Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Governor Lemanu P. S Mauga is making his way to Washington, D.C. for the National Governors Association and the Interagency Group on Insular Areas meetings.

While in Hawaii this week, the Governor had back-to -back meetings.

A statement issued by his office said, Lemanu who left this past Monday night was scheduled to meet with, Director General Richard Lin, Taiwan Consulate; David Lassner, President of University of Hawaii; Suzanne Vares-Lum, President of East-West Center; Benjamin Reder, US Army Corps of Engineers; Josh Green, Governor of Hawai’i; Mitch Roth, Mayor of Hawai’I County, Jesse Sapolu, Co-Founder of the Polynesian Pro Football Hall of Fame; Burt Trembly, Executive Director of the Tua Foundation; Students of the University of Hawaii (Hilo and Oahu Campuses).

The statement says that Lemanu was scheduled to meet with the Toa o Samoa, along with their families, stationed at Schofield, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, and Kaneohe Marine Base.

Governor Lemanu, during his time of travel, is also scheduled to meet with Uifaatali Aumua Amata Radewagen, and Chase-Ung Um, CEO and President of StarKist.

He is also planning to meet Toa o Samoa and their families at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and several military bases within the Washington, D.C. area.

“Being able to visit and meet our Samoan students and our Toa o Samoa and their families allows me the honor to personally thank each of them for their continued commitment to the success of American Samoa.

“Whether it is to further their educational endeavors to return home and be the next generation of passionate leaders, or to lay their lives to fight and protect our freedom.

“I commend them on representing our American Samoa well, and to ensure that the prayers of our people are always with them.

“Opportunities as such allow us to strengthen cooperation to engage the territory in best practices with various leaders.

“It is this administration’s hope that the result of these meetings lays the foundation for the work ahead, and to continue to move our American Samoa forward. We have made strides in the last two years, however, there is much work to be done,” said Lemanu.