American Samoa's Congresswoman Aumua Amata says she supports having the territory determine its own minimum wage instead of the US Congress.
Aumua was responding to concern of the territory's Chamber of Commerce which queried her actions as American Samoa is in line for the federally mandated minimum wage to be hiked by 50 cents in September.
Her spokesperson Casey Brinck says her office has been in contact with the committees of jurisdiction on wage issues.
The Comgresswoman says there are different issues to consider - immediate moratorium; reverting to the status quo ante and fixing the mechanism so that local people are a priority and their voice can be heard.
According to the Congresswoman, she says there needs to be a greater effort to understand the needs of all the people, meaning, the wage earners and the wage payers, who should be called to speak out about their problems when determining minimum wages.