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Guam Organic Act of 1950
The Guam Organic Act of 1950 (formally the Organic Act of Guam), (48 U.S.C. § 1421 et seq., Pub. L. 81–630, H.R. 7273, 64 Stat. 384, enacted August 1, 1950) is a United States federal law that redesignated the island of Guam as an unincorporated territory of the United States, established executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and transferred federal jurisdiction from the United States Navy to the United States Department of the Interior. For the first time in over three hundred years of foreign colonization, the people of Guam had some measure of self-governance, however limited. Before that time there was some participation in the Local Administration, through the mayors or "gobernadorcillos" in Spanish times, who acted under the supervision of the Governor of the Mariana Islands.
The Organic Act (as it became known on Guam) provided for:
Guam was later granted a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. The Guam delegate is an official part of Congress, and can serve on committees, but cannot vote on legislation. See: Delegate (United States Congress)
The first bill providing for an Organic Act and U.S. citizenship was introduced on July 15, 1946, by U.S. Representative Robert A. Grant of Indiana in the form of H.R. 7044. This provided that Guam is accorded the semi-autonomous status of an organized territory, with the privilege of sending a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, however, was never even reported out of committee, as was the fate of all the bills introduced during the 79th United States Congress.
The issue of local authority came to a head in February 1949, when Abe Goldstein, a civil service employee of the U.S. Navy, was subpoenaed by the Guam Assembly. Goldstein allegedly was one of a number of people in violation of a prohibition against Americans owning local businesses. Goldstein and others were accused of using Guamanian "front men" to finance the local businesses. Goldstein, however, refused to testify, having received unofficial support from Naval Governor Charles Alan Pownall (1946–1949). Pownall had vetoed the power of the Guam Assembly to subpoena Americans in October 1948.
When Goldstein refused to testify, the Guam Assembly declared him guilty of contempt and issued a warrant for his arrest. Governor Pownall then intervened and halted execution of the warrant by the Guam Police Department. Angered and frustrated by what they saw as a lack of respect and authority, the Guam Assembly walked out en masse on March 6, 1949. Governor Pownall ordered them to return, but when the assemblymen refused, he dismissed them.
This dramatic encounter received international attention and widespread publicity (through the help of Assemblyman Carlos P. Taitano) that generated a great deal of support for self-government and U.S. citizenship for the people of Guam. Though the Assemblymen were later reinstated by Governor Pownall, U.S. citizenship and some form of self-government had already become a foregone conclusion.
To pacify the island until the U.S. Congress could pass an Organic Act, U.S. President Harry S. Truman, issued Executive Order No. 10077 on September 7, 1949, which stipulated that:
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Guam Organic Act of 1950
The Guam Organic Act of 1950 (formally the Organic Act of Guam), (48 U.S.C. § 1421 et seq., Pub. L. 81–630, H.R. 7273, 64 Stat. 384, enacted August 1, 1950) is a United States federal law that redesignated the island of Guam as an unincorporated territory of the United States, established executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and transferred federal jurisdiction from the United States Navy to the United States Department of the Interior. For the first time in over three hundred years of foreign colonization, the people of Guam had some measure of self-governance, however limited. Before that time there was some participation in the Local Administration, through the mayors or "gobernadorcillos" in Spanish times, who acted under the supervision of the Governor of the Mariana Islands.
The Organic Act (as it became known on Guam) provided for:
Guam was later granted a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. The Guam delegate is an official part of Congress, and can serve on committees, but cannot vote on legislation. See: Delegate (United States Congress)
The first bill providing for an Organic Act and U.S. citizenship was introduced on July 15, 1946, by U.S. Representative Robert A. Grant of Indiana in the form of H.R. 7044. This provided that Guam is accorded the semi-autonomous status of an organized territory, with the privilege of sending a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, however, was never even reported out of committee, as was the fate of all the bills introduced during the 79th United States Congress.
The issue of local authority came to a head in February 1949, when Abe Goldstein, a civil service employee of the U.S. Navy, was subpoenaed by the Guam Assembly. Goldstein allegedly was one of a number of people in violation of a prohibition against Americans owning local businesses. Goldstein and others were accused of using Guamanian "front men" to finance the local businesses. Goldstein, however, refused to testify, having received unofficial support from Naval Governor Charles Alan Pownall (1946–1949). Pownall had vetoed the power of the Guam Assembly to subpoena Americans in October 1948.
When Goldstein refused to testify, the Guam Assembly declared him guilty of contempt and issued a warrant for his arrest. Governor Pownall then intervened and halted execution of the warrant by the Guam Police Department. Angered and frustrated by what they saw as a lack of respect and authority, the Guam Assembly walked out en masse on March 6, 1949. Governor Pownall ordered them to return, but when the assemblymen refused, he dismissed them.
This dramatic encounter received international attention and widespread publicity (through the help of Assemblyman Carlos P. Taitano) that generated a great deal of support for self-government and U.S. citizenship for the people of Guam. Though the Assemblymen were later reinstated by Governor Pownall, U.S. citizenship and some form of self-government had already become a foregone conclusion.
To pacify the island until the U.S. Congress could pass an Organic Act, U.S. President Harry S. Truman, issued Executive Order No. 10077 on September 7, 1949, which stipulated that: