This week the Guam Legislature held an historic public hearing in support of a House Resolution 279 condemning the Insular Cases, a series of Plessy-era Supreme Court decisions rooted in racial animus that established an unprecedented colonial framework for inhabitants of Guam and other U.S. territories. The hearing brought together an impressive array of current and former elected officials, national and international legal experts, and community activists for a wide-ranging conversation on the importance of finally turning the page on the Insular Cases as a way to help bring an end to Guam’s colonial status. The hearing focused on the Guam Legislature’s Resolution 56-36, introduced by Guam’s Vice Speaker Tina Muña Barnes and a bipartisan group of five other Senators. 

Equally American Thanks Ms. Sierra Zorita for Her Board Services

Congressman Raúl Grijalva (D-Arizona), the Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, has introduced a resolution (H.Res. 279) acknowledging that the United States Supreme Court’s decisions in the Insular Cases and the “territorial incorporation doctrine” are contrary to the text and history of the United States Constitution, rest on racial views and stereotypes from the era of Plessy v. Ferguson that have long been rejected, are contrary to our Nation’s most basic constitutional and democratic principles, and should be rejected as having no place in United States constitutional law.

Washington, D.C. -- Equally American issued the following statement today, after testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health on protecting access to health care in U.S. territories:

Washington, D.C. -- Equally American issued the following statement in response to the United States Senate confirming Deb Haaland to serve as Secretary of the Interior in the Biden-Harris Administration. The Department of Interior is responsible for coordinating federal policy for the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands through its Office of Insular Affairs.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Late yesterday, Congressman Raúl Grijalva (D-Arizona), the Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, and twelve of his House colleagues sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking the Biden Department of Justice to stop defending federal statutes that arbitrarily deny equal treatment to U.S. citizens in the territories in a range of federal programs, including Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSI is a vital safety net which protects low-income Americans who are aged, blind, or disabled from extreme poverty.