[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 152 (Friday, November 22, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H9121-H9125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               STATUS AND LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES OF GUAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Guam (Mr. Underwood) is recognized 
for 60 minutes.
  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to congratulate the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior) on an excellent career and express 
my profound admiration for him and for his work that he has done during 
the course of his career.
  Perhaps one of the most unknown dimensions of his role as a leader in 
the House of Representatives is his willingness to take the time to 
take newer Members on and guide them through the process, especially 
those people that are not full Members of the House like myself, as a 
delegate from the territory of Guam, take the time to shepherd us 
through the process and provide guidance and support whenever 
necessary.
  There were a number of points along the way in which the assistance 
of the gentleman from Michigan was very critical. I want to just 
recount two stories along those lines. One obviously was in the 
beginning of the 103rd Congress when the delegates of this House were 
granted a vote on the floor of the House under the Committee of the 
Whole which was introduced as a rule in the 103rd Congress. He stood by 
us and he was very strong on that. There was a lot of internal debate 
within the Democratic Party caucus and, of course, it became a full 
blown national issue almost immediately, resulted in a lawsuit and 
everything else, and probably even contributed to the demise of the 
majority by the Democrats in the 104th Congress.

                              {time}  1345

  But, true to his word, the gentleman from Michigan stood by the 
delegates; and he stood by the fact that he felt, as many of us U.S. 
citizens feel, that full representation in the House is not dependent 
upon payment of taxes but is dependent upon citizenship. He stood in a 
very steadfast manner for all of us, and we very much appreciated it.
  Then another part which is much less well-known, but I am willing to 
kind of talk about it a little bit now, was, in organizing the 
Democratic Caucus rules for the 104th Congress, some of the Members 
felt that the delegates had become albatrosses around the neck of the 
Democratic Caucus, so that one way they could perhaps, since the 
Democrat delegates did not contribute to the winning of the speakership 
and since they were part of the committee ratios, some Democratic 
Members felt that perhaps it would be a good idea to limit the 
delegates to one committee membership as opposed to two. The reasoning 
for that was that since the party ratios had shifted and the Democrats 
were now kind of in a tough situation trying to fight for seats on 
choice committees, that if the delegates who were not helpful in 
controlling the House in any ways, if they were limited to one 
committee assignment, perhaps it would be of greater assistance to the 
Democratic party. And again, of course, I was part of a group that 
spoke out vigorously against that idea and spoke to the meaning and the 
heart of what it meant to be a member of the Democratic party caucus; 
and again the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior) stood by those 
people who were basically without a voice in this House. So I 
congratulate him on a career well spent.
  I am taking the time this afternoon in the last day of the 107th 
Congress for the House of Representatives to simply express my 
gratitude to the people of

[[Page H9122]]

