In 2003 Madeleine Z. Bordallo became the first woman
to serve as Guam’s Delegate in the U.S. Congress. As a
Delegate, Bordallo lacked many of the powers held by
Representatives, and she could not vote on the House
Floor. But Bordallo made up for her territory’s limited
voice by legislating in committee and participating in
debate. “We have to work twice as hard as any other
member of Congress to make [others] understand that we
are out there, that we are American citizens,” she said.1
Madeleine Bordallo was born Madeleine Zeien on
May 31, 1933, in Graceville, Minnesota, to Chris, an
educator, and Evelyn Zeien. As a teenager, Bordallo
moved with her parents and two siblings to Guam in 1948
when the United States Navy hired her father to run a
high school on the island. Located 3,500 miles west of
Hawaii, Guam is known as the place “Where America’s
Day Starts” and is the only U.S. territory in the eastern
hemisphere.2 Bordallo graduated from Guam’s George
Washington High School in 1951 and attended St. Mary’s
College in Indiana before studying music at the College
of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota.3 After returning
to Guam, she married Ricardo (Ricky) J. Bordallo, a
businessman who served as governor of Guam from 1975
to 1979, and again from 1983 to 1987. The couple raised
a daughter, Deborah.4
Madeleine Bordallo’s background in music led to a
career working for Guam’s radio and television stations.5
In addition to helping run her husband’s political
campaigns, Bordallo became Guam’s Democratic National
Committeewoman in 1964 and held the post for over 40
years—the longest such service in the nation. In 1981 she
became the first woman from the Democratic Party to win
a seat in Guam’s unicameral legislature. In her five terms as
a Guam senator, Bordallo advocated for the preservation of
Chamorro culture and authored several laws that promoted
indigenous language and art. Following the death of her
husband in 1990, Bordallo ran unsuccessfully for governor
of Guam but earned the distinction of being the first
woman to head the Democratic ticket. In 1994 she was
elected to the first of two consecutive terms as Guam’s first
woman lieutenant governor, where she worked to enhance
tourism on the island.6
In 2002 longtime Guam Delegate Robert A. Underwood
decided to run for governor back home, and Bordallo
announced her candidacy for his open seat in Congress.
Because Guam was a territory, its residents lacked full
access to many federal programs. Bordallo’s platform called
for more grant money and a stronger military presence on
the island, and she vowed to make Guam equivalent to
the states in matters of federal appropriations.7 Bordallo
defeated Guam senator Judith Won Pat, daughter of Guam’s
first Delegate Antonio Borja Won Pat, for the Democratic
nomination. In the general election, she defeated
Republican Joseph Ada, who had defeated her for governor
in 1990. On Election Day, Bordallo won 65 percent of
the vote, or 27,081 votes in total.8 “I’m looking forward to
going to Washington,” she said. “I know how important it
is to tell America about Guam.”9 Bordallo ran unopposed in
her next four elections.10
In the 108th Congress (2003–2005), Bordallo was
assigned to three committees: Small Business; Armed
Services; and Natural Resources. She left the Small Business
Committee after her second term, but she kept her other
two assignments for the duration of her career. Her seat
on the Armed Services Committee allowed her to help
shape legislation concerning vital military bases on Guam.
And from the Natural Resources Committee, which holds
jurisdiction over legislation concerning the territories, she
worked to protect the political interests of her constituents.
