U.S. House passes appropriations securing grant priorities for American Samoa

Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata welcomed House passage of the second round of six appropriations bills for the fiscal year, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, sending the bill to the Senate.

[It was quickly approved by the U.S. Senate and signed by President Biden, thus avoiding a government shutdown.]

“It’s best for American Samoa and all of the United States to have full year funding in place for dependability and planning,” said Congresswoman Amata. “This year’s process has had obstacles, but bipartisan passage of this bill ensures important appropriations such as the Departments of Defense, State, Treasury, HHS, and Homeland Security will be funded, including FEMA and the U.S. Coast Guard, as this bill notably funds two new fast response cutters.

“Defense and diplomacy are very important in our Pacific region, and in American Samoa we look to various federal agencies for a number of grant-funded services for healthcare, education and more.”

The $1.2 trillion appropriations package includes numerous elements that affect American Samoa directly, and the Pacific region broadly.

The legislation increases overall Head Start funding, and boosts child literacy programs. It bolsters grant programs supporting treatment, prevention and research for diabetes, as well as digestive and kidney health, while the HHS block grant program is funded nationally with $770 million.

Diplomatic support throughout the Pacific Islands is $160 million, and support for the Peace Corps is renewed. The legislation also supports the Resilient Pacific Blue Economies Program, Pacific American Fund, and natural disaster and humanitarian response provision for the region, while the Defense funding implements the policies authorized by the NDAA, and bolsters the Indo-Pacific Command.

Prior to the approval, about half the federal departments had been funded for the fiscal year and this package funds the other half, which had been on temporary funding extensions that expired Friday at midnight.

Negotiations over the Department of Homeland Security appropriations were the final agreement.

President Biden, Speaker Mike Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had each announced Tuesday that Congress was ready to move forward with the last legislative package that would fully fund the U.S. government, and the legislative package was released early Thursday, a prerequisite to holding votes.