[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 11985-11988]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




PROTECTING VOTING RIGHTS OF MEMBERS OF ARMED SERVICES IN ELECTIONS FOR 
                  DELEGATE REPRESENTING AMERICAN SAMOA

  Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(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, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2010

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) It is in the national interest that qualifying members 
     of the Armed Forces on active duty and other overseas voters 
     be allowed to vote in Federal elections.
       (2) Since 1980, when the first election for the 
     Congressional Delegate from American Samoa was held, general 
     elections have been held in the first week of November in 
     even-numbered years and runoff elections have been held 2 
     weeks later.
       (3) This practice of holding a run-off election 2 weeks 
     after a general election deprives members of the Armed Forces 
     on active duty and other overseas voters of the opportunity 
     to participate in the Federal election process in American 
     Samoa.
       (4) Prior to and since September 11, 2001, and due to 
     limited air service, mail delays, and other considerations, 
     it has been and remains impossible for absentee ballots to be 
     prepared and returned within a 2-week period.
       (5) American Samoa law requiring members of the Armed 
     Forces on active duty and other overseas voters to register 
     in person also prevents participation in the Federal election 
     process and is contrary to the Uniformed and Overseas 
     Citizens Absentee Voting Act.
       (6) Given that 49 states elect their Representatives to the 
     United States House of Representatives by plurality, it is in 
     the national interest for American Samoa to do the same until 
     such time as the American Samoa Legislature establishes 
     primary elections and declares null and void the local 
     practice of requiring members of the Armed Forces on active 
     duty and other overseas voters to register in person which is 
     contrary to the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 
     Absentee Voting Act.

     SEC. 2. PLURALITY OF VOTES REQUIRED FOR ELECTION OF DELEGATE.

       Section 2 of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide that the 
     Territory of American Samoa be represented by a nonvoting 
     Delegate to the United States House of Representatives, and 
     for other purposes'', approved October 31, 1978 (48 U.S.C. 
     1732; Public Law 95-556) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) by striking ``majority'' and inserting ``plurality'' 
     the first place it appears; and
       (B) by striking ``If no candidate'' and all that follows 
     through ``office of Delegate.''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
       ``(c) Establishment of Primary Elections.--The legislature 
     of American Samoa may, but is not required to, provide for 
     primary elections for the election of Delegate.
       ``(d) Effect of Establishment of Primary Elections.--
     Notwithstanding subsection (a), if the legislature of 
     American Samoa provides for primary elections for the 
     election of Delegate, the Delegate shall be elected by a 
     majority of votes cast in any subsequent general election for 
     the office of Delegate for which such primary elections were 
     held.''.

     SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATES.

       The amendments made by paragraph (1) of section 2 shall 
     take effect on January 1, 2006. The amendment made by 
     paragraph (2) of section 2 shall take effect on January 1, 
     2005.


[[Page 11986]]


  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Renzi) and the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. 
Faleomavaega) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Renzi).


