Hon. Eni Faleomavaega (D., American Samoa) assumed the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment in January 2007, although he has served on this panel since his election to Congress in 1988. He said recently that one of the things that surprised him in the late 1980s was that no one wanted to serve on this subcommittee. It only has been in the last three or four years that Congress has begun to pay more attention to the Asia Pacific region, Faleomavaega says, owing to myriad challenges caused by the rise of China, threats to regional stability posed by tensions in the Taiwan Strait, North Korea's nuclear ambitions, and human rights abuses in Burma, among other developments.

Congressman Faleomavaega reflects on issues that his subcommittee has examined this year, underscoring the importance of continued U.S. engagement in Asia.

Washington Report is a bimonthly newsletter that provides an

"inside-the-Beltway" perspective on developments in U.S.-Asia Pacific

relations. The centerpiece of the report is an interview with a leading

authority on an economic, political, and/or strategic issues of

importance to transpacific relations.

Hon. Eni Faleomavaega (D., American Samoa) assumed the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment in January 2007, although he has served on this panel since his election to Congress in 1988. He said recently that one of the things that surprised him in the late 1980s was that no one wanted to serve on this subcommittee. It only has been in the last three or four years that Congress has begun to pay more attention to the Asia Pacific region, Faleomavaega says, owing to myriad challenges caused by the rise of China, threats to regional stability posed by tensions in the Taiwan Strait, North Korea's nuclear ambitions, and human rights abuses in Burma, among other developments.

Congressman Faleomavaega reflects on issues that his subcommittee has examined this year, underscoring the importance of continued U.S. engagement in Asia.

Washington Report is a bimonthly newsletter that provides an

"inside-the-Beltway" perspective on developments in U.S.-Asia Pacific

relations. The centerpiece of the report is an interview with a leading

authority on an economic, political, and/or strategic issues of

importance to transpacific relations.