[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 8, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E290-E292]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IN MEMORY OF THE HON. ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA
_____
HON. BRAD SHERMAN
of california
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to include in the Record an
official statement and tribute written by the family and staff of our
former colleague, Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega of American Samoa.
Congressman Faleomavaega was a good friend, an outstanding colleague,
and a fighter for the people of American Samoa.
In Loving Memory of Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega of American Samoa
By His Family and Staff
The Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega was American Samoa's
longest-serving Delegate to the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the first Asian-Pacific American to
serve as Chairman of the influential House Foreign Affairs'
Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment.
He held the matai, or chieftain, orator title of
Faleomavaega.
Eni Hunkin, Jr. was born in the village of Vailoatai,
American Samoa on August 15, 1943. He was raised in lovely
Laie, Hawaii where the skies are blue and ``the rainbows
spread their shining wings.'' He played fullback for the Red
Raiders at Kahuku High School, graduating in 1962. At the
Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC), he was a canoe paddler and
a dancer. In 1964, he graduated from the Church College of
Hawaii (BYU-Hawaii) with an Associate of Arts (AA) Degree. He
earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Political Science from
Brigham Young University (1966); a Juris Doctor (JD) from the
University of Houston Law School (1972); and a Master of Laws
(LLM) from the University of California, Berkeley Boalt Hall
School of Law (1973). English was his second language.
From 1973-1975, Eni Hunkin, Jr. served as Administrative
Assistant to Paramount Chief A.U. Fuimaono, American Samoa's
first elected Representative to Washington, DC. From 1975-
1981, he served as Staff Counsel to the U.S. House of
Representatives Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs,
chaired by Congressman Phillip Burton who entrusted Eni with
drafting legislation to provide American Samoa with an
elected Governor and an elected Delegate. At the advice of
late Senate President Paramount Chief Letuli Toloa, Eni
returned home to American Samoa to ``eat the dust and walk on
the rocks'' so that he could feel more directly the pains of
the people in order to serve them more completely. From 1981-
1984, Eni Hunkin, Jr. served as American Samoa's Deputy
Attorney General and, from 1985-1988, he served as Lieutenant
Governor of American Samoa. In 1988, Eni was elected to the
U.S. House of Representatives where he served the people of
American Samoa for some 26 years (1989-2015), and would still
be serving today if not for illness.
Congressman Faleomavaega wore out his life in the service
of his fellow beings and, by extension, he wore out his life
in the service of our God. Faleomavaega's works brought
American Samoa a Veterans Affairs (VA) clinic, a new Army
Reserve Center, more funding per capita than any other State
or Territory across many sectors (including education),
[[Page E291]]
over $4 billion in federal funding from 1995-2012 (with over
$2 billion as a direct result of his advocacy), Medicaid
increases, computer labs, dialysis machines, village road
improvements, ferries, fire trucks, ambulances, a hotel,
funding for an airport tower and other capital improvement
projects totaling over $200 million, assistance for American
Samoa's tuna canneries that extended the life of the industry
in the Territory, WIC, food stamps, improved water systems,
and military academy nominations and scholarships.
Congressman Faleomavaega also guaranteed the voting rights
of American Samoa's military men and women, protected and
expanded American Samoa's National Park, saw to it that
American Samoa was included in the Commemorative Coin Program
with a circulating quarter dollar honoring American Samoa's
long and proud commitment to the United States, and made sure
a postage stamp was issued in honor of American Samoa's
Centennial. He was responsible for implementing a law that
authorized free medical flights for American Samoa's
veterans. He established an American Samoa Economic
Development Commission. He obtained money to build high
school gymnasiums, renovate and construct a harbor facility
in Manu'a, and improve American Samoa's weather station. He
also extended direct home loans to American Samoa's veterans.
When American Samoa was hit by a tsunami in 2009,
Congressman Faleomavaega turned to his long-time friend,
Chairman Kim Seung Youn of the Hanhwa Group, to provide
funding to bury American Samoa's dead. Chairman Li Ka-shing
of Hutchinson Whampoa also came to Faleomavaega's aid and
provided significant private sector funding.
Congressman Faleomavaega also served his constituents
individually--handling hundreds of veterans, visa,
immigration, Social Security and military cases per year. He
sponsored and cosponsored thousands of Bills and Resolutions
during his service in the U.S. Congress. According to the
Congressional Research Service (CRS), during the 101st-113th
Congress, Faleomavaega participated in more than 1,100 U.S.
Congressional full committee and subcommittee hearings of the
Foreign Affairs and Resource Committees--and chaired and/or
spoke in more than 800 hearings. His Floor statements,
recorded in the Congressional Record for historical purposes,
are too numerous to count.
Still, this is only a small and known part of the great
work he did. From American Samoa to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos,
Malaysia, South Korea, India, China, the Philippines, Sri
Lanka, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Chile, Taiwan,
West Papua, Vatican City, Greece, Norway, Australia, New
Zealand, Tonga, Western Samoa, the Marshall Islands, Fiji,
Tahiti, Palau, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Micronesia, the Cook
Islands, Rapa Nui, and so on and so forth, Congressman
Faleomavaega was a statesman like no other. He was a trailblazer, a
peacemaker, and a skilled and respected world leader.