                             General Leave

  Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Arizona?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from American Samoa has introduced 
legislation to assist those voters in his district who live overseas. 
His legislation, H.R. 2010, will provide for the election of the 
Delegate from American Samoa by a plurality vote. Currently the 
Delegate is elected by a majority vote, though the number of candidates 
seeking American Samoa's seat in Congress often prevents a clear 
majority in the general election. For this reason, a runoff election is 
the result, and it is held on the 14th day after the general election.
  The gentleman from American Samoa and local government officials have 
explained well the unintended consequences of this format. Given the 
lack of flights to and from the territory, the ability to gather votes 
from the runoff election has proven extremely difficult, with many 
ballots arriving after the runoff election date. In short, this 
prevents the voices of individuals such as members of our armed 
services as well as students studying abroad to be heard.
  Though Congress enacted the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee 
Voting Act in 1986, it has not done enough to fulfill its purpose of 
ensuring the right to vote for all U.S. citizens given the unique 
logistical hurdles that American Samoa faces. We all should understand 
the need to help all of our fellow voters, especially during times of 
war when many Samoans are serving in Iraq. The House can now move this 
legislation forward and help to prevent the current Federal law from 
disenfranchising voters. Instead, with H.R. 2010, no legal voters will 
be deterred from fully participating in our democratic process when 
they vote to elect American Samoa's Delegate.
  Finally, I would also point out that H.R. 2010, as amended, was 
passed by the Committee on Resources by voice vote on May 5 and I 
appreciate the bipartisan work of the committee in acting quickly on 
this legislation. I hope we can now act in the same bipartisan fashion. 
I urge the adoption of the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I again thank my good friend the gentleman from Arizona 
for his management and his eloquent remarks concerning his support of 
this legislation.
  I rise today in support of this bill I introduced to protect the 
voting rights of active duty service members and overseas voters whose 
home of residence is American Samoa. This issue is not new to the 
people or the American Samoa legislature. The truth is this matter has 
been before the people and our local leaders for the past 6 years. 
Since 1998 I have written to our Governors, past and present. I have 
written and testified before our local legislature, and copies of my 
testimony and letters and local responses have been made part of the 
committee record.
  Mr. Speaker, during the 107th Congress, I introduced H.R. 3576, a 
bill to establish primary elections which would have made sure that the 
American Samoa 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 2-week Federal runoff requirement but 
established primary elections to resolve similar problems of sending 
out and receiving back absentee ballots in time for those votes to be 
counted. Although I suggested that American Samoa could benefit from 
modeling its Federal election procedures after Guam and the Virgin 
Islands, American Samoa chose not to support this bill and cited as its 
reason that primary elections were too costly.
  Mr. Speaker, given the importance and urgency of this bill, I want to 
thank members of the House Committee on Resources, both Democrats and 
Republicans, who have unanimously voted in favor of this legislation. 
H.R. 2010 is the right thing to do. 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 in the territory. To alleviate 
any concerns that I will personally benefit from this legislation, I 
offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute for purposes of 
changing the effective date of this bill from January 2004 to January 
2006. This amendment was unanimously supported in markup by the House 
Committee on Resources and, as such, any change in law will not go into 
effect until the 2006 election cycle.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time I thank the men and women from American 
Samoa who are serving on active duty at a time when our Nation is at 
war. I wish our active duty service members the very best and I pray 
for their safe return as it would be true for all members of our armed 
services currently serving all over the world.
  I also want to thank Chairman Pombo of the Committee on Resources and 
Ranking Member Rahall for their unwavering support of H.R. 2010 and for 
bringing this historic bill to the House floor for consideration and 
for a vote. Again, this is a bipartisan bill. I urge the Members of 
this body to join us in protecting the voting rights of our active duty 
military men and women who currently serve all over the world 
representing our great Nation. Again, I urge my colleagues to support 
this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2010, a bill I 
introduced to protect the voting rights of active duty service members 
and overseas voters whose home of residence is American Samoa.
  This issue is not new to the people or the American Samoa 
Legislature. The truth is this matter has been before the people and 
our local leaders for the past 6 years. Since 1998, I have written to 
our Governors, past and present. I have written and testified before 
our local Legislature, or FONO, and copies of my testimony, my letters, 
and local responses have been made part of the Committee 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 percent of those surveyed 
agreed that American Samoa's overseas voters and 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 overseas voters and military men and 
women have been disenfranchised from the political process and have 
been denied the right to vote in the federal elections held in the 
Territory. In part, this has been due to two complications. One, 
American Samoa law has 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 our Legislature is working to address the 
local registration process, 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

[[Page 11987]]

election.'' Given that our mail is delayed and our air service is 
limited to two flights a week, Governor Togiola 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 made sure that American Samoa's 
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 of sending out and 
receiving back absentee ballots in time for those votes to be counted. 
Although I suggested that American Samoa could benefit from modeling 
its federal election procedures after Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, 
the American Samoa Government (ASG) chose not to support this bill and 
cited as its reason that primary elections were too costly.
  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 countries 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 an 
opportunity to participate fully in the federal election process. 
Despite these benefits, ASG also chose not to support this bill. This 
time, the former and late Governor Tauese P.F. Sunia stated that he 
believed ``the intent of Congress when they established majority vote 
was to ensure a strong mandate for American Samoa's Delegate.''
  To be clear about this, I would like to provide this body 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, Chairman of the House 
Subcommittee on Interior and Insular Affairs, 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 to 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 of 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, Chairman 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 was also 
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. 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 making it nearly impossible (given American 
Samoa's limited air and mail service) for active duty service members 
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 wrong. 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.
  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.
  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 overseas 
voters and active duty military members. It is also a bill that makes 
clear in no uncertain terms that the American Samoa Legislature 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 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 thank the members of 
the House Resources Committee, both Democrats and Republicans, who have 
unanimously voted in favor of this bill. 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 offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute for 
purposes of changing the effective date of this bill from January 2004 
to January 2006. This amendment was unanimously supported at mark-up by 
the House Resources Committee and, as such, any change in law will not 
go into effect until the 2006 election cycle.
  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 
do right by our overseas voters and men and women in the military. Our 
sons and daughters have fought and died to preserve our freedoms and I 
will do everything I can to protect their right to vote.
  At this time, I thank the men and women from American Samoa who are 
serving on active duty at a time when our Nation is at war. I wish our 
active duty service members the very best and I pray for their safe 
return.
  I also thank the Honorable Richard Pombo, Chairman of the House 
Committee on Resources, and Ranking Member Nick Rahall, for their 
unwavering support of H.R. 2010 and for bringing this historic bill to 
the House Floor for consideration and vote. Again, Democrats and 
Republicans of the House Resources Committee joined together to 
unanimously pass H.R. 2010 and I now urge members of this body to join 
with us in protecting the voting rights of active duty military members 
and overseas voters whose home of residence is American Samoa.

                              Attachments

       04/05/00--Faleomavaega to ASG Governor Sunia, Lieutenant 
     Governor, President of

[[Page 11988]]

     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.

  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I want to commend my colleague from American Samoa for his leadership 
and his advocacy, particularly for those citizens there within his 
territory and within his district who now will be able to reach out and 
be part of the election process.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Renzi) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 2010, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________