It’s past time to provide U.S. maritime protection to American Samoa.
By
June 30, 2021
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When I represented the United States at the 7th ASEAN-U.S. Summit in Bangkok in 2019, I had a clear message for our allies and adversaries in the region: America is a Pacific power. America’s Pacific orientation does not arise just from our continental West Coast. We are a Pacific Island nation comprised of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, Hawaii, the often overlooked territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marinara Islands, and nine Pacific possessions, together with their vast exclusive economic zones (EEZs).