[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 33 (Tuesday, March 12, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H2035-H2036]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ADVANCING THE CAUSE OF POLITICAL STATUS RESOLUTION IN THE TERRITORIES

  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, in the course of dealing with territorial 
issues and the resolution of political status for this country's 
colonial areas, the use of terms has been instructive. At times, the 
island I represent, Guam, has been referred to by Members of this body 
as a ``territory,'' ``colony,'' ``possession,'' or ``protectorate.'' In 
point of fact, Guam is an unincorporated territory of the United 
States.
  The legal implications of this status are important because it helps 
us understand the reasons behind an effort to change the status. An 
unincorporated territory is little more than a colony with a legal 
title which disguises it. An unincorporated territory means that the 
territory is owned by the United States and that the Congress has 
plenary power over it. But it is not incorporated meaning that it is 
not truly an integral part of the United States.
  Unincorporated means that the Constitution is not fully applicable to 
Guam. Unincorporated means that the territory is not on a path to 
statehood in the same way that incorporated territories have 
historically been. Unincorporated means that the Congress can make the 
most basic decisions about your political existence. And because we 
have no voting representation in the House or the Senate and because we 
cannot vote for President, the people of Guam have not truly given 
their consent to the Government which controls their lives. The most 
basic tenet of American democracy is that government comes from the 
consent of the governed. In the case of Guam and other territories, 
this is not the case. Consequently, the term ``colony'' is clearly 
applicable.
  It is much to the credit of Congress that this plenary power, which 
so clearly offends the people of Guam and which should offend any 
principled American, has generally been used in positive ways; ways 
which promote the progressive development of the territories. However, 
there have been occasions when this authority has been used in ways 
which have been damaging to the territories and countless times when 
Congress has failed to consider the unique circumstances of the area.
  In this context, the terms are important. Guam is not a protectorate 
which implies total internal sovereignty with some tradeoff agreement 
for protection. Guam is not a possession which seems a step below 
territory. Wake Island is a possession and has no government 
functioning there. It is managed by a Federal agency.
  Guam is an unincorporated territory that is working to establish a 
new Commonwealth. The Guam Commonwealth Act, H.R. 1056, which I 
introduced early in the 104th, provides the framework for this new 
Commonwealth. Governor Gutierrez and the Guam Commission on Self-
Determination have been negotiating with the Clinton administration to 
resolve areas of disagreement. I am encouraged by the commitment shown 
by the administration's special representative, Mr. John Garamendi, to 
complete these discussions, but I am mindful of the difficult issues 
that remain.
  Territories as Commonwealths have existed in American history and 
today we have two--the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The term implies that there is an 
agreement to be a Commonwealth on both sides and that this is a step up 
from unincorporated territory. The legal foundations of this assumption 
are questionable and are highly dependent upon the specific nature of 
the agreement which created the Commonwealth.
  I will spare no effort to work toward a Commonwealth agreement for 
Guam because it is a progressive step. But I recognize that it does not 
answer a fundamental decision about what Guam may be in the future. The 
Commonwealth is an intelligent response to what we can be in the 
present. Guam may be a State, may be an independent country, may be a 
nation in free association with the United States. That is a story 
waiting to be written and we must be mindful of our responsibility to 
reserve these possibilities for the people of Guam to decide.

[[Page H2036]]

  What happens to other territories is important to Guam because it may 
affect us in ways that are not readily apparent. I want Guam to be a 
Commonwealth. I want to help advance political status discourse on Guam 
and on other areas. I have consponsored H.R. 3024 for the resolution of 
the Puerto Rico political status issue.
  I appreciate the problems of the approach outlined in this bill, but 
I hope to advance the discussion for Puerto Rico in a way that I wish 
others would also help to advance the discussion for Guam. And there is 
in this legislation a fundamental admission about the territorial 
policy of this country. That admission is that the political status 
issue is never fully resolved until a territory becomes a State or its 
sovereignty is recognized.
  This legislation admits that the United States has colonies which are 
awaiting the final resolution of their status. The final resolution may 
be closer for some than for others, but we will all need to cross that 
bridge in the future. In the meantime, we can make the path to that 
bridge more beneficial for all concerned, whether we call that path 
unincorporated territory or Commonwealth.

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