196 the contemporary pacific • spring 2000 gress also reelected Congressman Jack ruled in favor of the national govern- Fritz as its Speaker, Congressman ment, and the states were already Claude Phillip as vice speaker, and making plans to appeal the case. In Senator Joeseph Urusemal of Yap as the meantime, the issue did not get the new floor leader. A special elec- the necessary support from voters in tion was held in July 1999 to fill the the July elections. Given these results, vacant senate seats from Pohnpei and the fate of the court appeal is unclear. Chuuk. In the special election, Resio Furthermore, in relation to the second Moses, Pohnpei, and Manny Mori, proposed amendment defeated by Chuuk, were elected to Congress. voters, the Congress passed a law, By act of petition, three amend- effective 1 October 1998, which ments to the FSM Constitution were increases the states’ share of revenue put on the ballot during the general to 70 percent! elections. The amendments center joakim peter around the issues of revenue sharing and ownership of resources. One of the challenges to national unity in Guam the FSM will always be the issue of resources, especially since one of the Although Guam came through unique features of the federation is 1998–99 without a punishing the weaker national government that typhoon, President Clinton hit Guam allows the state governments more like a storm, as did the November flexibility and power. The first pro- general elections, Chinese illegal posal is to amend section 2 of Article entrants, and the effort to restructure I (Territory of Micronesia) to basi- Guam’s school system. However, cally give each state exclusive owner- Guam’s economy remained in the ship of resources within its boundaries doldrums. as defined in each state’s constitution. The September 1998 primary elec- The second amendment is section 5 of tion saw the incumbent team of Gov- Article IX to increase the states’ share ernor Carl Gutierrez and Lieutenant of taxes from 50 to 70 percent. The Governor Madeleine Bordallo handily third amendment would add a new defeat the competing teams (Tom Ada section (23) to the same article to and Lou Leon Guerrero, and Angel specifically guarantee equal distribu- Santos and Jose Terlaje) by taking 51 tion between the national government percent (16,636 votes) of the primary and the state governments of all votes on the Democratic party side. revenue generated from the exclusive The Ada-Guerrero ticket garnered economic zone. The amendments did 28 percent (9,296 votes) and, surpris- not get the required 75 percent ingly, the Santos-Terlaje team attracted approval by voters. nearly 21 percent (6,745 votes) of the In 1998 the states took the national electorate. One long-time observer government to court over the issue of had predicted that this team would the revenues generated from the exclu- likely not receive more than 10 per- sive economic zones. FSM Supreme cent of the vote. In November’s gen- Court Chief Justice Andon Amaraich eral election, Gutierrez-Bordallo political reviews • micronesia 197 defeated the Republican party team In response, Gutierrez-Bordallo of former two-time governor Joseph filed an appeal with the Ninth US Ada and Senator Felix Camacho. The Circuit Court of Appeals, which in incumbents garnered 24,250 votes April 1999 upheld the Unpingco deci- to 21,200 for the Republican ticket. sion. The Circuit Court interpreted However, of the 48,666 votes cast, “a majority of the votes cast in any 1,294 were for write-in candidates, election” to mean that a gubernatorial 609 went to both gubernatorial teams, slate is required to garner a majority and 1,313 were left blank. of votes cast in the general election, Despite claims that Gutierrez- rather than in the gubernatorial race Bordallo had not been elected in only. Gutierrez-Bordallo requested accord with the Organic Act, the that the court reconsider the case, but Guam Election Commission concluded it declined. Then Gutierrez-Bordallo that blank ballots and double ballots requested that the court delay the (ballot on which an individual casts runoff election so that an appeal could votes for both gubernatorial teams) be made to the US Supreme Court. should not be counted and certified The court agreed, and that appeal the Democratic team winners of the was filed on 1 July 1999. November election. Lawyers for the Immediately after the controversial Ada-Camacho team asserted that the November election and before the final results must include all ballots Ada-Camacho suits were filed, there cast, and that Gutierrez-Bordallo had was considerable confusion and ten- not received a majority as required by sion in Guam. This delayed President the Organic Act of Guam, requiring Clinton’s visit to Guam