H. Res. 494

In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

October 13, 1998.

Whereas the Chamorro people have inhabited Guam and the

Mariana Islands for at least 4,000 years and developed

a unique and autonomous seafaring agrarian culture,

governing themselves through their own form of district

government;

Whereas in 1565 the Kingdom of Spain claimed the islands

of the Chamorro people, which were named the Ladrones

by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 and renamed the Marianas by the Jesuit missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores

in 1668, to secure the trans-Pacific route of the ManilaAcapulco Galleon Trade, then, upon San Vitores’s death

in 1672, the islands were placed under military governance;

Whereas in 1898 the United States defeated the Kingdom of

Spain in the Spanish-American War and acquired Guam,

Puerto Rico, and the Philippines by virtue of the Treaty

of Paris;

Whereas, in signing the treaty, the United States Government accepted responsibility for its new possessions and

agreed that Congress would determine the civil rights and

political status of the native inhabitants, as stated specifically in Article IX;
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Whereas President William McKinley, by Executive Order

108–A on December 23, 1898, placed the island of Guam

under the administration of the United States Navy,

which administered and governed the island, initially as

a coaling station, then as a major supply depot at the

end of World War II;

Whereas a series of rulings popularly known as the ‘‘Insular

Cases’’, issued by the United States Supreme Court from

1901 to 1922, defined Guam as an ‘‘unincorporated territory’’ in which the United States Constitution was not

fully applicable;

Whereas the United States Naval Government of Guam was

forced to surrender the island of Guam to the invading

forces of the Japanese Imperial Army on December 10,

1941, after which Japanese occupation and control of

Guam lasted until the United States Forces recaptured

the island in 1944;

Whereas Guam is the only remaining United States territory

to have been occupied by Japanese forces during World

War II, the occupation lasting for 32 months from 1941

to 1944;

Whereas the people of Guam remained loyal to the United

States throughout the Japanese occupation, risked torture and death to help clothe and feed American soldiers

hiding from enemy forces, and were subjected to forced

labor, ruthless executions, and other brutalities for their

support of the United States;

Whereas, upon liberation of the people of Guam, the island

was returned to United States Navy governance, which,

like its prewar predecessor, limited the civil and political

rights of the people, despite numerous appeals and peti-
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tions to higher authorities and Congress for the granting

of United States citizenship and relief from military rule;

Whereas in 1945, upon establishment of the United Nations,

the United States voluntarily listed Guam as a nonselfgoverning territory, pursuant to Article 73 of the United

Nations Charter, and today Guam continues to be included in this list;

Whereas on March 6, 1949, the House of Assembly, the

lower house of the popularly elected 9th Guam Congress,

which was merely an advisory body to the Naval Governor of Guam, adjourned in protest over the limitation

of its legislative rights granted to it by the United States

Department of the Navy in 1947 and refused to reconvene until the United States Congress enacted an organic

act for Guam;

Whereas the Organic Act of Guam (64 Stat. 384) passed by

Congress and signed by President Truman on August 1,

1950, statutorily decreed Guam’s status as an ‘‘unincorporated territory’’, established a three-branched civilian

government patterned after the Federal model, and conferred United States citizenship upon the people of

Guam;

Whereas, since the granting of American citizenship, the people of Guam have greater participation in the American

democratic processes and some measure of self-government;

Whereas the people of Guam, who strongly adhere to the belief that a government should derive power and right

from the governed, successfully gathered enough support

to push for the passage of the Elective Governor Act

(Public Law 90–497) on September 11, 1968, and in
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which Congress granted the people of Guam the right to

elect their own governor and lieutenant governor;

Whereas the Congress enacted the Guam-Virgin Islands Delegate bill on April 10, 1972, allowing for Guam to have

a nonvoting delegate in the United States House of Representatives, and although the delegate is not accorded a

vote on the floor of the House of Representatives, it is

still one of the benchmarks in Guam’s political evolution

and heightens Guam’s visibility in the national arena;

Whereas, although Congress authorized in Public Law 94–

584, the formation of a locally drafted constitution, the

subsequent Guam Constitution, it was not ratified by

Guam’s electorate through a referendum on August 4,

1979;

Whereas concerns regarding Guam’s political status led the

Twelfth Guam Legislature to create the first political status commission in 1973, known as the Status Commission, the Thirteenth Guam Legislature in 1975 created

another commission, known as the Second Political Status Commission, to address Guam’s political status issue

and explore alternative status options, and in 1980, the

existing Guam Commission on Self-Determination (CSD)

was created to identify and pursue the status choice of

the people of Guam, and in 1996 the Twenty-Fourth

Guam Legislature created the Commission on

Decolonization to continue pursuing Guam’s political status;

Whereas the CSD, after conducting studies on 5 Guam political status options, proceeded to conduct a public education campaign, which was followed by a status referendum on January 12, 1982 in which 49 percent of the

people of Guam voted for Commonwealth, 26 percent for
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Statehood, 10 percent for Status Quo, 5 percent for Incorporated Status, 4 percent for Free Association, 4 percent Independence, and 2 percent for other options;

Whereas on September 4, 1982, a runoff was held between

commonwealth and statehood, the top options from the

January referendum, with the outcome of the runoff resulting in 27 percent voting for statehood and 73 percent

of Guam’s electorate casting their votes in favor of a

close relationship with the United States through a Commonwealth of Guam structure for local self-government;

Whereas in 1988 the people of Guam first presented the

Guam Commonwealth Act to Congress to meet the various aspirations of the people of Guam, which bill has

been reintroduced by Guam’s Congressional delegates

since 1988 until the present;

Whereas Congress has continued to enact other measures to

address the various aspirations of the people of Guam,

while considering legislative approaches to advance selfgovernment without precluding Guam’s further right of

self-determination, consistent with the national political

climate that emphasizes decentralization of the decision

making process from Washington to the local governments and a relationship with the Federal Government

that is based on mutual respect and consent of the governed; and

Whereas the people of Guam are loyal citizens of the United

States and have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to the American ideals of democracy and civil

rights, as well as to American leadership in times of

peace as well as war, prosperity as well as want: Now,

therefore, be it
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Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) recognizes 100 years of Guam’s loyalty and

service to the United States; and

(2) will use the centennial anniversary of the 1898

Spanish-American War to reaffirm its commitment to

the United States citizens of Guam for increased selfgovernment, consistent with self-determination for the

people of Guam.

Attest:

Clerk.