[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E33-E34]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO RICHARD FLORES TAITANO

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 7, 1997

  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, last Saturday evening on Guam, my island 
lost one of its most outstanding public servants, Richard Flores 
Taitano. His passing is an enormous loss for Guam as well as for me and 
my family. He was Uncle Richard to us and those in his extended family, 
but he was--Senator Taitano, the quintessential public servant--to the 
rest of the island. Generous to a fault, ethical in all of his 
dealings, intelligent as well as

[[Page E34]]

intellectual, he embodied the best which Guam has ever produced.
  Richard Taitano achieved much in his 75 years of life. He was the 
first and only native of the territories to ever serve as director of 
the Office of Territories in the Department of Interior. He served as 
deputy high commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands 
at a critical time of transition for the Trust Territory. As 
significant as this service was during the Kennedy and Johnson 
administrations, this is not the service for which he is remembered on 
Guam.
  Instead, it is his service at home for his people on Guam. As a young 
director of finance in the post-Organic Act Guam, he became the first 
Chamorro to become responsible for monitoring the finances of the new 
civilian Government of Guam. He did so with intelligence and a high 
standard of ethics which he expected of himself as well as others. He 
served four terms in the Guam Legislature from 1972 to 1980. During 
these terms, he applied the same high standards in overseeing the 
spending plans of government agencies without regard to friendships, 
political alliances, or family connections. As a young educator, I had 
the opportunity to testify in front of him on political status issues. 
I was afforded no special treatment and, in fact, given some difficult 
questions to respond to.
  For most political leaders on Guam, he was a great Democrat partisan. 
He served as State chairman of the Democratic Party of Guam from 1967 
to 1969. He was the architect of a political machine that was built on 
hard work, collaboration, boundless energy, unmatched intellect, and 
powerful grassroots. He was a role model for two generations of 
politicians and politician wannabees who saw in him the embodiment of 
the drive for political mastery and the desire to be of public service.
  For all in Guam's governmental matrix, he was the best that the 
island has ever had in devotion to duty combined with the highest of 
ethical standards. Whether it was his service as a land surveyor, as 
director of the Department of Finance, as the legislative overseer of 
the Government's finances, he was Guam's model for ethical public 
service. There was never any ``deal'' to be made when it involved the 
public's money. He made the sun shine in on his public service and he 
shined that same light on every agency head that came before him. He 
didn't just talk sunshine politics, he lived it and he did so in a way 
no other Guam public servant has ever matched, before and especially 
since. He is the role model for those who aspire to ethical public 
service.
  For those of us who were related to him and who grew up in his 
shadow, he touched us in ways which he himself probably never 
understood. He was diminutive in size, came from a Baptist family in a 
very Catholic island and was reared in unprivileged circumstance. He 
demonstrated to us that stature was measured from the neck up. He 
showed that a keen intellect and hard work could always overcome 
advantage. He understood religion to be a personal force and not a 
public display. During his service as Guam Senator, the Legislative 
Building and Catholic Cathedral were across the street from each other. 
I remember well all the times he refused to cross the street to go to 
the Cathedral for an Inaugural mass for the Guam Legislature prior to 
the swearing in of the new legislature.
  If Richard Taitano were your uncle, he would be the biggest giant in 
your extended family. If you wanted a lesson in hard work, he provided 
the role model. If you needed a lesson in service to family and parents 
and siblings and nephews and nieces, he was the lesson. If you wanted 
to know almost anything about anything whether it was agriculture or 
religion or Guam or ethics or the Federal Government, you could always 
ask him. And if you needed a lesson in humility, he would teach you one 
through the application of his wry humor.
  Like others in the Taitano family, the Kueto clan, he had the sharp 
tongue to match the sharp mind. He came from a large family whose 
reputation for hard work and sharp minds is well-known. He applied this 
to becoming one of the first young Chamorros to become educated in the 
immediate post-World War II period. Attending to his parents and 
siblings during the Japanese Occupation of Guam, he came out of the war 
a very mature and experienced person. He went to Berea College in 
Kentucky and the Wharton School of Economics in Pennsylvania. He came 
back to Guam educated and ready to apply his knowledge and 
understanding of his people to government service, both on Guam and in 
the Federal sector.
  As he had been taught by his parents, he knew that his education and 
his intelligence required a high level of responsibility from him. He 
knew that being gifted was just that--a gift. He didn't earn being 
smart or talented or hardworking. These were the result of his 
parentage, his heritage, and his place in the world as God intended for 
him. Personal arrogance was not part of his demeanor, but he certainly 
enjoyed using his wits to confront arrogance wherever and whenever he 
saw it.

  Uncle Richard was my personal lesson in how to use your wits and how 
to use hard work to great advantage in life. But that is not the end of 
the lesson. You see the world is full of witty people, even those who 
work hard at being witty and those who take full advantage of it. The 
difference for those who become truly great is that only a handful, 
only a select few, use those talents in the service of people.
  He saw that people needed help and that it was his responsibility to 
help them, not by bending the rules, but by changing the rules. He was 
that there was much which was unfair and he challenged the unfairness 
not by hitting below the belt, but by exposing unfairness whenever he 
saw it. He saw that there was injustice in government, but he 
confronted the purveyors of injustice. He didn't pander to the victims 
of injustice, he went at those who routinely practiced injustice. He 
was outspoken, but even his silence could convey a powerful message, as 
when he quietly walked out of the first Guam Commission on Self-
Determination when Chamorro self-determination was not going to be the 
first item on the agenda. He never went back.
  He didn't come to this role easily. In carrying out his duties as a 
Federal official, he engaged in activities which he didn't particularly 
relish. He appeared in front of the United Nations to defend U.S. 
policies and was sometimes a caustic critic of local governmental 
actions. But in his service as Guam Senator, we bore witness to the 
wisdom which that experience gave him. He could speak with authority 
not only about local aspirations, but about Federal intent. Although 
illness eventually pulled him from the mainstream, political novices 
and experienced elected officials continued to seek his counsel and 
advice.
  Leadership through personal example is a trite phrase, but an 
appropriate one when speaking about Richard Flores Taitano. Guam will 
miss him. His legacy is one that should inspire future generations. As 
may be appropriate and as he desired, he will probably not get the 
public honor that he so richly merits. He requested that no ``state 
funeral'' be held for him because he didn't want people standing up to 
tell ``lies'' about him.
  But I know that it really doesn't matter. He was always in it to do 
the right thing and never for the glory. May that spirit touch us 
today, elected leaders and government officials. He really was the lamp 
at the door to a fair and just government on Guam.
  The island's heartfelt condolences go out to his widow, Magdalena 
Santos Taitano, his children Taling, Richard, John, and Carmen and nine 
grandchildren. His family was a source of strength for him during his 
extended illness. He also leaves behind brothers and sisters Esther 
Taitano Underwood, Frank Flores Taitano, Jose Flores Taitano, Henry 
Flores Taitano, Candelaria Taitano Rios and William Flores Taitano.
  Si Yu'os ma'ase' nu todu i che'cho'-mu para i minaolek i taotao-mu 
yan i tano'-mu.

                          ____________________