Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata says Swains Island Representative Su’a Alexander Eli Jennings is hurting his own push for a Fono vote by opposing her Constitutional Amendments bill. KHJ News Washington DC correspondent Matt Kaye reports…
Congresswoman Amata says Fono Delegate Jennings opposition to her bill to end Congress’ routine veto power over local constitutional amendments is not good for him or American Samoa.
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Jennings told a recent hearing on Amata’s bill he wanted assurance that the rights of every American Samoan native would be acknowledged, including Swains’ delegate voting rights—ok’d in one of the locally approved 2022 amendments.
Amata—
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…with the logic, Swains would have a better chance of seeing its delegate voting rights amendment ok’d if left up to the Interior Secretary alone, rather than Congress, also…
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…creating for American Samoa, what Amata described as a kind of “organic act.”
Separately, Amata says she’s optimistic there won’t be a government shutdown at the next two funding deadlines in March…most of her colleagues don’t want one…but partisan differences amid razor thin House and Senate majorities will persist the rest of the year making agreements difficult.
