By Sen. Judi Guthertz
For Variety

I DON’T often stay on the same subject for two weeks, but the upcoming Oversight Field Hearing on "The U.S. Military Buildup on Guam and Challenges Facing the Community" taking place next Monday still weighs heavy on my mind.
Last week, I commented on the rules of the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs: you have to have an invitation to testify and if you want a chance to speak, you must submit your written testimony two weeks in advance. That may be a necessary practice in Washington, D.C., where such onerous rules are needed to prevent hundreds of thousands of citizens from showing up on the doorsteps of the Capitol to testify. But this is Guam, not the nation’s capitol.
Way out here in the western Pacific Ocean, as far away from D.C. as you can get and still be on American soil, we only have about 171,000 people, not millions. Of our population, probably 99 percent wouldn’t take the opportunity to testify even if it were offered. Open, freewheeling public hearings are a tradition here on the islands, where citizens are used to standing up before his or her elected leaders and speak their mind.
I did receive a very nice letter from Delegate Donna Christensen from our sister territory, the U.S. Virgin Islands, who is chairperson of the subcommittee. She wrote, "As fellow island legislators, we can both appreciate the impossibility of accommodating every request to testify and having to select who can or cannot be a witness at a hearing."
Actually, that is exactly the opposite of what we are used to in Guam. It has long been the practice of the Guam Legislature to hear the testimony of every single person who wants to speak at a public hearing. We regularly accommodate every single request to testify.
In my response to Delegate Christensen, I wrote: "I still believe that our people deserve better from Congress and your Subcommittee on Insular Affairs. However, I do know you are doing your very best given your constraints. Perhaps there will be another opportunity to actually hear the people and their concerns, especially those who cannot prepare written testimony, but still have a lot to say about their island home."
Our own Delegate to Congress, Madeleine Z. Bordallo, will be sitting on the panel with Delegate Christensen listening to invitees testify. I hope that Delegate Bordallo can conduct a hearing herself and carry back to Washington the words that don’t seem to be of interest to Congress. I am certain she remembers hearings where hundreds have shown up to testify since she used to be a Guam senator and chaired several legislative committees with large constituencies including Education, Community Development, and Health.
The language of the indigenous people of Guam is a spoken but not a written one. Chamorros are used to verbal communication and are accustomed to exchanging information with their leaders in that fashion. I sincerely hope there will be another chance for our people to have their say. Those who don’t write very well are so very eloquent when they speak from their hearts, and they have a great deal of wisdom to impart to us all.
I hope the Legislature takes action soon on Sen. Rory Respicio’s Bill 33, to create a legally constituted commission giving the community greater input into the military buildup. A unified approach must be developed in order to deal with the federal government and make sure that all of our voices are heard.