The American Samoan member of the US Congress, Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin, has urged the US State Department to authorise a Defense Department airlift of supplies collected by the Samoan community in the United States for tsunami victims in Samoa and Tonga.
Faleomavaega made the request in his capacity as Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment in a letter to the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
Faleomavaega says the needs are great, but islanders in the United States have responded from the heart with a vast effort collecting critical supplies that are now awaiting transport from Los Angeles.
He says the airlift needs to happen immediately to get the supplies to Samoa, and Tonga.
Faleomavaega has arrived in Apia where the U.S. Department of State has informed him that Secretary Clinton may place another phone call to him to confer further on relief assistance.
