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Congressman Faleomavaega announced today that the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed by a vote of 378 to 11 S. 2009, the Insular Areas Act of 2011, which includes a provision to delay minimum wage increases in American Samoa until 2015. The provision regarding minimum wage was worked out in advance with Faleomavaega’s office as well as the Senate HELP Committee, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the House Committee on Natural Resources.
“I cannot thank my colleagues enough for standing with me today because I know that passage of this bill was only possible today due to their support, especially since S. 2009 was placed on the suspension calendar and a recorded vote was requested,” Faleomavaega said. “When a bill is placed on suspension calendar, it can pass by voice vote. But if a Member calls for a recorded vote, then the bill must pass by 2/3 majority, or else it fails. This is what happened today. A recorded vote was called for and thankfully the bill passed by an overwhelming majority.”
“I appreciate the support of my colleagues, and I thank committee and leadership staff for working in close association with my office on provisions which will benefit the U.S. Territory of American Samoa for years to come. However, while I thank my colleagues for their support and urged them to vote in favor of S. 2009, I take no happiness in the successful passage of this bill because I still stand for fair wages for American Samoa’s workers. So between now and 2015, it will be up to ASG and our corporate partners, including StarKist and Tri-Marine, to find new ways of succeeding without further compromising the wages of our fish cleaners because I cannot promise that I will support anymore delays after this.”
“American Samoa’s fish cleaners have been the backbone of the U.S. tuna and fishing processing industries, and I salute them for stabilizing the Territory’s economy. With heart-felt gratitude for the sacrifices they have made on our behalf, I noted their service in the Congressional Record for historical purposes.”
“I also applaud the people of American Samoa, our Fono, and local leaders for the prayers and the support they have offered. I want to especially commend Senator Bingaman and Senator Murkowksi for their leadership in getting S. 2009 passed by the Senate.”
“I would like to express my sincerest appreciation to Speaker of the House John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Ranking Member Howard Berman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Chairman John Kline and Ranking Member George Miller of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, Chairman Lamar Smith and Ranking Member John Conyers of the Committee on Judiciary, Chairman Doc Hasting and Ranking Member Ed Markey of the Committee on Natural Resources, and Senators Jeff Bingaman and Lisa Murkowski who respectively serve as the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, for all they have done for and on behalf of the people of American Samoa.”
“As I stated in my previous release, S. 2009 included other provisions not related to minimum wage and, because of this, the bill was referred to three different committees in the House, including Education and the Workforce, the Judiciary, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs which had primary jurisdiction for S. 2009. With three different committees sharing jurisdiction, the bill could not move to the House floor unless the committees agreed to be discharged from consideration of S. 2009.”
“I appreciate that each of the Chairmen and Ranking Members agreed to waive consideration in order to expedite the bill’s consideration. Although S. 2009 was not referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources, I respectfully sought and received the support of Chairman Doc Hastings and Ranking Member Ed Markey, too.”
“While we were hopeful that the bill could be placed on the House calendar after Congress returned from the Christmas recess, in January 2012 the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) unwittingly halted the advancement of the bill due to concerns it raised about a provision related to the monitoring of Runit Island. After explaining how important delaying further minimum wage increases is to American Samoa’s economy, we were able to resolve OIA’s concerns and move forward. But given these setbacks, Speaker Boehner’s office subsequently requested that we formalize, in writing, the commitment of the Chairmen of the committees of jurisdiction and, as of March 28, 2012, we completed this request.”
“On Tuesday, July 10, 2012, I personally met with Majority Leader Eric Cantor and presented our case, and he agreed that with the support of Speaker Boehner, Democratic Leader Pelosi and Democratic Whip Hoyer that he would schedule the bill for consideration. Once the bill was publicly placed on the House calendar for July 17, 2012, I announced the progress we had made. Given the sensitivities surrounding minimum wage, I felt like a public announcement any sooner could have jeopardized our efforts.”
“The matter of minimum wage is of utmost importance to American Samoa. Since 1956, until Congress enacted P.L. 110-28 which automatically increases wage rates by $.50 per hour effective July 2007 and every year thereafter until 2014, wages rates for American Samoa were determined by Special Industry Committees in accordance with Sections 5, 6, and 8 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. Sections 205, 206, 208). While these Industry Committees were phased out in other U.S. Territories due to their more diversified economies, American Samoa continues to be a single industry economy, and automatic increases have only served to exacerbate an already difficult situation for the local economy.”
“For more than 50-years, American Samoa’s private sector economy had been nearly 80% dependent, either directly or indirectly, on two canneries -- StarKist and Chicken of the Sea -- which until recently employed more than 74 percent of our private sector workforce. However, on September 30, 2009, one day after American Samoa was struck by a powerful earthquake which set off a tsunami that left untold damage and loss from which the Territory has not fully recovered, Chicken of the Sea closed its operations in American Samoa and outsourced more than 2,000 jobs to Thailand where fish cleaners are paid $0.75 and less per hour compared to wage rates of about $4.76 per hour in American Samoa.”
“As noted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), before minimum wage increases went into effect tuna canneries in American Samoa were operating at about a $7.5 million loss per year when compared to canneries, like Bumble Bee, and now Chicken of the Sea, which outsource fish cleaning jobs to low-wage rate countries. Outsourcing has adversely impacted American Samoa’s economy in untold ways. Higher fish costs, higher shipping costs, higher fuel costs, better local tax incentives offered by competitors and the global economic recession have especially contributed to the weakening of the Territory’s economy. Passage of S. 2009 will help resolve some of these problems by providing ASG with the time it needs to diversify the Territory’s private-sector economy.”
“Again, while I do have reservations about minimum wage delays considering that our cannery workers also need to be paid at rates that keep up with the cost of living, I thank my colleagues in the House and Senate for helping the people of American Samoa at a time when we need them most,” Faleomavaega concluded |
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