House Proceeding 01-21-10 on Jan 21st, 2010 :: 2:07:45 to 2:13:55
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2:07:42 to 2:08:03( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: and include extraneous material order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from american samoa rise? mr. sablan: -- mr. faleomavaega: mr. speaker, i ask that i be able to speak for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. faleomavaega: i ask unanimous consent to extend and revise my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. faleomavaega: mr. speaker, i

2:07:45 to 2:13:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Eni F. H. Faleomavaega

2:08:04 to 2:08:24( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: rise today to share with you and my -- our colleagues,o commend the c.b.o. -- cbs "60 minutes" program that was aired last week onunday, january 17, this year . as it was narrated by cbs reporter, the television program was called american samoa, football island.

2:08:25 to 2:08:46( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: and it highlighted the fact that from an island of less than 70,000 people there are more than 30 players of soan ancestry currently playing professional football in the national football league. an estimated more than 200 playing currently in the division i college football.

2:08:47 to 2:09:09( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: a boy born to samoan parents is 56 times more likely to get into the nfl than any other kid in the united states, period. this is an exceptional bit of information considering that the six little high schools that we have there do not have locker rooms, nor weight for training, no proper

2:09:10 to 2:09:31( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: equipment or other facilities. this is concerning that most of these athletes do not start playing organized football until they're in high school. for the first time this year we've organized a football program. now, what this, mr. speaker, is that a good number of these young

2:09:32 to 2:09:54( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: players would be disqualified if they were playing the u.s. for the simple point that they are too big. i know this is true in the state of hawaii pr samoan football players have to organize their own big boys football program because they would be disqualified to play.

2:09:55 to 2:10:16( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: i know this is true in one little town in the state of hawaii. i don't want to impression of my colleagues that samoans are a lot of muscle but no brains. no, this is not true. i know from my own experience when i played high school football, my alma mater in hawaii, it was like a tradition

2:10:17 to 2:10:39( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: that all samoans would play the line, the quarterback would be the japanese, filipinos be the halfbacks, but the fullback would be the samoan. now, all that has changed. we play quarterback these days. in american samoa, there were no youth or development programs until this year when they started a football bowl program.

2:10:40 to 2:11:01( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: but still coaches and recruiters go to our little territory for raw talent. it was important to see the -- what the kids had to go through to go to the colgeate level. the fact that a samoan boy is

2:11:02 to 2:11:23( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: 56 times more likely to get into the nfl is most interesting. it can be attributed not only to the size of the people but to the values of the samoan culture. respect. discipline. and making sure there is respect in the process. one can appreciate that the young man and women of samoan

2:11:24 to 2:11:46( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: dissent hold true of these values of humanity. i know that these athletes with these values will be welcomed by any sport. i want to take this opportunity to recognize the polynesian players who were fortunate enough to make it into this year's nfl conference championships and will be playing in indianapolis and new orleans this weekend. they are aaron francisco of the

2:11:47 to 2:12:09( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: indianapolis colts. mora of the indianapolis colts. bohan of the jets. another one of the vikings. i want to congratulate them and their families for their success.

2:12:10 to 2:12:31( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: i want to baltimore ravens who is not only headed to his first ever pro bowl in florida, to the super bowl, butoday is his 26th birthday. he's in his fourth year in the nfl, was drafted by theavens in the first round of the 206th nfl draft and is a graduate of the university of oregon.

2:12:32 to 2:12:54( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: at 6'5" and almost 350 pounds, he finished the year with more than 30 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. the success of these new generation of football players, mr. speaker, are a result of the pathway paved by samoan football player al molotai, who played for the washington redskins in 1945, and charlie

2:12:55 to 2:13:16( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: of the detroit lions, jack thompson, manu and his son. wilson, frank and his son brandon. jessie, junior seau, troy

2:13:17 to 2:13:37( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: polamalu, jonathan, joseph sara. junior aiu and many others. i'm asked why samoan men have much success on the football field. while there are many factors, i am reminded of the late coach vince lombardi of the gre packers when he said that

2:13:38 to 2:13:55( Edit History Discussion )

Eni F. H. Faleomavaega: football is like life. it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority. this is very much part of the heart and soul culture which it centers on the importance of families sharing