[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 15 (Monday, February 5, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E159]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            GUAM COMMONWEALTH PROCESS MOVING TOWARD CLOSURE

                                 ______


                        HON. ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 1, 1996

  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I had the privilege of participating in a 
meeting in San Francisco earlier this week with the Governor of Guam, 
the Honorable Carl T.C. Gutierrez, the Guam Commission on Self-
Determination, and the Deputy Secretary of the Interior, the Honorable 
John Garamendi. Mr. Garamendi will be soon named as the President's 
Special Representative for the Guam Commonwealth discussions. The 
members of the Guam Commission on Self-Determination who participated 
in this meeting with the Governor included Presiding Judge Alberto 
Lamorena, Senator Hope Cristobal, Senator Francis Santos, Mayor 
Francisco Lizama, former Senator Jose R. Duenas, and Youth Congress 
Speaker Rory Respicio.
  The Guam Commonwealth process that we are engaged in sorely needed a 
jump start, and the meeting in San Francisco renewed the commitment of 
the President and the leadership of Guam to an improved political 
status for our island. I am pleased that the administration has 
refocused on the Guam Commonwealth, and that bringing some form of 
closure to this process is the common goal of the participants.
  The people of Guam are growing increasingly frustrated by the lack of 
progress on the Guam Commonwealth. There is a growing sense that the 
Commonwealth discussions will continue to drag on with no end in sight. 
This is not acceptable to the people of Guam. Our patience has limits, 
but our resolve is not diminished. That is why I am particularly 
encouraged by the consensus to complete the current discussions in a 
timely manner, and to wrap up these discussions by early this summer.
  It is important to note that Mr. Garamendi reaffirmed in San 
Francisco that progress already made, and agreements already reached 
with Guam, will be honored.
  Once the Clinton administration has completed its discussions with 
the Guam Commission on Self-Determination, the focus of our efforts 
will shift to the U.S. Congress, which has plenary authority over the 
territories.
  I commend Governor Gutierrez, the Guam Commission on Self-
Determination, and Mr. Garamendi for this very good beginning. I look 
forward to continuing the progress for the Guam Commonwealth, and to 
advancing the cause of self-government for the people of Guam in this 
legislative body.

                          ____________________