Amata Coleman Radewagen

Radewagen is the daughter of Peter Tali Coleman, the first popularly-elected Governor of American Samoa, and Nora Stewart Coleman, the former First Lady of American Samoa.[4][2][7][8] Her father was Samoan; her mother was of Chinese, German, Native Hawaiian, and Scottish descent.[8] Radewagen has twelve siblings.[7][4] She attended Sacred Hearts Academy in Honolulu, Hawaii, for secondary education and graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of Guam in 1975.[9] She also took classes at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California, and George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.[4]

She is married to Fred Radewagen, and they have three children (Erika, Mark, and Kirsten[4]) and two grandchildren.[7][10]

Radewagen holds the orator (talking chief) title of Aumua from the capital of Pago Pago—her hometown and where she is a registered voter.[7][4]

From 1984 to 1997, Amata was the chief diplomatic correspondent for the Washington Pacific Report.[4]

Aumua Amata has been an executive assistant to the first Delegate-at-Large from American Samoa.[10]

From 1997 to 1999, Radewagen served on the staff of United States Representative Phil Crane of Illinois.[11] She served on the staff of United States Representative J.C. Watts, Jr. of Oklahoma from 1999 to 2003.[11] After that, she served on the staff of the House Republican Conference from 2003 to 2005.[11][4] Radewagen first ran for Congress in the 1994 elections against Democrat Eni F.H. Faleomavaega. She failed to gain the nomination of the Republican Party of American Samoa in 1996 and 2000, and she ran as an independent in the 1998 elections.[4]

Radewagen was appointed in 2001, by President George W. Bush, as a Commissioner on the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI); she chaired the Community Security Committee.[7][12] Radewagen was the only Pacific Islander on the 15-member commission.[7]

Since 1994, Radewagen has participated in every federal election.[13] Since 1986, she has represented the American Samoa Republican Party in the Republican National Committee.[2][14] Radewagen is the most senior member.[7][15]

In 2019, she was reappointed by President Donald Trump to serve on the President's Advisory Commission for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for a second stint.[16]

Radewagen has been involved in helping build democratic institutions internationally.[7] As a trainer since 1992, she has participated in missions to Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, and Morocco for the International Republican Institute and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, among other activities.[7][4] She began advocating on behalf of breast cancer awareness after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993.[4]

She is a founding member of the American Samoa Society and a life member of the Capitol Hill Club. She has also been a member of organizations such as the Guam Society of America, Hawaii State Society, Women's Foreign Policy Group, and the Independent Women's Forum. She is a current member of the Pan Pacific and Southeast Asia Women's Association. In 2003, Radewagen became the first Pacific Islander chosen as “Outstanding Woman of the Year” by the National Association of Professional Asian American Women (NAPAW). In 2008, she received the International Leadership Foundation's Visionary Award. In 2013, she received both the Inspirational Speaker Award at the Samoan Athletes Heart of Champions Ceremony in La Mesa, CA, as well as the Trailblazer Award from the Republican National Convention. She is a current board member at the Field House 100 American Samoa.

• List of Asian Americans and Pacific Islands Americans in the United States Congress
• Women in the United States House of Representatives
• Republican Party of American Samoa

• U.S. Representative Aumua Amata official U.S. House website
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Appearances on C-SPAN