Guam governor offers Greene history book after falsely calling US territory a foreign land

The governor of Guam offered to send Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) a history book after the conservative firebrand incorrectly referred to the U.S. territory as a foreign land during a speech railing against federal financial aid going to other countries.

Krystal Paco-San Agustin, the communicators director for Gov. Lourdes Leon Guerrero (D), told The Guam Post on Thursday that they would be “more than happy to send Representative Greene’s office a copy of ‘Destiny’s Landfall: A History of Guam.’”

Del. Michael San Nicolas (D), a non-voting delegate representing Guam in Congress, told the outlet that he would be delivering Greene “delicious Chamorro Chip Cookies as part of our ongoing outreach to new members to introduce them to our wonderful island of Guam.”

Guam has been part of the United States since 1899, and people born on the island in the west Pacific Ocean have been considered U.S. citizens since 1950. Guam’s roughly 170,000 residents do pay federal taxes but not federal income tax.

The island served a key military role during the Pacific campaign in World War II and there are roughly 6,200 active duty U.S. troops stationed there. 

Greene made the gaffe last month during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, urging the U.S. to stop sending aid overseas.

“I’m a regular, normal person. And I wanted to take my regular, normal person, normal, everyday American values, which is: We love our country. We believe our hard-earned tax dollars should just go for America, not for what, China, Russia, the Middle East, Guam — whatever, wherever,” the Georgia Republican said.

“If we want to build roads, if we want to put money into schools, if we want to build border walls, we want it right here at home. This is easy to me; it’s easy to us, but it’s not easy to Washington,” she continued.

Phil Flores, the former chairman of the Republican Party of Guam, told the newspaper that he reached out to Greene’s office after her speech and spoke to one of her assistants.

“I said ‘Guam is a part of America. We have been for 122 years,’” Flores recalled. “I’m calling to educate her.” 

He referred to the congresswoman’s comments as “really disappointing” but said it points to a larger issue of Americans lacking knowledge about Guam.

Flores said his son would have to bring his U.S. passport to bars when he was a student at West Virginia University because bouncers wouldn’t accept his Guam I.D. card. 

“You see it every once in a while, ‘Where’s Guam?’ And obviously we don’t expect to be as well known in the mainland as perhaps California or New York, but more people should know about this wonderful part of America,” Flores said.

The Hill has reached out to Greene’s office for comment.