| Congressman Faleomavaega announced
that he is very pleased that the U.S. Postal Service has agreed to issue
a stamp commemorating the centennial of American Samoa’s political union
with the United States. The Congressman said that he received a letter
from Postmaster General William Henderson informing him of the U.S. Postal
Service’s decision. According to the Postmaster General, the stamp
will be issued next year.
“The issuance of a commemorative stamp for American
Samoa has been a priority of mine and the goal of the last two Administrations
in the territory,” said Faleomavaega. “Both Governor Tauese, and
Governor Lutali before him worked very hard to make this commemorative
stamp a reality.”
Officials from American Samoa have been in contact
with the U.S. Postal Service, and in particular with the Citizen’s Stamp
Advisory Committee, which makes the official recommendations, for a number
of years. The Advisory Committee initially rejected the request for
a stamp for Samoa. The Congressman and Governor Tauese both asked
that the Advisory Committee re-consider its decision, but the request for
a stamp was rejected again.
The Tauese Administration then worked to collect
more than 15,000 signatures on a petition to the Postmaster-General of
the United States calling for the issuance of a commemorative stamp to
mark the 100th anniversary of American Samoa's joining the U.S. political
family. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and other officials
from the DOI’s Office of Insular Affairs along with the four territorial
governors and elected representatives of each of those four territories
all signed the petition. Mickey Ibarra, Assistant to the President
and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, also
added his name to the document. The petition was then presented,
in Faleomavaega’s office, to an official of the U.S. Postal Service.
The Congressman was also able to obtain letters
of support from several U.S. Senators, and these letters were sent to the
Advisory Committee and the U.S. Postmaster General. “These joint
efforts convinced the U.S. Postal Service to reverse its earlier ruling
and decide to go ahead and issue the stamp,” said Faleomavaega.
“I want to commend the Tauese administration for
its efforts in collecting more than 15,000 signatures on the petition,”
said the Congressman. “I also want to commend Secretary Babbitt for
his unqualified support for the issuance of a commemorative stamp.”
The Congressman went on to explain that the Secretary was personally involved
in the effort. “Secretary Babbitt provided the leadership which resulted
in a joint letter from a number of influential members of the Clinton administration
in support of a stamp for American Samoa.”
Faleomavaega continued, “Three years ago,
in close consultation with Governor Tauese, we moved forward to have a
centennial stamp, a centennial coin and a centennial resolution issued
for this special occasion. It appears now that we will have the stamp.”
“With respect to the coin,” the Congressman continued,
“Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton has introduced legislation to mint
special quarters for American Samoa, the District of Columbia and the other
territories. This bill has the support of the Chairman of the Subcommittee
it has been referred to, and I am told that it will move soon. Next
year I will introduce a resolution recognizing American Samoa’s contribution
to the United States, and that should complete the trio,” concluded the
Congressman. |
![[106th Congress]](/faleomavaega/press/press_2000/images/106.jpg)