He was also a hero, especially to those known to the world
as ``comfort women''--to those who as young women were
coerced into sexual slavery during Japan's colonial and
wartime occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from the
1930s through the duration of World War II. Congressman
Faleomavaega referred to these victorious survivors as his
``grandmothers'' and, every time he was in South Korea, he
visited and danced with those who lived at the House of
Sharing. He cared deeply for them. He dared to hold a hearing
for them. He invited them to testify on House Resolution 121,
introduced by Congressman Mike Honda and cosponsored by
Faleomavaega and others, which called for Japan to formally
acknowledge, apologize, and accept responsibility for its
Imperial Armed Forces' atrocities. While Resolutions had been
offered before, no hearing had ever been held in the U.S.
Congress for these women until Faleomavaega held his first
hearing as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific,
and the Global Environment. The hearing was historic. It lit
the world on fire--and changed the outcome for the surviving
``grandmothers,'' who finally got an apology from Japan.
Congressman Faleomavaega was conferred an Honorary Doctorate
Degree by Chonbuk National University in South Korea and was
named an Honorary Citizen of Jeollabuk-do.
For Vietnam, Faleomavaega also stood strong and immovable--
calling for the U.S. to clean up the mess it left behind
after the Vietnam War. As a young soldier in the United
States Army, Faleomavaega served in Vietnam from 1966-1969
where he, too, was exposed to Agent Orange--complications
from which eventually claimed his life. As Chairman of the
Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global
Environment, he returned to Vietnam for the first time after
40 years. He returned to Nha Trang where once he was a
soldier, and was so moved by the experience that he held
historic hearings about Agent Orange remediation, which
included testimony from Vietnamese victims and briefings by
Vietnam government officials. Although only a Delegate
representing the smallest constituency in the U.S. Congress,
Faleomavaega was given the high honor by the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam of hosting President Truong Tan Sang
during his historic visit to Washington, DC in 2013. And
while in Vietnam, Faleomavaega and his wife, Hinanui
Bambridge Cave Hunkin, were hosted by Prime Minister Nguyen
Tan Dung and members of the National Assembly, including Vice
Chairwoman Madam Tong Thi Phong, also a Politburo member.
Faleomavaega praised Vietnam for great strides in religious
freedom, and remained forever grateful for Vietnam's official
recognition of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saint, of which he was a member.
Beyond Vietnam, Faleomavaega was a hero to Native
Americans, to people in Cambodia whose families were killed
by the Khmer Rouge, to the people of West Papua, to the
people of Laos whose lands were destroyed by cluster bombs.
He was a friend to Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India at a
time when Shri Modi needed a friend. Congressman Faleomavaega
helped Myanmar, Bahrain, Pakistan and Afghanistan. President
Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan awarded Faleomavaega the
country's highest civilian honor for championing the cause of
nuclear nonproliferation and drawing the world's attention to
the people of Semipalatinsk and those in the Pacific Islands
who had been subjected to Cold War nuclear testing. Although
Congressman Faleomavaega was arrested by French commandos
when he sailed on the Rainbow Warrior to protest French
nuclear testing in Polynesia, he was not deterred.
Faleomavaega was a warrior and voyager at heart--and served
as a crew member aboard the Polynesian voyaging canoe, the
Hokule'a, which sailed from Tahiti to Hawaii in 1987 with
Native Hawaiian navigator Nainoa Thompson at the helm.
Faleomavaega was the author of Navigating the Future: A
Samoan Perspective on U.S.-Pacific Relations (1995). Before
his passing, he was writing his second book, which may be
printed in memoriam.
He also proudly served in the United States Army Reserve as
a Captain, U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps Member,
100 Battalion 442nd Infantry Reserve Unit from 1982-1989, and
he always went for broke. Congressman Faleomavaega served on
the House Committee on Resources and the Subcommittees on
Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife (which had broad
jurisdiction for matters affecting American Samoa); Indian
and Alaska Native Affairs; Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife
and Oceans; and National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands.
He also served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs
(previously known as International Relations) and the
Subcommittees on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global
Environment (known as Asia and the Pacific); and the Western
Hemisphere. He was a member of the Small Business Committee.
Faleomavaega established the Congressional Caucus on U.S.-
India Trade and Investment, the Friends of Vietnam Caucus,
and the Congressional Caucus on Central Asia.
He was loved both by Democrats and Republicans in the U.S.
Senate and House of Representatives. Upon his passing, many
of his colleagues as well as leaders from around the world
paid tribute to Congressman Faleomavaega for his
extraordinary service and powerful contributions at home and
abroad. At home, Congressman Faleomavaega built American
Samoa on a foundation of solid rock so that those who follow
might be successful. Around the globe, he met with Heads of
State--with kings, presidents, rulers and magistrates--but in
all his doings, he never forgot the poor and needy. He was a
friend to all to the end. He was noble, kind and true.