by a few a runoff election. After the commis- weeks. Clinton had visited Japan and sion’s declaration, Ada-Camacho filed South Korea and scheduled a stop on two suits, one with the Superior Court Guam for 23 November during his of Guam and a second with the US return trip to Washington, dc. He District Court. The case filed in the was greeted with great warmth and Superior Court alleged a long list of enthusiasm—no impeachment talk irregularities and wrongdoing, for on Guam! The president responded in which Judge Manibusan could find kind by delivering some commitments little evidence, and he ruled in favor and moving twice through the amaz- of Gutierrez-Bordallo. However, the ingly friendly crowd of twenty-five District Court case centered on the thousand that came to hear his speech narrow issue of “the majority of votes at Adelup, some two miles north of cast in any election” specified in sec- the 1944 invasion beaches. Both tion 1422 of the 1950 Organic Act of Governor Gutierrez and Congressman Guam. Ada-Camacho claimed that Robert Underwood had been working their opponents had not received a for years to get the president to majority vote, thus mandating a Guam, and those efforts finally runoff election. On this issue, Judge paid off. John Unpingco ruled in favor of Ada- In his speech, the president said he Camacho and called for a runoff elec- would ask Congress to simplify the tion on 19 December. process by which excess military land 198 the contemporary pacific • spring 2000 is returned to Guam and to make it ing, and the remainder, mostly chil- easier for Guam products to get into dren, women, and teenagers, were mainland markets, to assist in con- removed to the US mainland. Both verting the former navy ship repair Governor Gutierrez and Congressman facility into “a viable commercial Underwood took action in response operation,” to more than double com- to this serious issue. Gutierrez refused pact impact funding to Guam, and to to accept an Immigration and Natu- urge Congress to include Guam’s chil- ralization Service (ins) suggestion to dren in the federal health insurance release the detained Chinese into the program. Given that Guam is fifteen community pending ins processing. time zones from Washington, dc, and Underwood met with officials from often not recognized, President Clin- the Immigration and Naturalization ton said he would “work to ensure Service, the State Department, the that your voices are heard in Wash- Coast Guard, the Peoples Republic ington, that you are treated fairly and of China, and the White House. This sensitively by the federal government, resulted in additional Coast Guard that you are consulted before policies vessels and a c-130 aircraft being are made that affect your lives” (PDN, assigned surveillance duties around 24 Nov 1998, 13). To begin with, Guam. President Clinton provided the president said he would establish Attorney General Reno authority a task force to work on land return under the law for the US Coast Guard matters, and a network of senior to intercept undocumented aliens on White House and cabinet officials the high seas and land them on Tin- to coordinate policy regarding Guam ian, in the Commonwealth of the and the other territories—good news Northern Mariana Islands, for pro- for Guam. cessing and deportation. Guam has For a while during the period been a target of the snake-heads under review, it appeared that Guam because they get $15,000–$30,000 might be inundated by a storm tide of per person, Guam is some fifteen undocumented Chinese immigrants. hundred miles from China, and Guam Mainland China–based smuggling is open for political asylum according syndicates, known as snake-heads, to ins rules that do not apply to the operating mainly out of Fujian prov- Northern Marianas. Furthermore, ince (south China) have been success- Underwood introduced legislation in ful in illegally transporting undocu- the US Congress to eliminate political mented Chinese into Australia, Guam, asylum petitions on Guam, and both and the United States mainland. By Underwood and Gutierrez requested mid-1999, some 700 Chinese nation- reimbursement from the federal gov- als had been stopped in their attempt ernment for the costs of housing the to enter Guam illegally, while an esti- illegal entrants. mated 2,000 illegal entrants were hid- Aside from this issue of illegal ing in the Guam community. Of the immigration, few people in Washing- 700 caught, some 400 were being ton, dc, recognize the dramatic and detained in Guam’s Department of even alarming changes that have Corrections facility awaiting process- taken place in Guam’s ethnic balance political reviews • micronesia 199 since 1987. The liberal ins rules have Board opposed this legislation for a resulted