Faleomavaega entered elective politics when he ran alongside A. P. Lutali in the 1985 gubernatorial race. He served as Lieutenant Governor of American Samoa from 1985–89. In 1987, he participated in an event that followed traditional Polynesian life experiences by sailing from Tahiti to Hawaii in a canoe.
Congressional delegate
Faleomavaega was elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives in 1988, serving from January 3, 1989 until January 2015. As a delegate, he has worked to receive more federal funding for his home territory, particularly for health care and other essential services. He has opposed free trade deals involving meats and seafood, as nearly one-third of his territory's population is involved in the tuna industry. He proposed legislation that would allow residents of US territories to vote in presidential elections if they are active duty members of the military. Faleomavaega also participated in a boycott of Jacques Chirac, who made a speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress in 1996, due to French nuclear testing in the Pacific.
Committee assignments
Faleomavaega was a member of the following committees in the House of Representatives:
Committee on Foreign Affairs
*Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment
*Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
Committee on Natural Resources
*Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
*Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs
Faleomavaega has said that it is more opportune if the United States could refrain from interfering in internal affairs of Sri Lanka. He took the initiative of briefing members of the Sub Committee on Asia and the Pacific of the US House of Representatives in this respect.
Support for American Samoa's independence
In 2012, both Faleomavaega and Togiola Tulafono, American Samoa's Governor, called for the populace to consider a move towards autonomy if not independence, to a mixed response.
Faleomavaega was known for his vocal support of Bahrain's monarchy during the Bahraini uprising. One of Faleomavaega's top campaign donors, William Nixon, is a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist whose firm, Policy Impact Communications, founded the pro-monarchy Bahrain American Council. He has taken various paid trips to Bahrain to meet with that country's rulers.
Faleomavaega suffered from complications that he said are from his exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War Voters' concerns about his health are speculated to have contributed to his 2014 election defeat. Faleomavaega died at the age of 73 on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. The cause was not specified. He was survived by his wife, 5 children, and 10 grandchildren.
