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<home> -- <press releases> News from Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo Natural Resources Committee Approves Political Status Education Bill FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 18, 2009 – Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo today announced that the House Committee on Natural Resources has approved H.R. 3940, a bill introduced by Congresswoman Bordallo on October 27, 2009 and that would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to extend technical assistance grants and other assistance to facilitate a political status public education program on Guam. The full committee approved an amendment in the nature of a substitute bill offered by Congresswoman Bordallo that also extended this authority to include American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The amended version of H.R. 3940 was voted on by unanimous consent. The mark up of H.R. 3940 comes two weeks after Congresswoman Bordallo chaired a hearing on the bill in the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans, and Wildlife. H.R. 3940 was reported to the full House favorably and may be taken up for consideration in the near future. “The full committee’s approval of H.R. 3940 signals that political status education for non-self-governing territories is a priority for the committee that has jurisdiction over the territories,” Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo said today. “The amended bill now includes authorization for political status education grants for Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands at the request of Congressman Eni Faleomavaega of American Samoa and Congresswoman Donna Christensen of the U.S. Virgin Islands. While each territory may approach this issue in a manner appropriate to their circumstances, we can all agree that there is a federal responsibility to assist the territories in self-determination, and that this process cannot be successful without a robust political status education component. I appreciate my colleagues’ support on this issue and I look forward to H.R. 3940’s consideration on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. I also appreciate the testimony of our local leaders including Governor Felix Camacho, who testified in person at the hearing, and Speaker Judith Won Pat and Senator Ben Pangelinan who provided written testimonies. This bill was also supported by a coalition of ten organizations on Guam that support decolonization. The testimonies provided by our local leaders and our indigenous rights community representatives helped to make the case of the importance of a path to decolonization for the people of the U.S. territories that are still listed by the United Nations as non-self-governing. The Obama Administration’s support for this political status education bill was also encouraging, and I will be requesting Assistant Secretary Tony Babauta’s leadership to help Guam and the other non-self-governing territories with this process. I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress on the issue of political development for our community, and I am hopeful that this bill will help to provide resources to Guam and the other non-self-governing territories for political status education.” # # # matthew.mateo@mail.house.gov or derek.mandell@mail.house.gov |
