by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - Speaker Judi Won Pat will remain speaker of the Guam Legislature when she is sworn in next month to serve another term. The Democrats this afternoon announced their leaders and committee chairmanship roles for the 32nd Guam Legislature.

Won Pat said, "It's very humbling again to have my colleagues bestow upon me that confidence." For the most part the Democratic leadership in the 31st Guam Legislature will remain the same in the 32nd Guam Legislature. Won Pat remains speaker, B.J. Cruz will remain vice speaker, legislative secretary is still Tina Rose Muna Barnes and majority leader is still Rory Respicio, replacing outgoing senator Judi Guthertz as assistant majority leader is Senator Tom Ada, keeping his post as majority whip is Senator Dennis Rodriguez, Jr. while Barnes serves as assistant.

According to Won Pat, she hopes to work with the 32nd Guam Legislature to focus on several issues to strengthen policies in order to help the economy and create jobs. "Initiatives that are going to be more pocketbook type of issues because I know the people are hurting. We know the government has some economic deficiencies, the financial cliff everyone is talking about, so I think a lot of effort will be focused on that area," she said.

Almost all of the returning Democrat senators are chairing the same committees with a few additional responsibilities and oversight.

Starting with Speaker Judi Won Pat she will continue to chair Committee On Education, Library and Women's Affairs, Vice Speaker B.J. Cruz chairs the Committee On General Operations, Procurement, Bit, Culture and adds to his oversight the Guam Police Department; Sen. Tina Muna Barnes chairs the Committee On Municipal Affairs, Tourism And Housing; Sen. Rory Respicio will continue to chair the Committee On Rules, Federal And Foreign Affairs but adds on to his oversight election reform, Sen. Tom Ada will maintain chairmanship over the Committee On Public Safety, Seaport, Utilities, DPW and takes on the responsibility of overseeing the Guam Fire Department, Sen. Frank Aguon, Jr will chair the Committee On US Guam Military Buildup, Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs And Judiciary, Senator Dennis Rodriguez, Jr maintains chairmanship of the Committee On Health, Economic Development, Health Insurance Reform And Senior Citizens. Sen. Michael San Nicolas will head the Committee On Public Busing, School Busing, Department of Youth Affairs and regulatory aspects of the Department Of Revenue And Taxation, and finally Sen Ben Pangelinan will continue to in charge of the Committee On Appropriations, Public Debt, Office Of The Attorney General, but takes on new responsibilities such as overseeing historic preservation trust, and parks and recreation.

As a new senator, San Nicolas says is looking forward to his new role and working with his colleagues in the 32nd. "I'm very excited to be working with everybody and I look forward to learning as much as I can to work with the agencies under me and looking to improve the services to the people of Guam," he said.