Date: 1981-02-04
Speaker: WON PAT (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. it is my great pleasure to again introduce legislation which seeks to give the American citizens of Guam and other U.S. territories the right to vote in future Presidential elections.. The passage of this legislation has been one of my highest priorities since I first came to Congress in 1973. I am joined. in this quest for equality for the Americanl residents of the territories by their congressional representatives. While I fully recognize the extreme difficulty this legislation faces In its way to becoming public law. nevertheless. my pride as an American citizen will not let me rest until my fellow citizens in the terrritories share a basic right of democracy. the right to participate In the selection of who will lead our Nation as President and Vice President. What I ask today is not a radical change in the American system of government. Rather. I ask only that this Nation correct a -serious flaw in our. laws which deny certain Americans the ability to vote for the President solely on the grounds that they choose to reside in Guam or another American territory. It Is -ironic that should these same citizens decide to live in one of the 50 States they can enjoy the Presidential franchise. Surely. on a matter -ofsuch major importance to the rights of all Americans to have a free voice in the selection of our Chief Executive. their -choice of residence should hot be used to forbid them a voice in their 0overnment. The denial of a. vote in Presidential electionis to residents of Guam and other American territories is an arbitrary act which I do not believe would have the blessings of the Founding Fathers of this great country. Nor do I believe that it Is in the best Interests of the United States to exclude our fello#* Americans from participating in Presidential elections on the basis of such spurious groundsas residence. Speaking for my own constituent .s in Guam. I can say. without hesitation th at we want to vote for our future. Presidents. We are proud of our American citizenship and truly desire to see an end to the present situation which. In effect. puts us In the category of secondclass citizens. Throughout our Nations history. Congress has put an end to all the various mechanisms which have been used to deny Americans the franchise: Slavery. landownership. literacy tests. All of these are now history. Let us proceed to put the final block to full citizenship to rest by extending the Presidential vote to Americans living In the U.S. territories. Last November. the people of Guam chose to add to local ballots the names of the major Presidential candidates. This was done for the first time in the island despite our recognition that our tally would not count In the national selection process. Nevertheless. we went ahead because we were no longer content to stand aside while the rdst of America goes to the polls and votes for our future president. President Reagan is our President. His actions affect the people of Guam every bit as much as they do In New York or San Francisco. The time has come for Congress to give territorial Americans the vote for President and Vice President. Over 2.000 years ago. the Greek philosopher. Aristotle. perhaps had the final word on democracy when he said: If liberty and equality. as is thought by some. are chiefly to be found in democracy. they will be beat attained when all persona alike share In government to the utmost. This is all we who live in American territories really uskthe right to share In this Nations Government to the utmost. Thank you.