Amata-Backed Veterans Bill Moves Forward

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Uifa'atali Amata is welcoming an advancement of the bipartisan U.S. Vets of the FAS Act, H.R. 6652, to fulfill U.S. commitments to U.S. Veterans in the Freely Associated States (FAS) with telehealth and mail order pharmacy services.

"Our U.S. Veterans deserve these services, and our bill affirms congressional intent with clear language regarding the COFA agreements to support our Veterans from the Freely Associated States, which honors all who served," said HVAC Vice Chairman Amata. "I'm pleased to see our legislation take this first step in our Committee work, with more to do, but we have important bipartisan backing. This is another good bill where the Representatives from the Pacific territories and Hawaii are working together in full agreement."

"The major typhoon damages emphasize the necessity of having these services in place and ready for our Veterans in these Pacific locations," said Aumua Amata, who had led passage of the COFA legislation in the 118^th Congress, serving as Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee's Task Force for that purpose.

On Thursday, the House Veterans' Affairs Committee's (HVAC) Subcommittee on Health advanced this bill directing the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) to ensure these essential health services to veterans in the FAS. The bill is the cooperative effort of the three Pacific territories and the Hawaii House delegation: Congresswoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds (CNMI) with original cosponsors Congresswoman Aumua Amata (American Samoa), Congressman James Moylan (Guam), Congressman Ed Case and Congresswoman Jill Tokuda, both of Hawaii.

The bill reinforces the commitment Congress made in the 2024 renewal of the Compacts of Free Association and ensures the VA fulfills that obligation, including reports to Congress to ensure accountability and progress, and a timeline for implementation. The next step for the bill is consideration by the full Committee.

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