Statement of Legislative Purpose

Noting that the unincorporated territory of Guam is the only organized Government in the West Pacific whose political status has remained unchanged for the last thirty

(30)years, finding that the people of Guam demand a mechanism whereby the status of their government vis-a-vis the United States and the rest of the world be redefined, and acknowledging that the past attempts to change the status of the territory by means of constitutional conventions have failed because the views of the people of Guam were not sought prior to the initiation of such proposed constitution, the Legislature declares that the time has come for the people of Guam to actively seek commonwealth status for the territory from the Congress of the United States. The purpose of this Chapter is to establish a Commission on Self Determination for the people of Guam empowered to represent them in manifesting the desires of the people of Guam as expressed in the plebiscite of November 2, 1982 in which the status of commonwealth was the choice of the people to the Congress and to the government of the United States, and a further purpose of this Chapter is to establish guidelines and procedures by which the commonwealth status may be achieved. COL7222015 CH. 17 COMMISSION ON SELF-DETERMINATION FOR THE PEOPLE OF GUAM