In the House, Bordallo focused on committee work
because she did not have a vote on the floor. When she was
first elected, former Delegate Ben Garrido Blaz advised her
that she would “be a Member of Congress but not one of its
true Members.”11 Bordallo equated her legislative powers to
“building a home.” She could draft and submit legislation,
and participate in markups and debate, but could not vote
on final passage. “You can put it all together, then you
just can’t put the roof on,” she said.12 As a workaround,
Bordallo formed partnerships with Members from both
parties. “Being from a territory, you have to learn to be
nonpartisan,” she declared.13
As an unincorporated United States territory, Guam’s
basic rights, including citizenship and limited self-governance,
must be provided through legislation. One
of Bordallo’s main legislative priorities was to minimize
disparities between Guamanians and mainlanders when it
came to government services and political standing.14 In
2003, for instance, she worked to grant Guam and other
territories the same access the states had to the federal
Loan Guarantee Program, which financed schools, public
housing, and community centers.15 Bordallo also worked
with fellow Delegates Donna Christensen of the U.S. Virgin
Islands and Eni F. H. Faleomavaega of American Samoa
to reduce disparities in health care services. In 2005 the
three lawmakers secured increased Medicaid funding for
the territories.16
For decades, every one of Bordallo’s predecessors sought
commonwealth status for Guam in order to provide the
island with a greater level of political autonomy. In 2010
Bordallo’s bill calling on the Secretary of the Interior
to help the government of Guam develop programs to
educate residents about options for the territory’s future—
including free association, statehood, and independence—
became law.17
Starting in 1986, Guam and the nearby island nations
of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands had been under a
Compact of Free Association with the United States. These
Freely Associated States (FAS) retain their sovereignty but
allow the United States to build military bases on their land.
In exchange, FAS states receive U.S. military protection
and their citizens can live and work anywhere in the United
States. Under the agreement, the federal government must
reimburse its Pacific territories and the state of Hawaii for
the increased demand that FAS citizens place on education
and social services.18 In the House, Bordallo consistently
raised concerns that the federal government was failing to
properly compensate Guam.19 With the help of Hawaii
Senator Daniel Ken Inouye, she inserted provisions into
the Compact of Free Association Amendments of 2003
that provided $30 million for the Pacific territories and
Hawaii, and authorized the write-off of over $150 million
in debt owed to the federal government by Guam. The
joint resolution passed with her amendments.20 Bordallo
continued to work on the issue for the remainder of
her career.21
From her seat on the Armed Services Committee,
Bordallo worked to protect Guam’s military bases.
Every year, she participated in committee hearings and
markups on the annual National Defense Authorization
Act (NDAA) which directed millions of dollars towards
military construction and infrastructure development on
Guam. Starting in 2011, Guam took on its greater strategic
importance when President Barack Obama announced
the military’s “Pivot to the Pacific” in order to strengthen
relationships with allies in Asia and limit the influence of
China.22 As the westernmost part of the United States,
Guam is called the “tip of the spear” of America’s defense
capabilities in the Pacific. “All I have to say is location,
location, location,” Bordallo pointed out to the Armed
Services Committee.23
Bordallo also worked to ensure that the military buildup
on Guam helped her constituents. A 2005 transportation
bill included Bordallo’s provision to designate all of Guam
as a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) zone, which
would help local businesses secure government contracts.24
Additionally, Bordallo inserted a provision in the 2019
NDAA which required the military to gradually occupy less
land on Guam.25
At times, Bordallo’s pro-military stance ran up against
opposition back home.26 In 2014 she introduced a
measure which would have cordoned off a wildlife refuge
to accommodate a military firing range. Bordallo argued
the firing range was necessary as the Marine Corps shifted
thousands of personnel from Okinawa to Guam. The
Chamorro community, however, considered the area a site
of significant historic and cultural value, and opposed the
bill.27 Bordallo eventually placed the legislation on hold but
continued to advocate for the live-fire range.28 After several
public meetings, Bordallo submitted a revised bill requiring
the Navy to find ways to maintain a level of public access to
the wildlife area.29 The firing range bill became law as part
of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act.30
From the Natural Resources Committee, Bordallo
