[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 437 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 437

 To reaffirm the commitment of the United States to help Guam achieve 
             full self-governance, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 25, 2000

Mr. Underwood submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
                 referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 To reaffirm the commitment of the United States to help Guam achieve 
             full self-governance, and for other purposes.

Whereas the Chamorro people of Guam lived in relative peace and obscurity for 
        centuries before the European discovery of Guam by Ferdinand Magellan on 
        March 6, 1521;
Whereas following such discovery Guam was used as a port of call to resupply the 
        ships of many explorers and adventurers, and became a regular stopping 
        place for Spanish galleons voyaging from Mexico to the Philippines;
Whereas Miguel Lopez de Legazpi claimed Guam as a royal possession of Spain for 
        King Phillip II on January 26, 1565;
Whereas the Chamorro people of Guam became subject to 236 years of Spanish 
        colonial rule beginning with the arrival of Jesuit missionaries in 1662;
Whereas the United States and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 
        1898, which ended the Spanish-American War and ceded Guam from Spain to 
        the United States;
Whereas Article IX of the Treaty of Paris provided that the United States 
        Congress shall determine the civil rights and political status of the 
        Chamorro people of Guam;
Whereas Guam was placed under the control of the Department of the Navy on 
        December 23, 1898;
Whereas Guam remained under temporary Naval authority, a form of United States 
        colonial rule, for over half a century, from 1898 to 1950;
Whereas Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter, the Declaration Regarding Non-
        Self-Governing Territories, provided that member nations who have 
        undertaken the administrative responsibilities for peoples of 
        territories who have not yet attained a full measure of self-government 
        are to acknowledge and respect the interests and political aspirations 
        of these peoples and to assist them in the progressive development of 
        self-government and free political institutions;
Whereas in 1946 the United States, having responsibility for Guam, listed Guam 
        as a Non-Self-Governing Territory with the United Nations and thereby 
        became obligated to assist Guam in its political, cultural, social, 
        economic, and educational advancement;
Whereas the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Resolution 217, the 
        Universal Declaration of Human Rights, on December 10, 1948, and thereby 
        proclaimed the equal dignity and rights of all persons;
Whereas in 1950 the Organic Act of Guam (48 U.S.C. 1421 et seq.) established a 
        civilian administration in Guam and granted United States citizenship 
        and limited self-government to the Chamorro people of Guam;
Whereas the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Resolution 1514 on 
        December 14, 1960, and thereby proclaimed the necessity of bringing a 
        speedy and unconditional end to colonialism in all its forms;
Whereas Resolution 1514 declares that self-determination is a right of all 
        peoples, and that by virtue of that right all peoples should be free to 
        determine their political status and pursue their cultural, social, and 
        economic development;
Whereas Resolution 1514 further requires that immediate steps be taken to 
        transfer all governmental powers to the peoples of Non-Self-Governing 
        Territories without condition or reservation and in accord with the 
        freely expressed will and desire of such peoples;
Whereas the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Resolution 1541 on 
        December 15, 1960, and thereby provided the principles that were to 
        guide member nations in determining their obligations under Chapter XI 
        of the United Nations Charter;
Whereas Resolution 1541 recognizes the concept of Non-Self-Governing Territories 
        as an evolutionary and progressive step toward the attainment of full 
        self-governance and requires member nations to transmit to the United 
        Nations information regarding geographically separate and ethnically or 
        culturally distinct Non-Self-Governing Territories, such as Guam;
Whereas Resolution 1541 provides that a Non-Self-Governing Territory can attain 
        full self-governance by emerging as a sovereign independent state, by 
        freely associating with an independent state, or by integrating with an 
        independent state;
Whereas on January 5, 1997, the 23d Guam Legislature enacted Public Law 23-147, 
        an Act to Create the Commission on Decolonization for the Implementation 
        and Exercise of Chamorro Self-Determination;
Whereas such Public Law 23-147 provides a mechanism by which the Chamorro people 
        of Guam may freely, intelligently, and democratically determine their 
        preference for a future political relationship with the United States by 
        choosing independence, free association, or statehood;
Whereas the Chamorro people of Guam have struggled for 338 years, from 1662 to 
        2000, to survive historically, socially, politically, and economically; 
        and
Whereas Guam continues to be on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories 
        maintained by the United Nations despite the efforts of the Chamorro 
        people of Guam to secure their inalienable right of self-determination: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) recognizes that it has a duty to promote the political 
        development and advancement of Guam under article IV, section 
        3, clause 2, of the Constitution of the United States, which 
        provides: ``The Congress shall have the Power to dispose of and 
        make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory 
        or other Property belonging to the United States'';
            (2) reaffirms its commitment to help Guam achieve full 
        self-governance, consistent with the obligations of the United 
        States under Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter;
            (3) aspires to eradicate colonialism and grant the Chamorro 
        people of Guam the right to self-determination by 2010, 
        consistent with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514 
        (December 14, 1960);
            (4) continues to support and respect human rights, 
        consistent with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 217 
        (December 10, 1948); and
            (5) urges the President to also reaffirm the commitment of 
        the United States to help Guam achieve full self-governance and 
        to grant the Chamorro people of Guam the right to self-
        determination by 2010.
                                 <all>