By Johnnie Rosario
(Tumon, Guam) Sen. Regine Biscoe-Lee, the chairwoman of the legislative committee with oversight of federal and foreign issues, says she welcomes the review of her travel to the United Nations in New York last October and that the decolonization effort is part of her job as a senator.
Ms. Biscoe-Lee also is the vice chairwoman of the Commission on Decolonization.
The senator said elected leaders are duty-bound to address the decolonization of the native inhabitants to national and international officials.
According to her office, the travel she took to New York for a meeting of the United Nations, didn't just happen of her own accord. The travel authorization was approved through the Legislature's protocol and by its legal counsel.
Her full statement is below:
“The freedom citizens have to hold their elected servants accountable should always be respected and welcomed. Since last year’s visit to the United Nations included meeting with the Ambassador from the Federated States of Micronesia, I’m confident any legal or ethical review will show the use of local funds was appropriate in this case. The restriction invoked in a complaint copied to the media also existed in 2018, when Senator Fernando Esteves legally and ethically travelled to the U.N. to testify about Guam.
“The decolonization of the island continues to be an issue all leaders are duty-bound to address on the local, regional, and world stages. There will always be an excuse to put political status on the back-burner. But our people need look no further than the limited options the local government has to respond to the risks associated with the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak to see the dangers being a non-self-governing territory brings.”