Guam for allowing me the opportunity to serve as their representative 
here for some 10 years, to thank my family, my children, and especially 
my wife, Lorraine, for making possible this service, as well as my 
mother, who is 89 years of age and continues to be of encouragement and 
provide guidance and wisdom in everything I do, as does my wife, 
Lorraine, and as do our five children, and also to express my gratitude 
to all the people who have supported me in political endeavors over the 
years, including a recent campaign for governor of Guam which I did not 
prevail in, but certainly I wanted to take the time to acknowledge 
their presence.
  In fact, one of my Underwood young adult leaders is here with us this 
afternoon; and she is a neighbor, actually. She lives a couple of 
houses from us, Allison Chamberlain; and it is a very great honor and 
privilege to be allowed to give this special order with her present as 
well as my successor, Madeleine Bordallo, who is currently the 
Lieutenant Governor of Guam.
  One of the things that I try to recount is what 10 years of service 
in the House of Representatives means, but what I wanted to do was 
basically talk a little bit about Guam, a little bit about that service 
and a little bit about the experience of being a nonvoting delegate in 
the House of Representatives. None of these three stories are really 
given much attention in the context of national politics here in 
Washington, D.C., and Guam is the farthest congressional district of 
any location. Sometimes people have a very kind of romantic view as to 
what constitutes Guam, and there are a whole lot of sentiments that go 
into that.
  One of the things that over the years of service that I had, and 
people in every congressional district, I am sure, have this sentiment, 
that they think that they are the center of the world, and I would go 
back home and people would ask me, what do the people in Congress feel 
about Guam? And I would say, well, the good news is that they do not 
feel badly about Guam. The bad news is they do not feel particularly 
good about Guam. The reality is just that they do not feel much about 
Guam because everyone here is elected to represent their own 
constituency and represent their own interests, and it is only my 
responsibility to try to bring attention to the issues of Guam.
  But Guam is a very special place. Obviously, it is the place of my 
birth, it is the place where I grew up, it is the place that has 
nurtured me and provided me the opportunity to rise not only in public 
service here in Washington, D.C., but also serve as an educator for 
some 20 years, and they have been supportive throughout the whole 
process. It is grounded in the experience of the indigenous people of 
the island, the Chamorro people, and I count myself to be fortunate 
amongst those people and to be part of a very special group of people 
that continue to speak the Chamorro language and be grounded in the 
experience of the people of the island.
  But Guam is also enriched by newcomers, people who have brought their 
experiences to the island and continue to enrich it in ways in which 
the economy grows and social interaction grows; and there is just a 
great deal of social progress. To be sure, there are always fits and 
starts in any kind of conditions that obtain like that, but it is 
important to understand that it is a very special place.
  One of the things that people in Guam sometimes feel is that they are 
isolated, and it is easy to sense that if they see themselves as 9,000 
miles from Washington, D.C., and they are basically almost in the 
middle of the Pacific Ocean, but it is not. In reality, Guam is one of 
the most strategic pieces of real estate in the entire world.
  It is the first Pacific island to be settled by nonPacific islanders. 
In fact, in Douglas Oliver's work on Pacific Islands, he begins the 
chapter on Guam by saying the rape of Oceania began with Guam. It was 
so-called ``discovered'' by Ferdinand Magellan, and it quickly became a 
way station for the Manila Galleon. The Manila Galleon was the ship 
that went between Acapulco, Mexico, and Manila on an annual basis and 
provided the core of the Spanish empire imprint in the Pacific for at 
least two to three centuries. It is also the only Pacific island that 
was taken by the United States as a result of the Spanish American War.
  Of course, it was occupied by the Japanese during World War II, and 
there is a tragic story that was involved in that. It performed an 
important role in both the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, and today Guam 
is part of the global reach and power projection strategic picture of 
U.S. Armed Forces as they look to deal with the challenges that we 
confront in the 21st century. Guam is a critical part of that.

  Its importance is even more critical now as we face challenges in the 
Asian-Pacific region and even as we face the potential of conflict in 
Iraq. Guam will be a major throughway for any potential conflict in 
that part of the world.
  Its history is unique. It is the only U.S. territory to be occupied 
since the War of 1812, and as a result of a couple of things, the 
strategic importance of Guam and the enemy occupation of Guam led to 
two main issues which have affected Guam politics since the end of 
World War II. I am very happy to have worked on these two issues and 
have provided a glide path, I think, for resolving these two issues 
which have been of significance in Guam politics since the end of World 
War II.
  The first has to do with land. Guam is only 212 square miles. After 
World War II, the U.S. military took a great deal of land, a little bit 
over half of the land, as they tried to triangulate a process of 
creating bases in order to deal with the Cold War, the emerging Cold 
War. As a result of that, that land was authorized to be taken by 
Congress; and it was given to the military government to figure out how 
to take this land.
  Needless to say, the land was taken under military government. 
Sometimes a military officer would be in charge of taking the land, and 
then, if they had it adjudicated, it was a military officer who was a 
judge, and it was a very closed system. So it led to much abuse, and it 
led to a lot of very odd situations in terms of land.
  So the return of Federal land has been one of the most difficult and 
tortuous issues in Guam because the majority of original landowners are 
still very much with us today. And remember the time when they signed 
papers that said, do not worry, as soon as the military no longer needs 
the land, it will be returned. Over the years the military has had the 
opportunity to return land but never to the original landowners; and, 
as a consequence, this very difficult process has been part of the main 
issues that any delegate from Guam has had to deal with here in 
Washington, D.C.
  The two pieces of legislation which I moved through Congress, one is 
103-339, which returned 3,200 acres of excess lands to the people of 
Guam; and the other is 106-504 passed in the last Congress, the Guam 
Land Return Act, basically are connected. They demonstrate for each 
other how land is to be returned to the people of Guam, and that is 
that basically the 3,200 acres were to be returned to the government of 
Guam before any other Federal agency, even though the land was accessed 
and that it was to be used for a public benefit purpose and that public 
benefit purpose would be outlined in subsequent reports of land usage 
by the government of Guam.
  Those subsequent reports have included the possibility of return to 
original landowners through a locally constructed process of review 
called the Ancestral Lands Commission, and so today that process is in 
full swing. It is a legal process, and it is a process that has moved 
most of this land into the hands of the original landowners.
  Since the 103-339 was for a specific piece of property, 106-504 says 
that, in the future, if the Federal Government is in the position of 
having any excess lands, that the government of Guam will be treated as 
a Federal agency and be at the head of the line for land return.
  This is such unprecedented legislation that many other communities 
have tried to figure out how they can get the same kind of legislation 
for their community, but of course no one had the exact same experience 
as the people of Guam coming out of World War II. As a consequence, it 
is in recognition of the unfair nature and the unjust nature of the 
land takings that occurred at the end of World War II that led to the 
possibility of Guam's being treated as a Federal agency and