in nearly 20,000 foreign citi- number of reasons: the legislation zens gaining US permanent residency contained ambiguities, had the poten- (green card), some 15,000 individuals tial for expanding the already heavy becoming naturalized US citizens government deficit, might discrimi- while on Guam, and 10,000 freely nate against people on the basis of associated states citizens becoming age, and encroached on the governor’s “habitual residents” on Guam as a powers and responsibilities. Neverthe- result of the compact agreements. This less, the senators voted it into law by total of 45,000 is over one-third of overriding a Gutierrez veto. Guam’s 1990 population of 133,000. Although the twenty-fifth Guam Most informed sources agree that this legislature began with an apparent trend should be a major concern, spirit of optimism and hope, it wit- particularly since the activities of the nessed a behind-the-scenes power snake-heads accelerate it. The trend skirmish that resulted in the former is the major motivating force behind vice speaker, Senator Tony Blaz, being Guam’s push to control immigration. replaced by Senator Larry Kasper- Beginning with the twenty-fifth bauer, a retired professor from the Guam legislature in January 1999, the University of Guam. Just six months number of senate seats was slimmed into its term, the legislature could down from 21 to 15 as approved by boast of putting sixty laws onto the a voter petition several years ago. books. With 10 of the 15 senators This reduction made the race for veterans of the previous legislature, those seats in the 1998 election con- several laws passed by either the siderably more competitive than in twenty-fourth or the twenty-fifth leg- the past. In the November race, islature generated considerable criti- just 3 Democrats won election, as cism and had to be amended or post- opposed to 12 Republicans—a super poned. The Board of Trustees of the majority that is able to override any government’s Retirement Fund refused veto by the governor. Soon after the to implement the early retirement law new year, many of the winners took and even filed suit. This led to back- out large “Thank You” advertise- and-forth negotiations between the ments in Guam’s Pacific Daily News. board and key senators and the pas- Although the twenty-fourth Guam sage of amending legislation. Senator legislature, with a split of 10 Republi- Kasperbauer’s school reform law, cans to 10 Democrats (Republican designed to decentralize the Depart- Senator Barrett-Anderson resigned ment of Education, the government’s to accept a judgeship), completed its largest agency, and improve individual two-year term, it did so by overriding, school management, was ruled inor- on its last day in office, eleven bills ganic by Guam’s Superior Court on vetoed by Governor Gutierrez. Of sig- the basis that the law deprived some nificance was Bill 609, which would parents of the right of fair represen- will allow qualified Government of tation. The new land use and zoning Guam employees to retire early. Both plan, I Tano’-Ta, which took some the governor and the Retirement Fund eight years to prepare, met strong 200 the contemporary pacific • spring 2000 criticism from private sector apprais- due to the Asian economic slowdown. ers and financial analysts and was Unemployment is running at 14 per- postponed by the legislature for at cent; the health of the government’s least 120 days. General Fund is dismal, despite a Criticism also surfaced over Bill hiring freeze proclaimed by both the 102, which would have allowed the executive and the legislature, and calls legislators to close their proceedings for a 10 percent budget cut; the gov- in order “to investigate sensitive mat- ernment deficit is currently at $114 ters, receive sensitive documents, or million and not being contained with otherwise conduct legislative business” any sustained effort; and the island’s (PSN, 25 April 1999, 19). Termed a main economic engine, tourism, is “cloak of secrecy,” “anti-democratic,” currently running some 16–18 percent and “Frankenstein’s monster,” this below the previous year. Another bill has not emerged out of commit- worrisome situation for the long term tee. Finally, Bill 57 was signed into is the $1,057 billion in outstanding law by Governor Gutierrez as pl bonds owed by the Government of 25–45, which created an Ancestral Guam, particularly when Standard Lands Commission. The commission and Poor’s downgraded Guam’s bond will attempt to unite landowners with rating to bbb status in May 1999. land they previously owned that was Concerning the government’s budget, taken by the US government either of which 85 percent is for personnel before or soon after World War II, costs, a local financial consultant and