If you can’t trust the small things

Here’s the record.

After three and a half years, not one bill introduced by our delegate has become law.

Some will say that’s not the whole story - that this job is about more than making laws, and there are other ways to measure effective representation.

So let’s talk about what else we should be seeing.

Take security. Guam sits at the center of the Pacific, and that makes us strategically vital. In moments like this, we need a clear and credible voice in Congress - one Washington can understand.

Recently, Guam had the chance to bring national attention to our security concerns during a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee on the Pentagon’s FY2027 Budget Request. During that hearing, our delegate told officials that the military “owns” most of Guam’s power grid and “leases” it to the Guam Power Authority.

That is not accurate. It may have been a misunderstanding or a misstatement. These things happen. But when they occur on a national stage, they matter.

And we’ve seen it before.

Earlier this year, the delegate told a House subcommittee that the people of Guam are not against deep sea mining, only against actions taken without consultation or our consent. That statement does not reflect the concerns expressed in our local resolutions, public discussions, and community voices.

Following that hearing, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management fast-tracked the process and wants to nearly double the size of the seafloor area eyed for deep-sea mining, bringing it closer to Guam and the NMI .

Taken together, these moments point to something larger.

It’s already hard for Guam to be heard. We are smaller. We are farther away. And our representative is nonvoting - which means our influence is often measured in moments like these.

When we step onto a national stage - especially in a hearing with federal leadership - we are representing a place with unique needs that much of the country does not fully understand. How we describe those needs matters.

When we get the basics wrong, we don’t just create confusion - we weaken our own case. We make it harder to be taken seriously and lose leverage in the conversations that matter most.

It’s a simple principle many of us were taught early on: how you handle the small things says a great deal about how you will handle the big ones.

So if we can’t get the fundamentals right in a public exchange, it’s fair to ask how we are approaching the more complex issues - federal reimbursement rates, shipping policies, VA health care capacity, affordable housing, and radiation exposure compensation. These are not areas where we can afford mistakes.

The delegate and I want many of the same things. We both want lower costs, reliable infrastructure, and federal investment that benefits our people and not just the military.

The difference is that I know wanting something is not enough.

And that may explain why, after more than three years in office, not a single bill introduced by the delegate has made it across the finish line - because the same lack of attention we see in moments like the power grid exchange shows up in the work it takes to move ideas forward in Congress.

No one expects perfection. But they do expect preparation. This job requires understanding the issues, being properly briefed, and asking questions that move the conversation forward - not ones that introduce confusion into it.

Because every public moment is an opportunity to strengthen Guam’s case or to weaken it. And over time, those moments add up. They determine whether Guam is clearly understood or consistently misunderstood - whether our priorities are taken seriously or set aside.

Guam needs a voice Washington can understand - because too much is at stake to get it wrong.

Instagram

Facebook