[[Page H9123]]

at the head of the line in return for excess lands which 106-504, the 
Guam Land Return Act, posits.
  In the meantime, of course, we deal with many, many other land 
issues; and we have to deal with them in terms of a declaration of 
critical habitat, Fish and Wildlife Service, the application of the 
Endangered Species Act, monitoring the return of excess lands, working 
with the General Services Administration. All of this are part and 
parcel of the portfolio of not just making sure that these pieces of 
legislation were passed but to make sure that they are implemented in 
the spirit that they were intended, and that has provided a lot of 
work. It meant that we had to do a lot of work as a congressional 
office, and we are very satisfied with that work.
  We are very content that we passed two landmark pieces of legislation 
for that, but it does not mean that the struggle has ended, but it does 
mean that the glide path and the ultimate resolution of land issues is 
encased in Federal law, and that has occurred as a result of a great 
deal of work from my office and the collaboration of local officials as 
well.
  The other issue arising out of World War II is war claims. The people 
of Guam at the time of the Japanese occupation during World War II were 
not U.S. citizens, they were called nationals, American nationals. That 
was a term of art meaning that they are not really a foreigner but they 
are not a citizen either. So the term ``national'' was applied to the 
people of Guam, and they were occupied during World War II, and of 
course it really is the only American territory that has been occupied 
since the War of 1812. So that experience led to a piece of legislation 
called the Guam Meritorious Claims Act which offered a tailor-made 
process by which the people of Guam could file claims based on their 
war experience, and that war claim time period existed for 1 year, from 
1946 to 1947. This was at a time period when people were still 
recovering from the war.

