Amata Highlights OIA Funding for Close Up

January 9, 2025 Press Release Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is highlighting notice of support for the Close Up program benefiting American Samoa’s students from the Interior Department’s Office of Insular Affairs (OIA). This OIA grant of $1.1 million in Technical Assistance Program (TAP) funds to the Close Up Foundation funds the 2025 Insular Areas Program, which includes American Samoa along with Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Image The notice was sent by DOI Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Carmen Cantor to Close Up Foundation President Mia Charity. “Thank you to everyone locally involved with Close Up for our students, and thank you to the Foundation, President Mia Charity for her leadership, and OIA for this educational federal support,” said Congresswoman Amata. “Our students enjoy this program and I know it’s a great learning experience for them.” USGS Invasive Species Grant In another federal notice this week, the U.S. Geological Survey will receive $162,031 through an Interagency Agreement with the Office of Insular Affairs' Bipartisan Infrastructure Law program for Evaluating the Risk of Invasive Species on Ecosystems, Economics, and the Human Health of the U.S. Territories. ### Issues : Education