Biography
A lifetime public servant, in 2003 Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo became the first woman to represent Guam in the U.S. House of Representatives. Ms. Bordallo brings to Congress over forty years of public service experience in the executive and legislative branches of the Government of Guam and numerous non-governmental organizations. The 111th Congress is Ms. Bordallo's fourth term.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has appointed Ms. Bordallo to continue her service on the House Committee on Natural Resources and on the House Armed Services Committee. Ms. Bordallo was also appointed to Chair the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans, and Wildlife in the House Natural Resources Committee. In addition to her committee responsibilities, Ms. Bordallo will continue her service as Secretary of the Congressional Asian Pacific America Caucus (CAPAC) as well as Chair of the Healthcare Task Force for CAPAC. She is also a member of the China Caucus, the U.S.-Philippines Friendship Caucus, the Korean Caucus, the Army Caucus, and the Navy/Marine Corps Caucus, the Reserve Component Caucus, the Travel and Tourism Caucus, the Women’s Caucus, the Taiwan Caucus, and the Bulgaria Caucus.
During the 111th Congress, Congresswoman Bordallo will continue the work she began in the 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses. Ms. Bordallo is working to secure the passage of the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act which was reintroduced on the first day of the 111th Congress as H.R. 44. She is working to ensure that the relocation of U.S. Marines and their families from Okinawa to Guam and the military build-up on Guam is accomplished in a way that is beneficial to the people of Guam.
Ms. Bordallo's legislative efforts have benefited from the close relationships she has established and fostered with other Members from the U.S. territories, the Hawaiian delegation, and House leadership on both sides of the aisle. She has also worked in a bipartisan approach with other government officials fromGuam to address federal issues that are important to the island.
Congresswoman Bordallo began her public career with local radio and television broadcaster KUAM in 1954. Her involvement in the community has also been extensive, with Bordallo founding the Guam Council of Women's Clubs, the Guam Symphony Society, Y Inetnon Famalaoan (Women for Service), and the Marianas Association for Persons with Disabilities. She was also a past President of the Federation of Asia Pacific Women's Associations (FAWA) and has been in dozens of leadership roles in other community organizations throughout her life.
Ms. Bordallo was introduced to public service through her husband Ricky, who served as Governor of Guam from 1975-1978 and 1983-1986. As First Lady of Guam, Madeleine was a strong advocate of promoting the indigenous Chamorro culture and the arts, both of which are lifelong passions. In between her husband's two terms as Governor, Madeleine Bordallo became the first woman from the Democratic Party to serve as a Guam Senator. She was a member of the 16th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd GuamLegislatures. Following the death of her husband, she ran for Governor in 1990, and in securing her party's nomination, she became the first woman on Guam to head a gubernatorial ticket. Although she was not successful in 1990, she teamed up in 1994 with Senator Carl Gutierrez as the Lieutenant Governor candidate on the Gutierrez-Bordallo ticket. She served two consecutive terms as Guam's first woman Lieutenant Governor from 1995 to 2002. In this role, she championed the cause of island beautification as a way to enhance Guam's tourism based economy.
Madeleine Bordallo, who is a resident of Tamuning, Guam, was born in Minnesota. She graduated from George Washington High School in Mangilao, Guam, in 1951. She attended St. Mary's College in South Bend, Indiana from 1951-1952, and the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota from 1952-1953, studying music with an emphasis in voice. In the summer of 1953, she married Ricardo J. "Ricky" Bordallo and they have a daughter, Deborah, and a granddaughter, Nicole.