                              {time}  1400

  It also posited that if you had any claim that was over $5,000, you 
had to make a personal appearance in Washington, D.C., to adjudicate 
it. It was an impossible process; and, as expected, most people did not 
file claims; and some people could file a claim for death and get $320. 
So it was, again, another process that had simply fallen apart and did 
not satisfy the war claims.
  Well, subsequent to that, in 1948 and then with a revision in 1962, 
the U.S. Congress passed laws related to war claims for American 
citizens and nationals, but it excluded Guam from participating in that 
process. As a consequence, the claims resulting from American citizens 
as a result of their wartime experience, either as civilians or people 
in uniform, prisoners of war, or whether they were just put in civilian 
internment camps, either by Japan or Germany during World War II, had a 
clear process through which to adjudicate their war claims. But the 
people of Guam did not have that process. It led to some very, very 
interesting anomalies; and I will just offer one now.
  My grandfather, James Holland Underwood, was taken by the Japanese 
off of the Island of Guam, even though he was a civilian, and put into 
a civilian internment camp, in Kobe, Japan. He was covered by this 
legislation, which meant that he could file a series of claims based 
upon the legislation passed by Congress in 1948 and amended in 1962, 
but his wife and his children and all of his family who endured many 
more hardships under the Japanese occupation could not.
  So that is the anomaly that presented itself as a result of the war. 
So, as a consequence, the cry of war reparations or war claims has been 
part of the process and getting recognition for this experience, 
getting recognition for the unique experience of the people of Guam 
during World War II.
  So my office has worked very diligently on this. I think one of the 
first bills that we passed coming out, well, it was the very first bill 
I ever had anything to do with in the 103d Congress, is 103-197, which 
creates the Asan Bay Memorial Wall which lists by name all of the 
people from Guam who suffered during World War II; and it has over 
10,000 names. It is on the wall in the Pacific National Park that is in 
Guam, and it is an unprecedented effort and was an effort that the 
national park did not want, so we had to move it into law. I think it 
was entirely appropriate that the experiences of the Chamorro people of 
Guam during the Japanese occupation be honored and recognized this way, 
and it exists today as a result of this legislation.
  When the World War II national memorial, the effort led by former 
Senator Bob Dole, out here in the Mall was envisioned, part of that was 
that they were going to create 50 columns, each one to honor each State 
in the national memorial for World War II. And what I thought, of 
course, representing the people of Guam, what an abomination that is. 
The only American territory occupied by the enemy during World War II 
would have not been recognized in the national World War II Memorial, 
because each of the 50 pillars was thought of as representing each of 
the 50 States.
  So after a lot of floor speeches and a lot of work and a lot of 
appeals, the World War II Memorial on the Mall will include Guam, as 
well as the other territories. But Guam, more so than I think any other 
jurisdiction, because it was the one area of the United States that 
experienced enemy occupation during World War II.
  We have also been able to include memorials in the Department of 
Defense authorization for massacres of Chamorros which occurred at Fena 
and Yigo, massacres where people were beheaded or machine gunned or had 
hand grenades thrown at them.
  Over the years, we have also been very proud of telling the story, 
the Guam story, through our activities here in Washington. Every year, 
I began with my service in 1993, we began celebrating Guam Liberation 
Day with a ceremony, a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns at 
Arlington National Cemetery; and we have done this consistently for 10 
years, trying to bring national attention to the Guam liberation 
experience and the experience of the people of Guam during World War 
II.
  On the 50th anniversary of that experience in 1994, we were able to 
secure full military honors for the 50th anniversary, including the 
presence of a number of secretaries, Cabinet secretaries, and the 
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and, of course, all Services 
being present. The most stirring part of it was the playing of the Guam 
hymn at Arlington National Cemetery. Taking the time to not only learn 
what the Guam hymn was all about but to actually play it was a moment 
of pride for those of us who had struggled to get national attention.
  But the greatest achievement we have made in this occurred 3 days ago 
with the passage of H.R. 308 in the Senate, and this is the Guam War 
Claims Review Commission Act. For the first time, we will have a 
commission which will understand and look at the Guam war claims in 
light of all of the other war claims that had been offered to American 
nationals and American citizens coming out of the war experience. So 
that bill is now in. It passed the House last year, it passed the 
Senate under a unanimous consent arrangement on Tuesday night. So we 
are sure that President Bush will sign it because we had worked with 
the incoming Bush administration at the time to make sure they 
understood it and they support it. So we look forward to that 
resolution and that commission so that the people of Guam can tell 
their full story and so that full justice can be made on the basis of 
war claims.
  Sometimes it is not really clearly understood why the war claims 
arising out of the activities of Japan or Germany are addressed to the 
United States, as opposed to those countries. It is important to 
understand that the Japan-U.S. peace treaty in 1951 absolved Japan of 
any individual claims, and those claims are inherited by the U.S. 
Government. The thinking at the time, and it is still very much present 
today, is that they would pay those claims out of funds that were 
confiscated as a result during World War II funds confiscated from 
Japanese companies, et cetera. It is simply standard practice in peace 
treaties.
  But we also did other things as well. We tried to tell a little bit 
about the people of Guam, and we are certainly proud of things that we 
were able to do to get some national recognition for Guam.

[[Page H9124]]

  One of the most intractable problems, and sometimes people do not see 
this or do not experience it, is the chewing of betel nut, pugua, pugua 
in the Chamorro language. It is a hard nut in the way that the 
Chamorros chew it, and it has been identified as a carcinogenic by the 
Food and Drug Administration, and it is, consequently, a banned 
substance. So since Guam is outside of the U.S. Customs zone and you 
come into the Customs zone, you go through a Customs zone in Hawaii and 
then an agricultural inspection. If they find betel nut on you, it is a 
banned substance, and they take it away. It is one of the most 
absolutely frustrating experiences for people from Guam, because people 
from Guam bring betel nut to their relatives for personal consumption, 
not out of the desire to get everyone else inside the Customs zone to 
chew betel nut, I do not think it would be very popular, but simply as 
a cultural practice.
  We did pass legislation in the House that would eliminate this ban by 
the FDA, and when it went over to the Senate, I think it is one of the 
few times that the Food and Drug Administration actually changed one of 
their rules and exempted betel nut coming from Guam, so that the people 
from Guam can now ship betel nut into the Customs zone or bring it in, 
as long as it is for personal consumption. The good news is we define 
personal consumption as 5 pounds, which is a lot of betel nut. So we 
are very happy with that. The people of Guam who constantly ship betel 
nut to their relatives are very happy about that.
  We fought to get Guam recognized in many other ways. One of the most 
interesting ways is we found out that the time zone of Guam and the 
Northern Marianas is one of nine time zones that is under the U.S. flag 
that is unnamed, so we decided we would introduce a bill to call it 
Chamorro Standard Time. It was one of those bills that we did not work 
hard on but, for some reason, it caught a lot of attention and the next 
thing you know it became law. So we have a new time zone under the U.S. 
flag, and it is called Chamorro Standard Time, and it is in honor of 
the indigenous people of Guam and the Northern Marianas.
  Also in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the centennial of 
Guam being under the U.S. flag, at that time I talked to Speaker 
Gingrich; and since he is an old history professor I tried to tell him 
and convince him that this was an historical moment that we cannot let 
pass and would he allow us to let us fly five Guam flags over the U.S. 
Capitol in honor of that. He checked it out and he said, they never fly 
any other flag ceremonially other than the U.S. flag, but after a lot 
of discussion, we finally got him convinced. So I think we are the only 
jurisdiction other than the U.S. that has ever had flags flown over the 
Capitol.