championed environmental protection measures in the
Pacific. During her first term, she sought legislation to
curb the effects of the brown tree snake, an invasive species
found on many Pacific islands. “The brown tree snake has
negatively impacted Guam’s ecosystem, wreaked havoc on
our infrastructure and economy, and continues to be a risk
to our health and safety,” Bordallo declared. In 2004, after
working closely with Members of the Hawaii delegation,
her bill providing federal funding to help eradicate the snake
became law.31
When Democrats captured the House majority in the
110th Congress (2007–2009), Bordallo became chair of
the Resource Committee’s Subcommittee on Fisheries,
Wildlife, and Oceans. In the next Congress, she chaired the
Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans, and Wildlife,
which allowed her to wield significant influence over
legislation concerning Guam. As chair, Bordallo inserted
a provision in the Omnibus Public Land Management
Act of 2009 creating a federal program to map coastlines
in the United States, providing data for conservation and
research purposes.32
Bordallo also used her subcommittee power to fight
against shark finning, in which commercial fishers cut
off shark fins and discard the shark’s body back into
the ocean; without fins, sharks cannot move and soon
die. The practice was made illegal by the Shark Finning
Prohibition Act of 2000, but loopholes allowed U.S. ships
to continue transporting shark fins. Less than a month
after the workaround was discovered in 2008, Bordallo
introduced the Shark Conservation Act to strengthen
the law by forbidding American ships from transporting
shark fins under any circumstance. Her bill, reintroduced
in the 111th Congress (2009–2011), was signed into
law in 2011.33 To further reduce harmful fishing
practices, Bordallo passed the Illegal, Unreported, and
Unregulated Fishing Enforcement Act of 2015 providing
the Coast Guard with resources to investigate illegal
fishing operations.34
Perhaps Bordallo’s most significant legislative
achievement was the passage of her measure authorizing
reparations to the survivors and descendants of the victims
of the brutal Japanese military occupation of Guam during
World War II. Establishing a commission to study the
occupation and seek ways to compensate victims had long
been a hope for Guam’s Delegates in the House. Bordallo
introduced her Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition
Act during her second term, which set aside $200 million
dollars for the island’s victims. The Committee on Resources
reported the bill favorably, but the measure never received
floor consideration.35 In 2010 Bordallo offered her bill as an
amendment to the NDAA. At one point, Senate negotiators
offered to keep Bordallo’s measure only if the war claims
were restricted. But Bordallo refused to accept tightened
eligibility requirements. “I did not accept the offer …
because it would not recognize all of those who endured
Guam’s occupation,” she said.36
Despite pressure to accept the limited deal back
home, Bordallo continued to fight for reparations for
both survivors and heirs. Leveraging her position on the
Armed Services Committee, she requested a full hearing
in late 2009 during which Tom Barcinas, a survivor of the
Japanese occupation, testified about his experience during
the war and argued in favor of providing reparations to
the descendants of survivors.37 But Bordallo was racing the
clock. “What pained me most was that with each passing
year, there were fewer and fewer survivors,” she reflected.
Barcinas passed away in 2011.38
In 2016 Bordallo offered her war claims bill as an
amendment to the 2017 NDAA. The bill required the
U.S. government to officially recognize the loyalty and
courage of Guamanian people during World War II and
pay between $10,000 and $25,000 to each claimant. This
time, Bordallo compromised and excluded the heirs of war
survivors from the legislation. On December 8, 2016, the
seventy-fifth anniversary of the bombing of Guam and
the start of Japanese occupation in 1941, Bordallo’s war
claims measure passed. It was signed into law two weeks
later.39 “Guam’s greatest generation will finally receive the
recognition they so justly deserve,” she announced.40
In 2017 Guam senator Michael San Nicolas announced
he would challenge Bordallo for her seat in Congress.41 The
Office of Congressional Ethics had opened an investigation
into accusations that Bordallo had rented her house in
Guam to the Japanese government for use as a consulate,
violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which
prohibits public officials from receiving money from foreign
governments. Bordallo was also investigated for receiving
more than 600 free nights at a beachfront hotel owned
by her sister.42 On August 25, 2018, San Nicolas defeated
Bordallo in the Democratic primary with 51 percent of
the vote.43
After leaving office, Bordallo remained in Washington
to advocate on behalf of Guam’s government before
federal officials.44
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