Eni Fa'aua'a Hunkin Faleomavaega Jr. (; August 15, 1943 – February 22, 2017) was an

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...

n politician and attorney who served as the territory's lieutenant governor (1985-1989) and non-voting delegate to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

(1989-2015). As a delegate, Faleomavaega served on

committees A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

and spoke on the House floor; however, he was not permitted to vote on the final passage of any legislation. He also was the father-in-law of former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

fullback

Fui Vakapuna Fui Vakapuna (pronounced foo-ē vac-uh-poo-nǎ; born March 9, 1984) is a former American football fullback. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at BYU. Professional c ...

Early life, education, and military service

Faleomavaega was born in

Vailoatai, American Samoa Vailoatai is a village in southwestern Tutuila, the main island of American Samoa. It is located on the eastern end of Leone Bay. The village is known for its beautiful malae (ceremonial village-green) nested along the island's rugged southern co ...

and grew up in

Oahu, Hawaii Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O’ ...

. He graduated from

Kahuku High School Kahuku High & Intermediate School, located in Kahuku CDP, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, on the island of Oahu, serves approximately 1,850 students in grades seven through twelve and is part of the Windward District on the is ...

and initially attended Church College of Hawaii (now Brigham Young University–Hawaii), where he completed his

associate's degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of Tertiary education, post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelo ...

. He then transferred to

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

's main campus in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

in 1966. He received his J.D. from the

University of Houston Law Center The University of Houston Law Center is the law school of the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1947, the Law Center is one of 12 colleges of the University of Houston, a state university. It is accredited by the American Bar A ...

in 1972 and LL.M. from the

UC Berkeley School of Law The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of 1 ...

in 1973. He served as an enlistee in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

from 1966 to 1969, and as an officer in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020 ...

from 1982 to 1989. He completed a tour in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

and left the military with the rank of captain following his second term of service. He and his wife were active members of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

Legal career

Faleomavaega served as the administrative assistant to American Samoa Delegate

A.U. Fuimaono Asuemu Ulufale Fuimaono (January 24, 1924 – September 9, 2008) was an American Samoan politician and Paramount Chief who served as American Samoa's first List of Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from American Samoa, Delega ...

from 1973 to 1975 and as staff counsel for the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs from 1975 to 1981. He served as the Deputy Attorney General of American Samoa from 1981 to 1984.

Political career

Faleomavaega entered elective politics when he ran alongside A. P. Lutali in the 1985 gubernatorial race. He served as Lieutenant Governor of American Samoa from 1985 to 1989. In 1987, he participated in an event that followed traditional Polynesian life experiences by sailing from

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

to Hawaii in a canoe.

Congressional delegate

Faleomavaega was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the House of Representatives in 1988, serving from January 3, 1989 until January 2015. As a delegate, he has worked to receive more federal funding for his home territory, particularly for health care and other essential services. He has opposed free trade deals involving meats and seafood, as nearly one-third of his territory's population is involved in the tuna industry. He proposed legislation that would allow residents of US territories to vote in presidential elections if they are active duty members of the military. Faleomavaega also participated in a boycott of Jacques Chirac, who made a speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress in 1996, due to French nuclear testing in the Pacific.

Committee assignments

Faleomavaega was a member of the following committees in the House of Representatives: * Committee on Foreign Affairs ** Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment (Ranking Member) ** Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere * Committee on Natural Resources ** Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources ** Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs

Caucuses

Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) is a caucus consisting of members of the United States Congress who are Asian American and Pacific Islander ( AAPI), and who have a strong interest in advocating and promoting issues and ...

Support for Sri Lanka's war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Faleomavaega has said that it is more opportune if the United States could refrain from interfering in internal affairs of Sri Lanka. He took the initiative of briefing members of the Sub Committee on Asia and the Pacific of the US House of Representatives in this respect.

Support for American Samoa's independence

In 2012, both Faleomavaega and

Togiola Tulafono Togiola Talalelei A. Tulafono (born February 28, 1947) is an American Samoan politician and lawyer who served as the 6th Governor of American Samoa. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He had previously served as lieutenant governor, taking t ...

, American Samoa's Governor, called for the populace to consider a move towards autonomy if not independence, to a mixed response.

Support for Bahrain's monarchy

Faleomavaega was known for his vocal support of Bahrain's

monarchy A monarchy is a government#Forms, form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The legitimacy (political)#monarchy, political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restric ...

during the Bahraini uprising. One of Faleomavaega's top campaign donors, William Nixon, is a Washington, D.C.-based

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

whose firm, Policy Impact Communications, founded the pro-monarchy Bahrain American Council. He has taken various paid trips to Bahrain to meet with that country's rulers.

Legacy

VA Clinic

On March 31, 2017, President Donald Trump signed H.R. 1362 into law. H.R. 1362 names the VA clinic in Pago Pago, American Samoa, the "Faleomavaega Eni Fa'aua'a Hunkin VA Clinic." The bill was sponsored by Delegate Amata Coleman Radewagen, Faleomavaega's successor as representative from American Samoa, and co-sponsored by five others.

Death

Faleomavaega suffered from complications that he said are from his exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.Cama, Timothy (November 5, 2014)
"American Samoa Delegate Loses Seat"
''The Hill''. Retrieved March 20, 2015. Voters' concerns about his health are speculated to have contributed to his 2014 election defeat. Faleomavaega died at the age of 73 on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. The cause was not specified. He was survived by his wife, 5 children, and 10 grandchildren.

References

External links

*
House Democrats Profile
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Faleomavaega, Eni FaauaA Hunkin, Jr. 1943 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians American Samoa Democrats American Samoan Latter Day Saints Brigham Young University alumni Brigham Young University–Hawaii alumni Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from American Samoa Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from American Samoa Lieutenant Governors of American Samoa People from Western District, American Samoa United States Army officers UC Berkeley School of Law alumni University of Houston Law Center alumni United States Army reservists