released to the Guam government observed “Any time you have such or scheduled to be released in the a huge amount of money going into future as excess. Conflict could arise payroll and the refusal of the govern- if portions of this land have been ment to cut back, that can be very, leased out to other people by the very difficult in terms of their ability existing Chamorro Land Trust to get good [bond] ratings” (PDN, 8 Commission. April 1999, 48). Governor Gutierrez’s Despite these problems, the other clarion call when first in office was laws authored by the twenty-fifth “to stop the hemorrhaging of the Liheslaturan Guahan (Guam legisla- General Fund.” Guam’s political lead- ture) in its first six months did not ers might begin singing from the same generate the same degree of interest script before a major crisis of payless or criticism. Yet the legislature appears paydays for government workers or a to have had its focus diverted from government shutdown are required. holding down the government’s $114 As noted, Governor Gutierrez and million deficit and overblown 1999 Lieutenant Governor Madeleine Bor- government budget. The senators put dallo are holding office by the skin of the clamps on increases of the execu- their political teeth. Will there or will tive branch work force, yet in June there not be a runoff election? The the lawmakers expanded their staff by uncertainty and nagging tension of 34 new hires, making front-page news this entire situation has infected most (PDN, 29 June 1999, 1). political relationships since the Guam’s economy is still in trouble November election. For example, political reviews • micronesia 201 the Republican-dominated legislature power system has been greatly decided, as a cost-saving measure, not improved. to spend $2,000 for Congressman Governor Gutierrez was busy Underwood, a popular Democrat and regionally with the Council of Micro- favored choice for gubernatorial can- nesian Chief Executives in meetings in didate in 2002, to deliver his “State the Republic of the Marshall Islands of Guam’s Agenda in Washington” and on Guam during the Clinton visit. speech. He also hosted a delegation of eight Aside from this bizarre political sit- US congressmen, including Delegate uation, Governor Gutierrez realized a Underwood in February, all members number of accomplishments during of the House Resources Committee, the period under review. President which deals with territorial affairs. Clinton’s visit in November happened The visitors received comprehensive because of persistent invitations from briefings about the illegal Chinese both the governor and the congress- immigrant problem, the financial man. Another momentous event that impact of habitual residents, the diffi- Gutierrez pushed with vigor was the culties concerning return of land held South Pacific Games, which brought by the military, and political status. nearly three thousand athletes to Although the conversation tended to Guam from all over the Pacific. be one-sided, the congressmen learned Despite some initial uncertainty, and observed a great deal about Guam Guam was a superb host and the during their two-day visit. After the games earned it both national and visit, the leader of the delegation, international attention. Of the twenty- Congressman Don Young, chairman one island nations and territories of the House Resources Committee, that competed, only two—Niue and committed to cosponsoring a Guam Tuvalu—were unable to earn medals. omnibus bill to address a number of The governor contracted with two burning issues the governor and the off-island corporations to build badly legislature had highlighted. This legis- needed electrical power plants on lation was introduced by Congress- Guam. Taiwan Electrical & Mechan- man Underwood on 1 July 1999. ical Engineering Services installed a Governor Gutierrez chairs both the 40-megawatt high speed unit for $28 Commission on SeIf-Determination million. The new unit is being used to and the Commission on Decoloniza- supplement demand at peak times of tion. The former group has been the day, will be paid for by the con- struggling to gain commonwealth sumers of Guam, and its ownership status since 1987 and the latter is will be transferred to Guam after working in the United Nations Special twenty years. This same build, oper- Committee on Decolonization to give ate, and transfer arrangement was expression to Chamorro self-determi- made with Enron International, which nation as a means to political status completed a $154 million, 88-mega- change outside US sovereignty and watt slow speed diesel-fueled power the limits set by the US Constitution. plant in February. With this additional Concerning the seventeen-year-old generating capacity, Guam’s electrical quest for commonwealth status, 202 the contemporary pacific • spring 2000

