenty-five cent coins to 
commemorate each of the 50 states through state-specific designs on one 
side of the coins. It is a ten-year program, with five states being 
honored each year.
  This bill amends current law by adding an eleventh year to the 
program. During this year, the District of Columbia and the four 
insular areas, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin 
Islands, would also be recognized through the minting of twenty-five 
cent coins. Commemorative designs on one side of the coins would be 
submitted by the chief executive officer of these areas.
  This legislation is very timely for my Congressional district, Mr. 
Speaker. American Samoa will celebrate the centennial of its union with 
the United States in the year 2000.
  American Samoa has a long, proud history of supporting the United 
States--ever since the traditional leaders of the main island of 
Tutuila ceded their island to the United States on April 17, 1900. 
Tutuila's beautiful harbor is the deepest in the South Pacific, and the 
port village of Pago Pago was used as a coaling station for U.S. naval 
ships in the early part of the century and as a support base for U.S. 
soldiers during World War II. To this day, American Samoa serves as a 
refueling point for U.S. naval ships and military aircraft.
  At the present time, American Samoans have a per capita enlistment 
rate in the U.S. military which is as high as any state or U.S. 
territory. Our sons and daughters have served in record numbers in 
every U.S. military engagement from World War II to the present 
operations in the Middle East. We have stood by the United States in 
good times and bad, and we will continue to do so.
  Congress has recognized American Samoa's proud heritage on numerous 
occasions, and many of my constituents have asked that the United 
States Government provide special recognition of the 100th year of our 
union. I believe it would be most fitting to acknowledge the centennial 
anniversary of our relationship with the United States with the 
issuance of a commemorative coin, and I am optimistic that this bill 
will become public law later this year.

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