Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is welcoming the decision by Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to extend American Samoa’s time limit for their use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) education funds.

Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata has released a statement welcoming ARPA funds extension from the USDOE Secretary McMahon.

“My office has worked on this issue and been in repeated contact with USDOE. I appreciate the Secretary’s willingness to schedule a call and be in touch with our office,” Uifa’atali commented.

“We were also fortunate that the Secretary was at the Western Governors Association meeting this week, where my husband Fred was there with Governor Palacios of CNMI for an additional reminder of this issue, which worked out well as our Governor wasn’t able to make the trip to the states for this meeting.

“As part of our office’s efforts, I am already scheduled for a call to the Secretary in a few days so I look forward to thanking her in person for her responsiveness to this important need in American Samoa,” said the Congresswoman.

“We can’t emphasize our schools enough in building opportunities for our next generation, and I’m delighted we have the continuing chance to put these much-needed dollars to good use. Every effort should be made to complete federally supported projects like these in a timely manner so that federal support is used to the fullest potential possible.

“Congratulations to our American Samoa Department of Education, with special thanks to Director Maefau Dr. Mary Lauagaia Taufete'e.”

ARPA was passed by Congress and enacted in 2021, and included substantial support for educational projects and improvements. This decision by Secretary McMahon enables these local initiatives to move forward despite the earlier missed deadline.

(Samoa News should point out that Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata does not mention that the ARPA funding for the 14 disqualified ASDOE projects is still on appeal — however she does note that she has a scheduled call to the Secretary on the table and it’s possible that the issue of the disqualified projects will be a part of the call.)

CHRONIC DISEASE PREVENTION GRANT

American Samoa has received a grant notice of $275,025 for the American Samoa Department of Health from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This is a new, discretionary grant from the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Diseases Prevention & Health Promotion, covering the year ahead with the rest of a five-year planned project to follow. It is a scientific health research grant that includes surveys, based on a grant application by ASDOH.

“Thank you to Lydith Powell Yip for her work on this project, and everyone at ASDOH involved in this effort to obtain federal funds and especially to help limit chronic disease among our people,” said Congresswoman Amata. “Congratulations to Health Director Dr. Saipale Fuimaono.”

The grant project is titled, Strengthening Chronic Disease Prevention and Management in American Samoa: Data-Driven and Culturally Tailored Approaches.

“Thank you to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the senior leadership of the CDC, and the Center for Chronic Diseases Prevention Acting Director Dr. Chanchien Parajón for this support for American Samoa,” concluded Aumua Amata.