Federal legislation to improve air passenger service between Tutuila and the Manu’a islands and allow foreign carriers to fly into American Samoa advanced Wednesday when a US Senate committee approved a larger territorial bill.
Our correspondent in Washington D.C. Matt Kaye with the details.
The American Samoa ‘cabotage’ exception would allow foreign carriers to make multiple stops within American Samoa—or to another territory or Compact nation—without first returning to foreign soil or getting a US waiver every 30-days.
The Senate Energy Committee approved the provision as part of a larger omnibus territories bill.
The cabotage measure is identical to language in a bill Congresswoman Aumua Amata Radewagen worked on with Interior Assistant Secretary Esther Kia’aina and introduced in the House in February.
Kia’aina testified before the Senate Energy Committee on the omnibus bill earlier–
Play Audio
The administration’s endorsement of a cabotage waiver for American Samoa, and the Senate Energy Committee vote, is good news for the territory, seeking to broaden its economic horizons with more emphasis on tourism.
Cabotage reform was one of Amata’s first goals after taking office last year: changing cabotage law to allow foreign carriers to make multiple stops within American Samoa or to another territory or Compact nation, without having to first return to foreign soil or get a federal waiver each month.
And with the administration behind its own bill, and only American Samoa affected, Amata is confident Congress will pass the measure—
Play Audio
The Omnibus Territories Act also ends the restriction on the use of resettlement and relocation funds by people of the Bikini Atoll for resettlement and relocation only to areas within the Marshall Islands.
And it amends the REAL ID Act of 2005 to provide that citizens of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau who have been admitted as Compact non immigrants are eligible for driver’s licenses or personal ID cards.
