Congresswoman Uifaatali Amata is leading an effort by Members of Congress, to request that the Secretary of the Navy name commissioned U.S. Navy vessels after U.S. Territories and military heroes from the territories.
Joining in the letter, authored by Congresswoman Uifaatali, were all Members of Congress from the territories: Congressman Michael San Nicolas of Guam, Congressman Gregorio Kilili Sablan of the Northern Mariana Islands, Congresswoman Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon of Puerto Rico, and Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Hawai’i House delegation also joined the letter in support: Congressman Ed Case (1st District) and Congressman Kaiali’i Kahele (2nd District).
While there have been US Navy ships named for some of the territories, including a USS Tutuila, many of those ships have been decommissioned and the Navy does not currently have ships named for any of the territories except for Puerto Rico.
The letter asked the Secretary of the Navy to name new Navy ships for the U.S. Territories. Another request was to name ships after Sailors and Marines from the territories, who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military award for gallantry and heroism possible.
In their letter, the Members point out that, since the Navy was still in the process of ‘formulating its rule for the naming of several classes of ships, there has never been a more opportune or appropriate moment for the Navy to recognize and celebrate the territories of the United States.’
The Members also noted that ‘forty-eight states and the District of Columbia are namesakes to active commissioned ships or ships under construction’ while only one territory has an active ship named for it.
Addressing this imbalance in Naval ship naming policy, Uifaatali wrote, “If the purpose of ship names is to honor important people, places, and events in American history, then the continued omission of the US territories does a gross disservice to the American people and minimizes the contributions of the Territories to the United States.”
The Congresswoman was thankful for the support of her colleagues. “I am so thankful to my dear friends and colleagues from the territories for coming together on this important issue. We all represent places that have big veteran populations, higher than all the states in some cases.”
“The fact of the matter is that most of the veterans that have served, especially those from American Samoa, have not served in a Navy that has a ship that bears the name of their home. Together, we are trying to correct that, and I thank Reps. Case and Kahele for joining the territories in our efforts.”
Uifa’atali concluded, “I hope that Secretary Del Toro agrees with us and moves quickly to honor and recognize the territories and the servicemembers who made heroic sacrifices for the United States. It is my fervent aspiration that, in the coming years, the people of American Samoa and our Samoan Sailors will be able to take pride in a Navy ship that bears our home’s name.”
