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Congressman updates mayors on community project funds, SSI fight, mail service and FEMA outreach
Summary
A visiting congressman told the Mayor’s Council of Guam the island secured fewer federal community project funds than expected, is pressing to include territories in Supplemental Security Income, and is coordinating federal outreach and MRE distributions with mayors.
Congressman Moreland told the Mayor’s Council of Guam on Thursday that Guam’s federal community project funding requests survived early budget cuts but were reduced and remain under consideration in the House appropriations process.
That funding includes a request tied to a multipurpose emergency center in Chalan Pago-Ordot that, Moreland said, did not cover all local needs but would provide additional support. “It’s not everything that mayor needed, but it’s additional money that we can help support,” he said.
Why it matters: the congressman framed the appropriations work as competitive with other states and territories and asked mayors to identify further projects that could be tagged for consideration as appropriations move through the House.
What he told mayors - Community Project Funding: Moreland said the office had sought about 30 community project items for Guam but the package was reduced to 15 in a slimmer federal budget; the items are now in the House appropriations committee and his office is pushing to retain them. - Chalan Pago-Ordot emergency center: the congressman named a multipurpose emergency center in Chalan Pago-Ordot as one highlighted project and said the funding in the federal package would not fully cover all permit- or occupancy-related work the village requested. - SSI for territories: Moreland said he continues to press to include Guam and other U.S. territories in Supplemental Security Income eligibility; he described the effort as ongoing and tied to finding budget offsets, and said Guam is aligned with Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa on the issue. - Mail service and village delivery: mayors raised long lines and package-pickup challenges at regional post offices. Moreland said his office has discussed temporary workarounds — including routing mail to a mayor’s office for resident-approved pickup — while working with the Postal Service on longer-term fixes. - Federal outreach and FEMA MRE distribution: the congressman said federal agencies will hold federal-agency “resource fairs” (federal partners will attend a two-day outreach at Micronesia Mall) and that FEMA has been distributing thousands of MREs; he said more pallets were available for local distribution and cautioned that FEMA requires donated goods not be resold.
Local response and next steps: mayors asked about applying for grants and suggested the congressman’s office make a central list of federal grant opportunities. Moreland said his staff will coordinate grant-writing training for mayoral offices and provide cover letters to support applications. He also said his office will continue to advocate in the appropriations process and requested mayors identify additional local projects that need support.
Quotes: “These projects that we have included in the house version is now in the appropriations committee, and we’re pushing to make sure these projects that we got for Guam, continue,” Moreland said. On SSI, he added: “It’s only right that all the territories should also be included.”
Ending: Moreland said his office would circulate outreach flyers and follow up with mayors about specific projects, training opportunities and the Micronesia Mall federal outreach event.
