[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 169 (Monday, October 30, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H11383-H11384]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     FEDERAL-TERRITORIAL RELATIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Everett). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of May 12, 1995, the gentleman from Guam [Mr. Underwood] is 
recognized during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, as a Delegate to Congress representing 
the people of Guam, a great deal of my work here in Washington revolves 
around the Federal-territorial relationship and how that relationship 
impacts on our island.
  On October 17, a joint hearing was held by the Subcommittee on Native 
American and Insular Affairs and the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere 
to discuss the political status plebiscite held in Puerto Rico last 
year. While Guam was not the focus of the hearing, any talk of 
political status change is of great interest to our island due to our 
own efforts to improve our own relationship through the establishment 
of a Commonwealth of Guam. Any talk in Congress of improving the 
relationship between the territories and the Federal Government has to 
be viewed as constructive. It is far more damaging to have the Congress 
be oblivious to the desires of the territories. While the discussion on 
Puerto Rico is dominated by the statehood question, no such statehood 
option is realistically being offered to the smaller territories such 
as Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.
  This means any discussion of reinventing government, political 
devolution to the states is not being considered seriously for the 
small territories, and the small territories must take their own steps 
to get involved in the debate.
  The issue for Guam, then, is that if statehood is not a viable option 
for the foreseeable future, what can we do within the framework of the 
Constitution to improve on this political relationship? We have 
proposed a commonwealth document, which I introduced earlier this year 
as H.R. 1056, the Guam Commonwealth Act, that describes our vision of a 
new commonwealth based on the consent of the governed.
  The Guam Commonwealth Act is a roadmap for the Federal Government to 
navigate the many issues that are important to Guam. It addresses 
everything from self-determination for the indigenous people of Guam to 
telecommunications, air rights, and shipping. It is as much an economic 
blueprint for the future as it is a political blueprint.
  The United States has a tremendous national interest in Guam, and 
likewise, Guam has an equally important interest in this political 
relationship.
  It has not always been a balanced relationship. What has motivated 
the Federal interest more than anything else has been Guam's military 
value to the United States. This continues to be the bottom line for 
many Federal decisions. But lately, this Federal interest has taken 
some bizarre twists and turns since the end of the cold war.
  The 1995 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission recommended 
that severe cutbacks on Guam that include closing our ship repair 
facility and our fleet and industrial supply center. We stand to lose 
more jobs per capita than any other American community hit by BRAC 95. 
And yet, the Department of Defense is now in the awkward position of 
renegotiating the Status of Forces Agreement with Japan, an agreement 
that includes the bases on Okinawa where the American presence is under 
fire by the local community.
  These events send mixed signals to the people of Guam. They say on 
one hand that the military chooses to leave Guam to save a few bucks, 
and chooses to give the benefits of forward deployment in our region to 
other foreign communities where their presence is not welcomed. We, on 
Guam, meanwhile, will have to find a way to restructure our economy and 
take care of those Federal employees at the SRF and supply center on 
Guam while the military finds a way to keep the SRF at Yokosuka 
operating and the bases at Okinawa open. The message seems to be that 
Guam is American, therefore, no special effort needs to be expended by 
the military for the privilege of using our island.
  This week, the Lieutenant Governor of Guam, the Honorable Madeleine 
Bordallo, is in Washington to meet with Defense and Navy officials to 
discuss the transition issues for the facilities to be closed on Guam. 
It is unfortunate that we must continue to go to great lengths to 
persuade the Navy what should be obvious to everyone--that Guam is 
their best insurance policy for an American military presence in Asia, 
and that the people of Guam are watching with great interest their 
handling of all the BRAC-related closure issues on our island.
  The Federal-territorial relationship is strained--now is a very good 
time for the military, which has a vested interest in this 
relationship, to cooperate 

[[Page H 11384]]
with the Government of Guam on the base closure transition. Now is a 
good time for the administration to exert an effort to complete the 
discussions on the Guam Commonwealth. And now is a good time for 
Congress to consider how it is going to deal with the small insular 
territories as it considers a political status process for Puerto Rico.

  As I said earlier, any discussion of political status and the 
territories is good. Any discussion of Okinawa and the Japanese bases 
has to be good for Guam too. I hope that those in the White House and 
the Pentagon who are supposed to be paying attention to these issues 
are making the right connections between all these issues. I would hope 
so, because otherwise, it would seem to us that these Federal policies 
are being made in a very shortsighted manner.
  Now is a good time for the administration to exert an effort to 
complete the negotiations on the Commonwealth, and now is a good time 
for Congress to consider how it is going to deal with the small, 
insular territories as it considers a political process for Puerto 
Rico.

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