Aumua Begins Fight for Fair & Increased Funding of Territories
Washington, D.C. –Friday, Congresswoman Aumua Amata, took to the House Floor earlier this week in support of an amendment to the Surface Transportation Authorization bill that was cosponsored by both she and Congressman Sablan from the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI).
Aumua Amata speaks on the House floor in support of transportation amendment
"Mr. Chairman, the amendment that I am offering, together with my colleague from the Northern Mariana Islands, Mr. Sablan, brings rationality and logic to the allocation of Territorial Highway Program funds among the four smaller U.S. territories. At present these funds are simply allocated as the Department of Transportation sees fit, using a formula set in 1992, I understand. That system may have been okay for the last 23 years. But now that I am representing the people of American Samoa I want to be sure that federal funds are distributed among the territories in a way that has some rational basis," stated Aumua.
The amendment simply proposed that the Secretary of Transportation allocate the funds from the 4 smaller territories' account using quantifiable measures such as population, mileage of roads, need, etc. Currently, the formula being used is based off of inaccurate numbers from the 1990 Census. The proposed amendment would have required the Secretary to use the most recent census in the future when allocating funding between the territories.
Due to a prior agreement between the majority and minority leadership of the Transportation Committees in both the House and Senate, the only amendments that passed and were included in the bill, were those that were previously agreed to by both Chairmen and Ranking Members. "I wanted to offer the amendment, so that we could shed some light on the issue. The outcome of the bill was less important than establishing a marker for future negotiations, and getting the issue before Congress," said Aumua.
"Whether it is road distance or traffic volume – whatever it may be – let the Department ground its decision in some transportation reality. That would be a responsible use of federal dollars. That would be a system that I could explain to my constituents and that any other Member could explain to his or her constituents. And that would be a system that would help make the most effective use of our scarce federal resources," continued Aumua.
The Congresswoman has stated that the work on the issue is just beginning and that it will take a group effort to institute a change… "I will continue to work to make sure that the people of American Samoa are treated equally and fairly when it comes to funding for our remote islands. For too long the status quo has ruled and that must change," said Aumua. "I want our fellow territories to know that I stand ready to work with them to not only ensure the fair and logical distribution of funding for the territories, but also to increase the allocated funding to all territories; as that is where the real issue lies. It is time that the United States Congress recognizes its responsibility to the people of all of the territories and begins to provide funding that is based in reality and not on figures from more than 20 years ago," concluded Aumua.
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