Governor Gutierrez met in February the strain” (Gutierrez 1999a, 2). The with Senator Frank Murkowski, who governor’s remarks to the UN Special chairs the Senate Energy and National Committee were more focused. He Resources Committee and has a keen urged the committee to consider pro- interest in Guam’s status dilemma. viding the non-self-governing territo- Murkowski was scheduled to intro- ries “wider access to the instruments duce on the senate floor a slimmed- of international law and the United down version of the 1987 common- Nations system,” such as direct access wealth bill in July 1999, but failed to to the International Court of Justice. do so. How this anticipated bill will He argued that such tools would deal with the controversial issues of “level the playing field for all” and local control of immigration, the provide “expert legal opinions on the return of federal land declared excess, decolonization process” (Gutierrez self-determination, and a mechanism 1999b, 2). Gutierrez took another for restraining federal authority on bold step by inviting the Special Com- Guam is unclear. President Clinton mittee to hold its Year 2000 seminar spoke to most of these issues during on Guam. Whether these bold steps his November visit. In early 1999, will generate some movement in the Gutierrez paid a courtesy call on Clin- United States government for resolv- ton to talk about including Guam in ing Guam’s political status dilemma a tax treaty and the formation of the remains to be seen. The December high-level insular issues group that the 1998 UN General Assembly resolu- president offered to establish during tion calling on the US government to his visit to Guam. cooperate with Guam’s Commission Regarding the new avenue to polit- on Decolonization may help. ical status change for Guam, decolo- Seeking his fourth consecutive term nization, the governor of Guam made in office, Congressman Underwood his first ever appearance before both clobbered his opponent in the the UN General Assembly and its Spe- November 1998 election by taking cial Committee on Decolonization in nearly 75 percent of the vote. With late June 1999. In his speech to the some 34,179 votes, Underwood was General Assembly, Gutierrez geared the top vote-getter, all races consid- his comments on political status to ered. His agenda for the period under the theme of the session—the Cairo review was dominated by the storm Program for improving the status of tide of illegal Chinese aliens. “I’m women, children, and the elderly. He going everywhere I can and doing referred to Guam’s non-self-governing everything I can to get help on this,” status as a “threat to Guam’s vision was his position on the issue in late for social and economic progress.” April. Because of Underwood’s efforts, With respect to controlling popula- the crisis gained Guam some signifi- tion growth, the governor stated that cant attention from the White House, “both legal and illegal immigration the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Justice under the Administering power’s Department, the State Department, regime threatens the balance needed the Interior Department, and officials to keep our fragile economy and at the Chinese Embassy in Washing- environment from breaking under ton, dc, as well as in Beijing, where political reviews • micronesia 203 he traveled in February on behalf of rightful subjects.” The law has yet the House Armed Services Commit- to be implemented on Guam. Under- tee. In early March, Underwood wood introduced for the third time introduced House Resolution 945 legislation providing the Common- calling for the amendment of the wealth of the Northern Mariana Immigration and Naturalization Act Islands a seat in the US House of to prohibit claims of political asylum Representatives, something not from being made on Guam by undoc- accomplished by the terms of the 1976 umented foreign individuals who had covenant agreement or since. He also arrived there. After touring the tent reintroduced the Guam War Restitu- “city” of illegal immigrants on Tinian tion Act, which calls for compensa- and talking with ins officials there, tion for death, forced labor, forced Underwood amended his resolution. marches, and maltreatment during the He concluded that asylum could be occupation and fierce fighting of the allowed, but that the United Nations war years (1941–1944). standards, which are stricter and When Pell grant eligibility for stu- more effective than those provided in dents from the freely associated states US immigration law, should be used (fas—Palau, the Federated States of with respect to Guam. The illegal Micronesia, Marshall Islands) was not alien issue was