
Swains House Representative Su’a Alex Jennings welcomes the vote for Swains island in the Fono and prays that having a voice will put an end to many disparities for Swains.
He thanks the delegates of the 2022 Constitutional Convention and the people of American Samoa and Swains island for approving the five constitutional amendments that were signed by the Secretary of Interior on January 16.
One of the amendments gives the Swains Island faipule the right to vote in the House of Representatives.
At present, the Swains representative can only vote in Committee.
In a press release, Jennings said the signing would not be possible without the commitment of Congresswoman Uifaatali and her staff seeking to pass H.R. 6062 in the 118th Congress.
The bill removed the requirement that amendments to American Samoa constitution can only be made by an act of Congress.
Jennings offers his congratulations to Congresswoman Uifaatali on passage of her bill, but points out that H.R. 6062 was not approved by the 2022 Constitutional Convention, or by the Fono or the people of American Samoa in the 2022 referendum.
He said this raises even greater concerns about setting new precedent in modifying and amending our constitution by elected leaders without the approval of the people of American Samoa.
According to him, Congresswoman Uifaatali, then-Governor Lemanu and the Fono leaders, feared that a congressional review of American Samoa’s Constitution “could potentially jeopardize the twin cornerstones of the faasamoa: Communal family land and the matai title system.
He said, “They believed removing Congress from our constitutional amendment process with H.R. 6062 would avoid any concerns raised about the elements of the faasamoa enshrined under local law being incompatible with the US Constitution.”
Jennings believes the law requiring the protections of land and culture for Tutuila and Manu’a gives the same protections for Swains Island on paper. “However, in practice, Swains Islanders have been forced to experience disparity in how this law is applied,” he shares.
He states that the forced depopulation of Swains Island after over 150 years of continuous occupation under the American Flag is credited to the lack of infrastructure, transportation, and essential services expected from federal and local funding for all of American Samoa; but only afforded to Tutuila and Manu’a.
“An audit of at least the last 30 years, will show that there’s been no Federal and Local Funding assistance for Swains Island, including recently in the 2025 budget, which I was unable to vote on despite the voters passing the Swains Island Amendment two years earlier.”
Su’a points out that this all has led to Swains becoming uninhabitable, forcing the last of its residents to evacuate to Tutuila and the United States by 2013.
Jennings contends that while the vote for the Swains faipule in the Fono is a good start, Swains is now dependent on the Department of the Interior to review the other aspects of the American Samoa Constitution that discriminate against Swains Island compared to Tutuila and Manu’a.
“My prayer is that with a vote in the Fono, Swains will be able to advocate on its own behalf. In partnership, I look forward optimistically to the next 100 years and beyond for this Territory to be officially recognized as American Samoa (the Eastern islands of Samoa since 1900) and Swains Island (annexed separately and made a part of American Samoa by Congress in 1925.)”