Congresswoman Bordallo Addresses
the People of Guam on Iraq
October 16, 2003

Buenas yan Hafa Adai.

Tomorrow, I will be joining my colleagues on the House Armed Services Committee on a congressional delegation to Iraq.  I am going to Iraq because I am deeply concerned for the welfare of our troops.  In Iraq, I will be meeting with our servicemen and women and asking them about their morale and what Congress can do to help.  For example, I am working to make sure that troops in Iraq can come all the way home to Guam for Rest and Recreation leave.  So many of us have friends and family serving in the military, and I will be sure to let them know that the thoughts and prayers of the people of Guam are with them.

I want to ensure they have everything they need to get the job done, so that we can bring them home as soon as possible. That is why I support the request by the President for funds for Iraq. It includes funds to procure additional body armor, communication equipment and vehicles for our troops.

It also includes funds to help rebuild Iraq.  Our military operations, followed by wide spread looting and sabotage, have degraded Iraq's antiquated infrastructure and left the people fearful and helpless.  The people of Guam know how hard it is to recover from liberation.  Hagåtña has never fully recovered from the damage wrought during World War II.  After the war some reconstruction efforts were made, like Marine Drive and the Guam Memorial Hospital.  From this experience we know only too well that reconstruction is the hardest of tasks and every bit of assistance helps.  If we do not follow through on our commitment to reconstruct Iraq we will have won the battle but lost the war.  So I support the President's request for funds for the people of Iraq, whose liberation has left their country in chaos.

At the same time, Congress should not forget that we face difficulties right here at home.  I am committed to taking care of our veterans by securing concurrent receipt of both their disability pension and retirement pay.  I am working to double Guam's Compact-Impact funds for the next 20 years, and to improve educational opportunities for our children by increasing the number of placements for Guam at our nation's military academies.

Those academy graduates and the enlistees from Guam are now doing us proud in Iraq.  I believe that Iraq, after being isolated from the world for so long by the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, can step up and rejoin the community of nations with our help.  I hope that seeing Iraq first hand will confirm this belief. I look forward to reporting to you fully when I return.

Si Yu'os Ma'ase.

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Contact: Neil Weare in Washington, D.C., at (202) 225-1188 or Joaquin Perez in Guam at (671) 477-4272.