of such weighty included in the reauthorization of the importance to Underwood that he Higher Education Act, Underwood requested his office be included in dis- received calls and letters from many cussions between the United States sources. He immediately went to and China on the topic. He urged his work with the Clinton administration, colleagues in Congress to reprogram fas governments, the State Depart- some supplemental funds from con- ment, and the Department of Educa- tinued efforts in Kosovo and Central tion and was able to get this position America to the Immigration and reversed. The fas students will remain Naturalization Service for its work eligible for Pell awards until 2004, in Guam and the Northern Marianas. and the maximum for the award was Further, both the Clinton administra- increased by $1,500 per year. Into this tion’s high-level Interagency Task same legislation, Underwood was suc- Force and the Interior Department cessful in inserting language to remove agreed to reimburse the Government the restrictions and reversionary lan- of Guam for all costs related to deten- guage on 314 acres of excess federal tion of illegal aliens. land deeded over ten years ago to the Underwood’s legislative achieve- Guam Community College for a new ments include amendments to the campus. This was a major achieve- 1950 Organic Act of Guam, by way ment, which allows the college com- of pl 105–291. This law allows for an plete flexibility in developing the land. elected attorney general by means of Additionally, Underwood will be action by the Guam Legislature, sets monitoring the fy 2000 administra- the quorum for the legislature as a tion budget to assure that the $10 simple majority of legislators present, million in compact impact aid for and clarifies the power of the Guam Guam and the $1.1 million for Legislature to enact laws over “all Guam’s uninsured children do not 204 the contemporary pacific • spring 2000 get cut. In late May Underwood, as a Marshall Islands member of the Military Construction The Republic of the Marshall Islands Subcommittee, voted in support of a has built new roads of all kinds during $103 million military construction the period under review. From road package for Guam. construction funded by the govern- For Guam’s governor, legislature, ment of Japan, to new approaches to and congressman the return of excess the Asian Development Bank (adb), federal land and future political status the People’s Republic of China, and are interrelated issues of enormous the Republic of China (Taiwan), to importance. They were succinctly sinuous pathways connecting national addressed by Congressman Under- leaders, the year revealed many novel wood in a May speech to Guam’s detours in policy and unprecedented Chamber of Commerce, “Until we get political directions. the full hearing of our political status The minority party, or “opposi- aspirations, until such matters are tion,” achieved an unprecedented fully resolved, it is our responsibility level of organization and effective- to argue for unique treatment as well ness. Although a vote of no confi- as fair treatment; to receive our due dence failed to remove President Imata measure and to profit from our US Kabua from office in October 1998, citizenship, our God given talents as a the motion marked a turning point in people and our location as an island” the Marshall Islands’ nineteen years (Underwood 1999). of constitutional government. The donald r shuster vote followed the unprecedented Special thanks to Cathy Gault, Leland success of the opposition party in the Bettis, and Robert Rogers for com- previous Nitijela (Parliament) session ments on an earlier draft of this of March, when two bills they had review. proposed were passed into law. The passage of Bills 113 and 114 regard- ing gambling in the Marshalls were References effectively a vote of no confidence, resulting in legal battles and a cabinet PDN, Pacific Daily News. Hagatna. reshuffle. The context of these signifi- PSN, Pacific Sunday News. Hagatna. cant events must be explained. Gutierrez, Carl T C. 1999a. Statement to In the final months of 1997, the United Nations Special Committee on national morale ran low as various Decolonization. 29 June. government projects attracted public ———. 1999b. Statement to the 21st suspicion. The government’s with- Special Session of the General Assembly. holding of reports on the unautho- 29 June. rized use of Social Security Adminis- Underwood, Robert A. 1999. Freedom to tration funds resulted in the Asian Grow: Making Our Case in Washington. Development Bank detaining portions Address to the Guam Chamber of Com- of much-needed loans. Investigations merce, 28 May. were rumored into continued sales of RMI passports to foreign nationals,