[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16291]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                    HONORING TUN JUAN AGUON SANCHEZ

  (Mr. SABLAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a remarkable 
gentleman from the Northern Mariana Islands. Tun Juan Aguon Sanchez has 
made many exceptional contributions to the history, art and culture of 
the people of the Northern Mariana Islands.
  But Tun Juan's greatest legacy is his poetry, written in vernacular 
Chamorro. Tun Juan's poems touch on life in the islands, the value of 
respecting other people, and the essential ingredients to making a life 
worth living. Tun Juan's poems are lyrical reminders of the love we 
feel for our island home.
  Tun Juan also wrote about the world beyond our islands. At a time 
when our sole access to the outside world was a government radio 
station and a weekly newspaper, Tun Juan captured our admiration for 
leaders like President John F. Kennedy and his Holiness Pope John Paul, 
II.
  Tun Juan's work has recently been collected so that for generations 
to come, his words will continue to convey the perspective, the faith 
and the love that he had for the people of the Northern Mariana 
Islands.
  Tan Iku, Godspeed and Si Yu'us Ma'a'se for all that you have done for 
your people and islands.

                          ____________________