Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is issuing a strong statement of support for a request by Governor Lemanu and the governors of Guam and the CNMI, to meet virtually with President Biden on his planned expansion of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM).
KHJ News Washington DC correspondent Matt Kaye reports…
Congresswoman Uifa’atali’s office says her statement will welcome and support the three governors’ request to meet virtually with President Biden on his PRIMNM expansion, adding that she “…especially appreciates their helpful unity, which strengthens the islands’ position.”
Governor Lemanu and the governors of Guam and the CNMI argue in their meeting request that expanding fishery closures by enlarging PRIMNM will further harm local fishing industries, including StarKist in American Samoa.
Uifa’atali Amata’s office says the Congresswoman thinks President Biden should meet with the governors after he announced a decision of such “magnitude, affecting their jurisdictions directly.”
There was no word though, on what she might do to facilitate such a meeting…nor has she gotten a response to her own letter to the administration for a fishery exception to PRIMNM.
The governors’ request for a virtual meeting follows a March 27 request for consultation on the proposed PRIMNM expansion before a decision is made.
Governor Lemanu stressed that 5-thousand local jobs depend on the “viability of the StarKist cannery and supply from US-flagged tuna purse seiners.”
The governors write that Pacific Marine Monuments already make up more than a quarter of the Federal Exclusive Economic Zone and 90-percent of the president’s “America the Beautiful’s” conservation goal.
Congresswoman Amata has railed against the president publicly for the expansion without consulting the islands, complained in writing to his Commerce and Interior Secretaries and criticized Biden’s action in the press.
