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Your addition to these proceedings has been most helpful and we are all the more grateful because you have been limited in your opportunity to orally present that which you obviously spent a good deal of time preparing by way of your testimony.

I am confronted by the fact that we have now had the second bells ringing and we only have very little time to get to the floor and there are a few procedural matters I must deal with before we conclude the hearing.

(The statement follows:)

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM WOHLFELD

I am here today to speak in favor of H.R. 11523 and H.R. 12493 which would provide for an elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor in American Samoa. Although my testimony is given as a private individual, my statement is based on firsthand knowledge of American Samoa and the U.S. territories gained as a former official in the Office of Territories in the Department of the Interior and as the Special Assistant to the incumbent Governor of American Samoa. While in the latter post, I also served for extensive periods of time as Acting Governor and Lieutenant Governor since this position was left unfilled for some nine months. In addition, I had direct operating responsibility as Acting Director of the Department of Education.

Through active involvement in territorial policy formulation and implementation in Washington and American Samoa, I was able to observe key decisionmakers and their actions that would ultimately affect the lives and well being of some 30,000 Americans, the people of American Samoa. It is from this perspective, enriched through wide-ranging experience in the Executive Office of the President and other federal and state agencies, that I urge favorable consideration of H.R. 11523 and H.R. 12493.

My position on the proposed legislation is based on the belief that a basic tenet of our democratic form of government is self-determination. That is, the people should select, and thereby hold accountable, their Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Yet, despite the obviousness of this conclusion, why is it that after 72 years of United States stewardship American Samoans have not yet gained this fundamental American right? There are many excuses by opponents who may be motivated through self-interest in retaining the status quo, but perhaps the most specious is the claim that the Samoans are not ready for this responsibility. Implicit in this, of course, is that a political appointee from Washington is somehow better qualified to govern in Samoa than a Samoan would be.

It is unfortunate that this committee could not visit Samoa as planned because its members would have been able to assess the problem firsthand and determine whether there is, indeed, any substance to the charge that a "palagi" appointee (whose major qualification is that he possess the proper political affiliation) is better able than a Samoan to administer these islands. Nevertheless, it is illuminating to examine the facts.

Review of the record shows that, contrary to their claims and promises, "palagi" appointees have not performed very well. I will cite just a few specifics, but the record speaks for itself: despite an average rainfall of over 200 inches a year, there is still water rationing and when there is water much of it is unsafe or unpotable; more than 60 percent of the people are still without adequate sewage disposal: Samoan children are still lacking a quality education; and Samoans still face economic discrimination from their government.

In looking at the record, one has only to refer to newspapers in the Samoas, Hawaii, and as distant as New York and Washington, D.C. to be reminded of the notoriety, repressiveness and ineffectiveness of the present administration. Still further evidence of this is to be found in the unprecedented public reprimand given the incumbent Governor by the Assistant Secretary for Public Land Management.

In assessing the opposition to an elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor we must not lose sight of the fact that the central objectives of the United States in American Samoa (as given in the latest Annual Report of the Governor) are threefold:

(a) To provide for the orderly and progressive advancement of American Samoa toward self government;

(b) To assist in attaining maximum possible economic independence: and (c) At the same time to protect American Samoa against the alienation of its land and the destruction of its way of life, language, customs and traditional family organization.

Thus, if it is truly the intent of our nation that Samoa remain for the Samoans, we must ask ourselves

Who but a Samoan, who has had to struggle against discrimination and prove himself capable than a "palagi", is better able to assist in attaining maximum possible independence for American Samoa?

Who but a Samoan, who has suffered under an appalling pattern of governmental ineffectiveness, ineptness and insensitivity, can better lead and govern in American Samoa?

Who but a Samoan is best able to preserve "fa'a Samoa" (The Samoan way of life)?

If any doubt still remains as to the ability of a Samoan to lead and govern in American Samoa, the committee should ask the people for they have expressed themselves on this issue through their elected representatives. In a concurrent resolution passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives endorsing the proposed legislation, the message from the Samoan people is clear: after 72 years American Samoans have come of age for self-determination!

If one is still skeptical, he has only to look at the other U.S. territories of today and the past. The same self-serving excuses were used to deny selfdetermination from Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Alaska, Guam and the Virgin Islandsand the people proved the critics wrong. Similarly, one should not underrate the Samoans. A goodly number of them have completed university training and have held very responsible positions in government and elsewhere at higher levels than "palagi" political appointees.

This is not to say that a Samoan Governor will not make mistakes or that all problems will disappear. What one can predict with certainty, however, is that with an elected Governor many problems and crises caused by unknowing and uncaring political appointees from Washington will not occur. The assurance of this is that through the electoral process, which these proposed bills would provide, government in American Samoa will indeed become both responsible and responsive. The electorate, exercising their rights at the ballot box, will make certain of that!

In recommending approval of H.R. 11523 and H.R. 12493, I would call your attention to the continuing responsibility of the United States to the people of American Samoa. A popularly elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor will go a long way toward correcting and preventing the abuses noted above but they will not eliminate the need for continued Congressional interest and federal assistance in manpower and funds. But unlike the present arrangement which freezes out Samoans from policy decisions, "palagi" technicians would serve on limited contracts as advisors to the elected Samoan policy-makers. This should also have a tendency to stop the spiraling costs of overpriced technicians and an appointed Governor who receives a salary greater than the Governor of California.

The Congress may also wish to give attention to the question of whether to continue the centralization of territorial affairs in a single federal agency or if it would be better and less costly to have a resident federal comptroller and disperse these affairs since Samoa is eligible for grant-in-aid support. From my personal experience with different assistant secretaries and directors in the Department of the Interior, I must conclude that "people problems" are placed best in a governmental department devoted to natural resources.