  So we have those five flags, and of course they have gone to museums 
in Guam, and people are very happy to have these flags.
  We fought to be commemorated and to be included in the Commemorative 
Coin Act. Every young person in America has these 50 quarters, 
commemorative coin bills. Well, one of the things is that, of course, 
the territories and even the District of Columbia is not included in 
this. It is simply an oversight, and it should be treated as an 
oversight, and that bill has passed the House twice. It has gone over 
to the Senate to languish. I regret to say that it went over to the 
Senate, and it never passed. A Senator objected to it. This exercise in 
trying to get American children to understand the fullness of America 
was defeated by some kind of narrow notion as to what includes America 
and what does not include America.
  Even in the stamp program, I had one of the most outrageous 
experiences I have had as a Member of Congress, was when they created 
this 50-stamp program commemorating each State, was to try to find a 
way to get a Guam stamp and a stamp for the territories or a stamp for 
the District of Columbia. I had a number of meetings with Post Office 
officials and one of them told me, you know, one of the reasons why we 
did 50 stamps is because it fits neatly. There is 50, it fits into 5 
rows of 10, and I had never seen such disrespect or disregard again as 
to what constitutes the fullness of America.
  But, in any event, we continue to work on those, and they have not 
been successful. We understand that there may be a stamp outline for 
Guam under the stamps that are usually used to mail internationally, so 
we work on that.
  Every State in the Union has a street named after it and the District 
of Columbia, and they are all usually diagonals. I went to Madrid, 
Spain, a few years ago; and I asked if there was a Guam street in 
Madrid, Spain. They proudly took me to the Guam Street in Madrid, 
Spain, because they said they wanted to recognize those areas that used 
to be a part of Spain. So, naturally, when I came back, I asked that 
the District of Columbia create a Guam Street. Given the nature of 
bureaucracy, I think we are almost there, but, still, it is just 
another reminder again sometimes about inclusion and trying to be 
recognized as part of America.
  Of course, we worked hard over the years to try to get dignitaries to 
come to Guam, and we are very fortunate that even President Bill 
Clinton came to Guam and a number of other secretaries. We certainly 
hope that President Bush during his tenure in office will find the time 
to come to Guam.
  Beyond that, we worked on military issues, we worked on issues that 
pertain to people in uniform, we fully funded the Guam Readiness 
Center, we have gotten almost a half a billion dollars of military 
construction for Guam to not only help the economy but to continue to 
cement the importance of Guam as a military location.

                              {time}  1415

  We worked hard to make sure that people in uniform got the benefits 
that they deserved. We did this not only through my work on the 
Committee on Armed Services, but even on the MWR panel we tried to 
propose different things to make sure that, for example, National Guard 
personnel would get full commissary privileges if they were called up 
on a national emergency or a federally-declared disaster.
  So we continued to work hard to benefit our people in uniform, 
because so many of our people in Guam joined the military, as well as 
we in Guam understand the importance and the significance of the 
military and our role in the world.
  We also work to continue to get people to understand the military 
value of Guam, even in the midst of negotiation, even in the midst of 
closing of bases, even in the midst of the A-76 process, all of which 
were, in the main, very painful for the people of Guam. There was much 
discussion about closing various facilities in Guam. We were able to 
keep some of that from happening, but now that the whole process has 
again been reevaluated, now submarines are being homeported in Guam, 
and there is the likelihood of military aircraft being stationed in 
Guam at Anderson Air Force Base, and we have been working very hard on 
that.
  At the conclusion of this term in Congress for myself, I wanted to 
take an opportunity to talk a little bit about some of those things 
that our office tried to do over the course of five terms. But there is 
always something that is going to be left undone, and there are always 
a lot of things that remain to be done. There will always be. There 
will always be work for elected officials, and there are always going 
to be issues that present and manifest themselves that need direct 
attention.
  Although there is always one thing that remains unfulfilled, in the 
end, I know this process will be completed, and that is the political 
status of Guam. The political status of Guam is called unincorporated 
territory. What that basically means legally is that we are not fully a 
part of the United States, but the U.S. Congress has plenary power over 
the territories.
  This is a quandary that small territories particularly find 
themselves in because, unlike Puerto Rico, smaller territories do not 
really have the option, or it is not a feasible political option at 
this time, to aspire to statehood, so there are very few mechanisms by 
which we can have full participation in American society, and 
particularly in the laws that apply to us. So that is also a concern.
  There was a great movement towards ``commonwealth'' in Guam that 
began in the '70s, and with some hope and aspiration, found its way 
into Congress in the late '80s and into the '90s, but as time went on 
and as the economy went bad in Guam and other things took

