The easy answer is that it is unconstitutional . Like most of us , I couldn ’ t hear the chatter on the floor , but I could imagine that some inappropriate invectives and “ sit down !” were shouted . This challenge was similarly raised by Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner Carlos Romero Barcelo in 1999 .

Plaskett caused excitement in the territories as many felt emboldened to raise the issue of democratic representation and bemoan the unfairness of our citizenship status . Of course , it is disingenuous for the heart of American democracy , known as the House of Representatives , to not actually represent all the people who are citizens . Unlike the Senate , which represents states , the House is supposed to represent the people . The presider read the script provided by the parliamentarian about eligibility to vote for speaker . The efforts in both 1999 and 2025 yielded the same response .

There are places in the House of Representatives where these issues are supposed to be discussed . In Longworth 1324 , the Natural Resources Committee conducts business related to the territories . It is the only place in the U . S . capitol

complex that displays the flags of the five U . S . unincorporated territories , two of which are labeled “ commonwealths .” Some commonwealth believers think that they are not unincorporated territories . However , the flags of Puerto Rico and the Northern Marianas are arrayed equally with Guam , American Samoa and the U . S . Virgin Islands , positioned behind the chair . For a time , they included the freely associated states . As “ sovereign states ,” jurisdiction over them falls under Foreign Affairs , although funding primarily comes through the Department of the Interior . DOI gets called to explain themselves at Longworth 1324 .

I was proud to sit in that Committee Room for a decade to state my concerns about Guam ’ s political status . The only time a Guam commonwealth bill was heard in Washington D . C . was in that room . Bills about excess lands , funding arrangements and amendments to the Organic Act were all processed through that committee . It is where insular bills go and are amended before being referred to the House floor .

All territorial delegates were previously expected to sit in the House Natural Resources Committee to introduce legislation , argue for it and monitor the activities of this vital body that oversees the overseas colonies . In the 119th Congress , only two persons from the offshore areas were on that committee : Del . Amata Radewagen ( R-American Samoa ) and Resident Commissioner Pablo Hernandez Rivera ( D-Puerto Rico ).

Guam Del . Jim Moylan was on the House Natural Resources committee in his previous term but has moved on the

Foreign Affairs committee while remaining on the Armed Services committee . The CNMI ’ s new delegate , Kimberlyn King-Hinds , is on the Transportation , Infrastructure and Veteran ’ s Affairs committee . Both are seeking assignments to a third committee and are likely to secure them , but neither is pursuing Natural Resources .

Perhaps ironically , Plaskett has not been on the Natural Resources Committee . She is on Ways and Means , an “ exclusive ” committee , which limits its members to only one committee assignment due to its status . She was also on the Select Intelligence Committee and given some prominence as part of the legal team that prosecuted Donald Trump ’ s impeachment .

Former Guam delegate Michael San Nicolas was not on Natural Resources as an original member because he also served on Financial Services , another “ exclusive ” committee .

Territorial and colonial policies are not served well if the colonial representatives themselves are not interested in the formation of insular policy . Of course , if your representation is not about managing the political status or changing the relationship of your home islands , then Longworth 1324 doesn ’ t matter .

If you just want to “ bring home the bacon ” and not think of broader issues , then any old bacon will do . Just start defining what that “ bacon ” is and pray that the folks at home cook it thoroughly . At the committee level , delegate votes carry weight . They are not merely symbolic , as they are in the Committee of the Whole on the floor . Territories could have five

votes in that committee , but now only have two .

Perhaps the number of flags in Longworth will increase in the Trump administration . He wants to take back the Panama Canal and acquire Greenland . In this new imperial presidency of the 21st century , we may see the Panama Canal Zone and Greenland flags displayed in Longworth 1324 . I am relatively sure that they would be unincorporated territories . I guess the Department of the Interior will have new coordinating responsibilities . Trump is a dealmaker , and he may decide that a deal is in order . A good friend suggested to me that a “ G for G ” trade may be in order , where Greenland comes under the U . S . and Guam goes to Denmark . We might end up learning Danish , as well as eating it .

Plaskett gave herself and the rest of us in the territories a brief moment of attention . I congratulate her and I hope that she uses her legal background to reshape some of the thinking about constitutional limits . But that moment is now gone . It is left to legislation and discussions in Longworth 1324 to attend to the issues of who we are and who we aren ’ t as American citizens in the territories . For now , we will have to rely on Radewagen and Hernandez-Rivera .

Radewagen is entering her sixth term on the Natural Resources Committee and serves as vice chair of the Indians and Islands Affairs Subcommittee . The chair of that subcommittee is Colorado ’ s Jeff Hurd , a freshman member . Maybe seniority doesn ’ t count as much as it used to .

Dr . Robert Underwood is the former president of the University of Guam and former member of the U . S . House of Representatives . Send feedback to anacletus2010 @ gmail . com .