My father always said to me that whenever someone offers you a seat at the table, take it. That’s what I’ve done.

In addition to the House Republican Conference, the committee of all members of the Majority, where policy decisions are made, I have accepted seats on the House committees on Natural Resources, Veterans’ Affairs and Small Business.

These were the committees I requested and I understand that I am one of only nine freshmen who was granted three committee assignments. Normally, most Members are limited to two committee assignments.

The label of American Samoa’s seat in the House of Representatives as being that of a “non-voting delegate” is somewhat of a misnomer, because even though the delegate does not vote on the Floor, most of the work getting a bill to the Floor is done in committees, where the delegates have a full vote equal to that of any Member from the states. Therefore through my vote, I will be in a position to influence any bills that will be considered by these three committees.

NATURAL RESOURCES

Natural Resources is almost an automatic committee for Members from the small territories, because it has jurisdiction over general federal policy towards the islands, including the three Freely Associated States, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa in the Pacific and Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean.

Unless a delegate is able to obtain a rare seat on an exclusive committee, such as Appropriations, he or she invariably is given a seat on Natural Resources.

Natural Resources will have a new chairman this Congress: Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT). I am fortunate that I already have a friendship with him dating back to our service together on the Republican National Committee when he was state party chairman before being elected to Congress. As is the prerogative of any committee chairman, Rob has reorganized the subcommittees, where much of legislative work begins.

I had been expecting to serve on the panel known as Fish, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs chaired in this Congress by Rep. John Fleming, M.D. (R-LA), but Insular Affairs now is being combined with Indian and Native Alaskan Affairs to create one subcommittee devoted to people issues.

While I am certain the chairman will grant my wish to be on the panel dealing with Insular Affairs, I also hope he will allow me to serve on the subcommittee on oceans, which also will deal with water and power issues — all very important to American Samoa.

For fisheries matters, the chairman has decided that issues involving the Magnuson Act (which is the law that governs the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council) will be handled at the full committee level.

By distributing these issues this way, there will be a greater opportunity to educate more Members on our major concerns. It is not yet clear who will chair the various new subcommittees.

VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs seemed like a natural to me not only because I received such good support from veterans in my campaign but because it is an important and growing segment of our population that sometimes gets overlooked by Washington. 

I plan to fight to ensure that our veterans receive all the same rights, privileges and benefits of those vets in the states and to expand services to all of those men and women who sacrifice so much in defense of our country.

Because Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL) will be returning to chair the committee again, the subcommittee structure probably will remain the same. If so, I am going to request to serve on the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity and the Subcommittee on Health. Those are two areas of enormous importance to our veterans.

SMALL BUSINESS

The Veterans’ Affairs Economic Opportunity subcommittee should fit nicely with my service on the Committee on Small Business.

While it is nice to have major corporations operating here, as we all saw in 2009, our economy is devastated when we become over reliant on a few major employers who can depart our shores with little warning.

The only way we are ever going to reach any level of self sufficiency is by promoting small business opportunities. To the extent that the federal government can help us incubate small enterprise, we need to take advantage of that.

Moreover, it is often overlooked that our canneries create opportunities for small business to service them, from servicing the fishing boats that frequent our ports to feeding and clothing the cannery workers and their families.

Small Business will have a new chairman in the next Congress: Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), who will succeed Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), who is moving on to Armed Services. Chairman Chabot called me last week to welcome me onto the committee, but I do not yet know his plans for organizing the subcommittees.

Ironically, to take this new post, Steve is leaving the chairmanship of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, the panel on which Faleomavaega was his Ranking Minority Member.

Normally, the period after Congress begins its first regular session in early January until the State of the Union address late in the month, is used for organizing the committees and setting their agendas consistent with the policy directives of the Conference. However, Speaker Boehner has told us he expects the House to “hit the ground running,” so that timetable may be accelerated next month. 

When the tables are set, I will be ready to take my seats.