By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

CONGRESSWOMAN Madeleine Z. Bordallo has begun her third term as Guam’s delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives after she was officially sworn in to the 110th Congress over the weekend.
According to Bordallo, this is the first Democrat-controlled Congress in 12 years and a historic first, as Rep. Nancy Pelosi became the first woman speaker of the House of Representatives.
“It is an honor to have been given the opportunity to serve the people of Guam in the Congress and I am very excited about being in the majority in the 110th Congress,” Bordallo said.
The new leadership of the 110th Congress has announced an ambitious 100-hour reform agenda that includes, as the first order of business, rules changes that would promote ethics and lobbying reforms.
The Democratic Party is taking over Congress after 12 years of Republican dominance. Among the historical significance of the new Congress is having a woman in the speaker’s chair—and also a woman third in line to the presidency—for the first time.
Pelosi is kicking off her term with an ambitious set of policy proposals she intends to set in motion in the first 100 business hours of the new Congress starting this week.
They include enacting new ethics rules to clean up Republican-era corruption, raising the minimum wage, cutting interest rates on student loans, allowing the government to negotiate bulk purchase rates from pharmaceutical companies to cut the cost of prescription drugs, getting rid of government subsidies for large oil companies, repealing President Bush’s tax cuts for the richest Americans, and offering federal grants for stem cell research.
For her part, Bordallo said she will continue to work hard every day on issues important to the people of Guam.
“And I pledge to work with the governor and the Legislature in advancing our agenda,” the congresswoman stressed.
Meanwhile, Bordallo’s office announced that Cathy Sablan Gault has been appointed as the assistant press secretary in the congresswoman’s Guam District Office.
Gault replaces Joy James who resigned at the end of 2006 to pursue new opportunities.
Gault, who began her career as a member of the working media, brings many years of dedicated public service to her new role.