The need for perpetuating a centralized and very costly territorial bureaucracy is further nullified if one recognizes that the problems of American Samoa are vastly different from Guam, the Virgin Islands and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Too often the mistaken assumption is made that the territories have identical problems because they all happen to be islands. This has been especially harmful to American Samoa because invariably it is relegated to a low priority. This was aptly revealed by the newly appointed official for territorial affairs during his recent visit to the Pacific territories. While in Micronesia, and not having even seen American Samoa as yet, he opined that he considered the Trust Territory to be his major challenge and that Samoa should be less difficult to deal with."

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This over simplification is both untrue and unfair. It also sounds too much like the discredited policy of benign neglect. I submit that people, whether they

are in the territories or on reservations, simply cannot be “dealt with” in some mechanical system as some public land management officials seem to imply.

In closing, I wish to commend this committee in particular and the Congress in general. By the appropriation and substantive review processes you have evidenced a genuine concern and desire over the years to improve the well being of the Samoans. Through H.R. 11523 and H.R. 12493 you have shown your determination that the United States means to honor its promise that Samoa shall be for the Samoans. It is now time for Samoa to be returned to the Samoans. An elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor are essential bulwarks of this national commitment.

Mr. BURTON. If I may, at this time, without objection, we have a series of documents noted here that we will without objection have inserted in the record at the appropriate place, and it is so ordered.

Let me also, if I may, with all the feeling at my command, commend the witnesses this morning, most particularly those who have come so long a distance to give us the benefit of the views of various peoples, including most of the elected leadership of American Samoa. It is my intention to ask the subcommittee to report favorably this legislation, but we will not be able to do that at this point in time.

However, it is further my view that an idea such as this whose time has come in philosophical terms may not be ripe yet to get the required congressional approval. So it would be my further intention to request of the chairman of the full committee that once we have acted showing our support of the principle of an elected Governor that the legislation not be processed by the full committee until the subcommittee has had an opportunity to go to American Samoa to broaden the congressional base of support for this proposition. And in that respect I think the members of the Department of the Interior should be alerted that it is unlikely that this Congress can process the legislation.

In my view the time has come for Congress to act, and I expect this subcommittee to act. That gives the Department almost, perhaps, if you look, let us say to the general election time, November 1974, that gives the Executive some 2 years and 3 months or 2 years and 6 or 7 months to get the House in order. I have found these hearings to be very heartwarming, and on behalf of all the members of my subcommittee, I want to thank all of you who have participated in this very, very helpful meeting. The meeting of the subcommittee stands adjourned.

(Whereupon the subcommittee adjourned at 12:20 o'clock p.m.)

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A Concurrent Resolution To Memorialize The Congress of The United States That The Legislature of American Samoa Unanimously Supports H.R. 12493 WHEREAS, the Honorable Matsunaga of the State of Hawaii on January 19, 1972 introduced a bill in the House of Representatives (H.R. 12493) to provide for the election of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of American Samoa by the electorate of the Territory; and

WHEREAS, the election of its own Governor and Lieutenant Governor is not only the wish of our people but is consistent with the development of a complete democratic form of Government for the people of American Samoa which began in 1948 with the founding of its Legislature, and the creation in 1960 of its own constitution; and

WHEREAS, a Political Status Study Commission appointed under a law passed by the local Legislature gave high priority to a recommendation that the Territory elect its own Governor; and

WHEREAS, a legislative study committee, after completing an inspection tour of other South Pacific governments, has in the report enclosed the recommendation of the Commission unanimously; and

WHEREAS, the Government of the United States time and again through its officials appointed to and visiting American Samoa affirmed this policy and expressed the hope that the people of American Samoa would soon choose a form of government most suited to their needs and elect their own leaders to administer their government; and

WHEREAS, election of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor fulfills a basic democratic government principle of the "government of the people, for the people, and by the people".

WHEREAS, the election of our Delegate-At-Large in 1970 showed that the Territory is politically mature and capable of electing its leaders and accepting the results of such election without resort to violence, disorder, and serious disharmony; and

WHEREAS, the election of our own Governor and Lieutenant Governor would be responsive to the needs of the times, and to the expressed policy of the Government of the United States for the people of American Samoa; Now, therefore BE IT UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED by the Twelfth Legislature of American Samoa, that the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress be respectfully informed of the enthusiastic support of the entire membership of the Legislature of American Samoa for H.R. 12493 introduced in the House of Representatives on January 19, 1972 by the Honorable Spark Matsunaga of Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of the Resolution be sent to the President of the United States, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Governor of American Samoa.

Fofo I. F. Sunia, Senator, District No. 1; Aso'au Ofisa, Senator. Dis-
trict No. 1; Tagaloa M. Tuiolosega, Senator, District No. 2;
Salanoa S. P. Aumoeualogo, Senator, District No. 3; Alaivanu R.
Taufa'asau, Senator, District No. 4; Mulitauaopele Tamotu. Sen-
ator, District No. 5; Tautunu Mata'utia, Senator, District No. 6;
S. P. Mailo, Senator, District Nos. 7 & 8; Tua'olo Lemoe A., Sen-
ator, District No. 9; Moelata Liufau, Senator, District Nos. 10 &
11; Laisene Lagafuaina, Senator, District No. 12; Lea'eno T. W.
Reed, Senator, District No. 12; Leoso Malama, Senator, District
No. 13; Tuveve S. Ameperosa, Senator, District No. 14; Aufata
Fonoti, Senator, District No. 15; Paogofie Sasa'e, Senator, District
No. 15; Satele Mosegi, Senator, District No. 16; Tuitasi Faama-
sani, Senator, District No. 17; Leaeno T. W. Reed, President of
the Senate; and Mrs. Salilo K. Levi, Secretary of the Senate.
(53)

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