Kilili grateful to Faleomavaega; looks forward to work with Amata

While he is ready to work with congresswoman-elect Aumua Amata of American Samoa in the 114th U.S. Congress, Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) said the CNMI should be thankful for outgoing delegate Eni Faleomavaega for his years of helping the Commonwealth.

“I look forward to working effectively with Ms. Aumua Amata, American Samoa’s delegate-elect. The insular area representatives often have common interests and we were working very closely together. I am sure that will be the case with Delegate Amata and with the new delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Ms. Stacey Plaskett, in the 114th Congress that begins in January,” he told Saipan Tribune in a recent email.

Sablan said Faleomavaega has always been a friend of the Commonwealth and has come to the defense the islands’ interests.

“Congressman Faleomavaega has become my friend over the last six years and he has really been a friend to the people of the Northern Mariana Islands throughout his 26 years in Congress. When we had no one representing us in Congress, Congressman Faleomavaega, the most senior among the delegates, would go to bat for us. And for that we should be very grateful to him.”

Amata, who ran under the Republican Party banner, unseated Faleomavaega who ran under the Democratic Party earlier this month.

Amata cornered 4,306 votes (42.0 percent) to Faleomavaega’s 3,571 votes (30.8 percent). Aside from Faleomavaega and Amata, seven other candidates sought the position.

A congressional staffer in Washington, D.C. for 10 years before seeking a seat, Amata will be the first woman to serve as American Samoa’s non-voting delegate in U.S. Congress.

Faleomavaega, meanwhile, was first elected in 1989 and previously served as American Samoa’s lieutenant governor.

Sablan, an independent, won a fourth consecutive second-year term to U.S. Congress after defeating NMI Democratic Party candidate Andrew Salas in the Nov. 4 general elections in the CNMI.