[[Page H9125]]

center stage, this effort to change the political status of Guam has 
been put aside.
  But like so many other things that are of fundamental, enduring 
political importance and speak to the essence of who we are as a people 
and where we fit into the body politic, this issue will come back, and 
it will come back at sometime in the future.
  Lastly, I just wanted to talk a little bit about an item related to 
political status; that is, occupying this position that five other 
people basically hold in the House of Representatives, and that is 
being a delegate to the House of Representatives.
  The official title of this office is ``nonvoting delegate to the U.S. 
House of Representatives.'' It is an inelegant title. It is a title one 
is fully aware of when one aspires to office here. As we try to work on 
legislation here sometimes people say, oh, it is like trying to pass 
legislation with one hand tied behind our backs, or even with our 
mouths taped shut. It is a very difficult process, because we are not 
representatives. We are not fully a Member of the House of 
Representatives. There are costs that are attached to that. It is the 
situation we are confronted with.
  Nevertheless, I think most delegates find a way to still find a 
fulfilling career as they try to fulfill the aspirations and meet the 
needs of their people. However, a day does not go by in this House of 
Representatives that we are not reminded in some way about the unique 
status that we have and the unique role that we play in this process; 
that is, basically representing a constituency for whom their political 
future is unclear, and for whom they have most of the obligations of 
American citizenship, they must obey Federal laws, they join the 
military, they have a commander in chief for whom they cannot vote, and 
they have a Representative in the House of Representatives who cannot 
vote for them whenever any piece of Federal legislation passes through 
here, but for which they must obey the law, in any event.
  It is not a comfortable situation to be in and it is not a fulfilling 
situation to be in. In many ways, one cannot go the whole day here in 
the House without being reminded about it.
  I have enjoyed the time I have had here, and I certainly enjoyed the 
time working with other Members of the House of Representatives. I 
certainly hope that the people of Guam wish my successor, Madeleine 
Bordallo, all the success in the world. I certainly hope that the 
Members of this body will extend to her every courtesy that has been 
extended to me.
  I also thank all of my staff who have helped me through these 10 
years. I want to make special mention of my current Chief of Staff, 
Esther Kiaaina; and my previous Chief of Staff, Terry Schroeder; and my 
district director, Vince Leon Guerrero, for the kind of steadfast 
loyalty and efforts they have made in making sure that our offices were 
always there for the people of Guam.
  List of staff members is as follows:

                             Personnel List


                                dc staff

       Teresita P. Schroeder, Myat Moe Khaing, John J. Whitt, 
     Angie P. Borja, David Goodfriend, Keith Parsky, Andrea 
     Williams, Aric Noboa, Mark Jeffreys, Perfecto (Paul) T. 
     Galman, Mariel L. Loriega, Jed R. Bullock, Nicholas J. 
     Minella, Anthony M. Babauta, Esther Kiaaina, Jeannine Aguon, 
     Lisa Ann B. Pablo, Alice Taijeron.


                                  guam

       Darryl Taggerty, Annie A. Rivera, Jimmy D. Iglesias, Phil 
     T. Garcia, Vincent A. Leon Guerrero, Shirley B. Balmeo, 
     Joshua F. Tenorio, Mae C. Tenorio, Catherine S. Gault, Paul 
     A.P. Hattori, Donna F. Balbas, Joseph E. Duenas.

  I want to acknowledge the work of my office managers Annie Rivera and 
Angel Borja was worked loyally for the entire time I was in office.

                          ____________________