[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 63 (Wednesday, May 14, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E917]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    A TRIBUTE TO FORMER CONGRESSMAN ANTONIO B. WON PAT ON THE 10TH 
                        ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 13, 1997

  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a leading 
figure in Guam's history. Last week on May 1, the people of Guam marked 
the 10th anniversary of the passing of an elder statesmen and beloved 
leader, former Congressman Antonio B. Won Pat.
  Antonio B. Won Pat was born in Sumay on December 10, 1908. His father 
Ignacio, was originally from China and his mother was native to the 
village of Sumay. He began his professional life by becoming a teacher 
and later a school principal. In 1936, Mr. Won Pat was elected to serve 
in the Guam Congress, the forerunner of the Guam Legislature. Although 
the Guam Congress was not a law making body and instead advised the 
Naval governor on matters concerning the island, he served his 
constituency with pride and was an outspoken critic of Naval policies 
which he believed were unfair and oppressive.
  After the Japanese occupation of Guam during World War II ended, the 
first post-war elections were held and Antonio Won Pat was overwhelming 
elected to the lower house of assembly of the Guam Congress. There, he 
obtained the confidence of his colleagues and was elected president of 
the assembly. Along with his colleagues, Assembly President Won Pat co-
led a protest demonstration known as the walkout of the Guam Congress. 
The assembly protested their lack of authority as elected officials by 
refusing to convene for session. This bold move continues to be a 
turning point in Guam's history and is a great source of inspiration 
for Guam's current leadership and their pursuit of commonwealth status.
  In an effort to secure civil liberties for the people of Guam and to 
clarify Guam's political status with the United States of America, 
Antonio Won Pat became a leader of the movement which advocated U.S. 
citizenship and self-government for the people of Guam. The movement 
secured the passage of the Organic Act of Guam, which granted the 
Chamorro people with U.S. citizenship, created civilian government for 
Guam that ended over 52 years of Naval government, and established Guam 
as an unincorporated territory of the United States.
  As time progressed, Antonio Won Pat and other Guam leaders continued 
to press for more governmental reform and more self-government. In the 
20 years that followed, Congressman Won Pat participated in the call 
for elective governorship for the people of Guam and in 1968, Congress 
passed the Guam Elective Governorship Act.
  Participation in the national government also became an issue of 
concern to the people of Guam. In 1965, the Eighth Guam Legislature 
passed a law to create a Washington Representative from Guam and in 
that election, Antonio Won Pat resigned from his seat in the Guam 
Legislature and was elected to become the first Washington 
Representative to Washington. Through much of his own efforts and with 
those of other Guam leaders, the U.S. Congress passed legislation 
giving Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands nonvoting delegates to the U.S. 
House of Representatives and in 1972, Antonio B. Won Pat became a 
Member of Congress.
  Here in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Won Pat fought 
hard for Guam to be included in a myriad of Federal programs. He worked 
on issues concerning education, health, welfare, civil defense, social 
security, agriculture, airport development, and highways. He closely 
monitored military activities on Guam by his membership on the Armed 
Services Committee. He safeguarded the interests of Guam's large 
veteran population by his membership on the Veterans Affairs Committee.
  In 1979, Congressman Won Pat gained the confidence and trust of the 
other members of this body when he was selected to be the chairman of 
the Subcommittee on Insular and International Affairs of the House 
Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. Having attained the 
chairmanship of this committee, Congressman Won Pat laid the groundwork 
in which the leadership of Guam continued to pursue a new political 
status. He did this by coordinating a series of meetings between the 
leadership of Guam and a bipartisan congressional delegation in Guam 
and in Albuquerque. At those meetings, an agreement was made to submit 
a draft commonwealth act to Congress.
  Reflecting on Congressman Won Pat's life and work in Washington, 
former Senator J. Bennet Johnston of Louisiana entered the following 
statement in the Congressional Record in 1987:
  Won Pat was an exceptional advocate and negotiator who understood the 
true value of face-to-face negotiations. When he added his personal 
touch to a request, I found it very difficult to say no and when you 
look at the record of what Tony accomplished in his twelve years in 
Congress, I'd say my experience was the norm, not the exception. Like 
all good teachers, Tony always had his facts together and had carefully 
thought through his presentation. He was patient, as good teachers are, 
but he also had the other quality good teachers have--persistence and 
diligence. It was this unique combination which made him so successful.
  I had the personal pleasure of knowing the Won Pat family when they 
were my neighbors in the village of Sinajana. He and Mrs. Ana Won Pat 
were close friends of my own parents and they shared many of the same 
experiences.
  When I was in high school, Mr. Won Pat was running for the seat of 
Washington Representative. He was my personal hero and a role model for 
many young people on Guam. He was the major elected official on Guam 
for the generation that grew to adulthood in pre-World War II Guam. His 
character, forged in the humiliating circumstances of Naval colonial 
rule and tested by a cruel foreign occupation, stands as testimony to 
the strength of the people of Guam.
  Si Yu'os ma'ase' Tun Antonio.

                          ____________________