When interviewed by the United States Capitol Historical
Society, Congressman Faleomavaega said he wanted to be
remembered for doing his best, that's it. He succeeded. From
Tutuila to Manu'a, from one far corner of the earth to
another, he will be remembered for doing and being his best.
He will be remembered because we hold him dear. We have lost
a treasure. We have lost a father, brother, papa, uncle,
friend. Surely, the sun has fallen from the sky.
As one pioneer put it, ``The journey home ain't always
easy. We'll have a hard time getting there. But along the
way, we'll see things we've never before seen--great herds of
buffalo and big cedar trees on the hills, and maybe even vast
expanses of sunflowers in bloom.'' For many of us, Eni was
like a vast expanse of sunflowers in bloom. We miss him, and
love him.
Surrounded by his loved ones, Eni Hunkin, Jr. passed away
peacefully on February 22, 2017. He is survived by his wife
of 45 years, Mrs. Hinanui Bambridge Cave Hunkin and their
five children--Temanuata (Mike Laussen), Taualai (Kolotau
Vaitu'ulala), Ra'imana (Malia Rivera), Vaimoana, and Leonne
(Taufui-e-valu Vakapuna)--ten grandchildren (Leonne, Eni,
Kolotau, Kenzo, Dexter,
[[Page E292]]
Taimana, Taiatea, Tutehau, Maiana, and Robbie)--his sisters
(Vaitinasa Salu Hunkin-Finau, Ed.D. and Mrs. Masinaatoa
Magalei)--his brother, Mr. Albert Hunkin--and his adopted, or
hanai sisters, Mrs. Diane Sauers and the late Mrs. Susie
Osborn. His siblings, Mrs. Tuilua'ai Vanisi, Mrs. Arlene
McBraun and Mr. Taulauniu Hunkin, as well as his parents, Mr.
Eni Hunkin, Sr. and Mrs. Taualai Manu Hunkin, preceded him.
Leone High Chief Senator Faiivae Iuli Alex Godinet of the
American Samoa Legislature (Fono), who formerly served as
Faleomavaega's Chief of Staff in American Samoa, and Dr. Lisa
Williams, Faleomavaega's Chief of Staff in Washington, DC and
his Staff Director for the House Foreign Affairs'
Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global
Environment, joined with the family in preparing and issuing
this statement so as to honor their great mentor who shaped
their lives and careers in untold ways. They did so on behalf
of the many other staff members who also faithfully served
with Congressman Faleomavaega both in American Samoa and
Washington, DC, including but not limited to Tavita Richmond,
Vili Le'i and Leilani Pimentel.
Mr. and Mrs. Don and Linda Saaga, Major General Robert G.
Lee, and many other individuals and organizations too
numerous to name, have also paid tribute, including BYU-
Hawaii. Noting that one of its most notable alumni has passed
away, the university stated, ``Eni's life embodies President
David O. McKay's prophecy about BYU-Hawaii educating `men and
women whose influence will be felt for good toward the
establishment of peace internationally.' ''
Although Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega has returned
home to the God who made him and now rejoices with his many
friends and loved ones on the other side of the veil, his
influence remains with us. And so, we take comfort knowing
that Jesus Christ is the Light of the world (John 8:12). He
is the Promised Messiah. He is our Savior and our King. ``He
is risen'' (Matthew 28:6). As Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
testified, ``The Resurrection is not a fable.'' ``On Sunday,
the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death.'' And because
He lives, we will live again. We will meet again. Until then,
Jesus Christ ``will wipe away all tears from [our] eyes''
(Revelation 7:17). Tell it out with joyful voice. All is
well.
=========================== NOTE ===========================
March 8, 2017, on pages E290-E292, the following appeared: Mr.
SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to include in the RECORD an
official statement and tribute written by the family and staff of
our former colleague, Congressman Eni F.H. Fleomavaega of American
Samoa. Congressman Faleomavaega was a good friend, an outstanding
colleague, and a fighter for the people of American Samoa. The
Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega was American Samoa's longest-
serving Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, and the
first Asian-Pacific American to serve as Chairman of the
influential House Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on Asia, the
Pacific and the Global Environment. He held the matai, or
chieftain, orator title of Faleomavaega. . . . Tell it out with
joyful voice. All is well.
The online version has been corrected to read as follows: Mr.
SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to include in the RECORD an
official statement and tribute written by the family and staff of
our former colleague, Congressman Eni F.H.Faleomavaega of American
Samoa. Congressman Faleomavaega was a good friend, an outstanding
colleague, and a fighter for the people of American Samoa. In
Loving Memory of Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega of American
Samoa By His Family and Staff The Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega
was American Samoa's longest-serving Delegate to the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the first Asian-Pacific American to serve as
Chairman of the influential House Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on
Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment. He held the matai,
or chieftain, orator title of Faleomavaega. . . . Tell it out with
joyful voice. All is well.
========================= END NOTE =========================
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