[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 21, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E354]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ENI FA'AUA'A HUNKIN FALEOMAVAEGA, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 21, 2017

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me 
in recognizing the extraordinary life of Eni Fa'aua'a Hunkin 
Faleomavaega, Jr., who passed away last month at the age of 73. Eni 
Faleomavaega was not only my colleague, he was my friend. Eni was the 
senior delegate and, therefore, the dean of the delegates. We became 
friends from the time I was elected in 1990. Eni was as affable as he 
was serious and dedicated to his constituents in American Samoa. He was 
the first person of Asian-Pacific descent to chair the House 
Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment, later 
serving as ranking member.
  Eni was fully prepared for his leadership roles in the Congress. He 
served his country for three years during the Vietnam War. Eni put his 
education at Brigham Young University and the University of Houston Law 
Center to a lifetime of public service. He served the people of 
American Samoa in critical positions. Eni Faleomavaega was deputy 
attorney general and, later, lieutenant governor of American Samoa. Eni 
was the administrative assistant to American Samoa Delegate A.U. 
Fuimaono before he was elected to that position himself in 1988.
  Even though the District of Columbia pays federal taxes (highest per 
capita in the U.S.), the delegates have much in common and always 
worked together. When I discovered that the D.C. flag was not carried 
by D.C. troops as state troops do, further investigation showed that 
the troops of the territories also did not carry their flags. Yet, the 
territories and the District have served their country in notably-
disproportionate numbers. All of us signed a letter to House and Senate 
Armed Services committees. Working together, we got this failure to 
acknowledge all our troops corrected by the Congress.
  I was particularly appreciative of Eni's initiatives. For example, he 
introduced the bill to cancel the trademark using the disparaging word 
``Redskins,'' the name of the District of Columbia's football team. 
That challenge has been vindicated, but is now on appeal.
  Delegates have always supported one another on issues unique to their 
districts. I appreciate that all the Democratic delegates are original 
cosponsors of my bill to make the District of Columbia the 51st state. 
In the same way, we supported Eni's work against nuclear testing in the 
South Pacific. Eni led in the Congress on this critical issue, even 
boycotting then-French president Jacques Chirac's address before a 
joint session of Congress. Only days before that speech, France was 
conducting a series of nuclear tests in the South Pacific, despite 
protests.
  Eni led the Congress on issues important to American Samoa and to our 
country. He set a high standard for representation. Eni Faleomavaega 
was kind and generous, and he was intelligent, able, dedicated, and 
hard-working. I miss my friend. So does the Congress.

                          ____________________