Amata Takes Oath of Office at Opening of 119th Congress

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Uifa'atali Amata was officially sworn in on Friday to serve the people of American Samoa for a sixth term in Congress. The new 119th Congress convened on January 3^rd, which is the constitutional start date every two years.

Swearing in photo for the 119th Congress with a historic Holy Bible

"I am humbled to represent our people of American Samoa in Washington, D.C., and work directly on legislation regarding our Veterans, oversight of Insular Affairs, and Pacific issues," said Congresswoman Amata. "As always, throughout the year, I will be home in American Samoa as often as possible to hear from you. While I look forward to working with an administration from my side of the aisle on issues that can strengthen American Samoa, I will also remain as bipartisan as ever in examining and cosponsoring legislation based on if it is good for our islands, which I have done since I was first elected in 2014."

Congresswoman Amata greeting Speaker Johnson with her family looking on during opening day of the Congress

Congresswoman Amata and all the Members of the House take a solemn oath to protect and defend the Constitution. Amata was able to have several family members including a grandchild at the Capitol for opening day, which includes the vote for Speaker of the House, ceremonial procedures, and the swearing-in of Members of Congress, which is led by the Speaker of the House.

As the first necessary step in the opening of the Congress, the House of Representatives re-elected the Speaker of the House, the Hon. Mike Johnson, a Congressman from Louisiana, who has served in that role since October of 2023.

"I want to congratulate my friend, Speaker Johnson. Looking ahead, we have a very narrow party divide in the House, once again, although the Senate has a clear majority, unlike the past two years," said Aumua Amata. "The narrow majority will be challenging at times, and perhaps encourage some compromise and bipartisanship as well. My first focus is always American Samoa, so I will be making our territory's needs known in Washington, working for federal support in fairness with the states, and visibly representing our islands in my puletasi so that we are not forgotten by lawmakers and administration policymakers."

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