Ads by Google Ads by Google

Lolo to U.N. Committee: Am. Samoa is no colony, but a member of the American family

Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga’s prepared message being delivered by House Speaker Savali Talavou Ale at this week’s United Nations Decolonization Committee Pacific Seminar is that American Samoa is not a “colony” of the U.S but a “member of the American family.”

 

Also known as the Special Committee of 24, the regional seminar is being held in Nadi, Fiji and opened May 21 in Fiji, running through May 23.

 

The prepared speech, which was released Monday morning by the Governor’s Office, provides a wide range of information including background on American Samoa and its relationship with the U.S. government.

 

“...perhaps most important to many American Samoans, has been the protection of our culture and the protection of our communal land tenure system that is a foundation of our culture,” it says and notes that these ideas were set forth in the two separate Deeds of Sessions with the U.S.

 

The statement also says that the Fono currently cannot override the governor’s veto of a bill without approval by the U.S. Interior Secretary, who also appoints senior members of the Judiciary. Additionally there has been significant political, economic, social and educational advancement over the years.

 

The statement then posed the question: “do our people feel we are a ‘colony’ of the United States?”

 

“Hardly. We elect our own Governor and Legislature. We make our own laws. We control our own customs and immigration borders, and we have never wavered from our desire to maintain our status as U.S. Passport-holding members of the American family,” the statement says.

 

While American Samoans “live free and fruitful lives in the land of our choice, under the flag of our choice,” the statement says, “we recognized that our legal status is an anachronism that needs to be remedied for us to meet what we believe to be the standards for consideration for de-listing by the [Decolonization] Committee.”

 

“But whether the territory is delisted or not, what is more important to us, is the fact that our current legal status, as temporally satisfactory as it may be, leaves us exposed to vagaries in Washington D.C. that are beyond our control,” it says.

 

“Most notably, actions of [the U.S.] Congress impacting upon us in ways not contemplated because of our unique size, location, geography, economic circumstance and lack of full representation in Congress,” it says and notes that Congressman Faleomavaega Eni is a non-voting delegate in the U.S. House, and there is no territorial representation in the U.S. Senate.

 

Additionally, actions arising out of litigation in federal courts may contrive to have a judge in a remote courtroom issue a judgement that could “impact the legal status of our people under the U.S. Constitution” - such as the U.S. citizenship case now pending at the federal court in Washington D.C.

 

“Until we are able to cast our political status in a concrete fashion, giving us concrete protections, the fact we live under a delegation of authority from Washington D.C., will haunt us in ways we cannot anticipate nor for which we can adequately plan,” it says.

 

(Delegation of authority cited in the statement, is referring to the Interior Secretary). Samoa News will report on the rest of the statement in tomorrow’s edition.