Amata Welcomes Hearing Focused on the Pacific Territories and Their Role in National Security
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata took part in an oversight hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs regarding the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Office of Insular Affairs' efforts in the Pacific territories to promote economic prosperity and safeguard U.S. national security.
Congresswoman Amata said, “This is an important issue for us in American Samoa, as we are talking directly about the issues my home islands face. Right now, my congressional district is surrounded on three sides by countries that have increasingly entered China’s orbit. In the past month, independent Samoa and the Cook Islands have signed major deals with China, and separating us from Hawaii and the rest of the United States is Kiribati, which has begun to further align with China. On top of that, Chinese fishing vessels have increasingly penetrated American Samoa’s EEZ in conducting IUU fishing in the region. To protect United States sovereignty, we must develop the economies of the Pacific territories, and to protect American Samoa’s economy we need a permanent Coast Guard presence to deter China in the region.”
Amata addressed her line of questioning to expert witness Cleo Paskal to bring out the need for supporting U.S. fisheries such as American Samoa to push back on IUU fishing, how the American Samoa fishery is placed at a disadvantage due to rulemaking that restricts PRIMNM fishing waters, and the competitive disadvantage of not being eligible for Small Island Developing State (SIDS) status. These points were supported by Ms. Paskal’s more detailed testimony.
Also within her questions, Congresswoman Amata again publicly called for the Trump administration to rescind the Biden administration’s harmful monument expansion.
Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.) said, “It is more important than ever for us to be proactive in our support of the Pacific territories to keep our nation strong and secure. Chinese and North Korean aggression has grown in the region, and to ensure the safety of our Pacific territories, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, we must work closely with the Department of Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs as we face these increasing threats.”
Hearing background: The U.S. Pacific territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are at the forefront countering attempts by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and North Korea (DPRK) to weaken U.S. leadership and interests worldwide.
The PRC and the DPRK seek to inflict maximum harm against our fellow Americans in the Pacific territories through increased military aggression, IUU fishing, economic warfare, cyberattacks, espionage, and other forms of coercive and maligned activity. The U.S. federal government must work with the Pacific territories in countering these threats.
The DOI’s Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) is the office charged with managing federal relations with the U.S. territories. The U.S. holds military bases and installations in the Pacific territories that provide the U.S. military with land, air and sea-based strategic capabilities in close proximity to the PRC and the DPRK. The OIA plays a critical role in fostering economic prosperity for the Pacific territories and managing relationships with territorial governments, ensuring the United States’ commitments to the territories are upheld and ensuring that the federal government responds to security threats.
The hearing included testimony from national security experts and included discussion of critical issues for the DOI and OIA to consider going forward.
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