President Joe Biden announced his appointments to a commission that will advise him on Asian American and Pacific Islander concerns, and advance equity and opportunity among the groups. Among the appointees is former Guam delegate and University of Guam President Dr. Robert Underwood.

Underwood is one of 23 commissioners appointed by President Biden to the White House Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. The commission is housed under the Department of Health and Human Services, which may give Underwood an inside track.

"The secretary of health and human services, secretary Becerra and I are actually pretty good friends," he said. "And so I relish this opportunity. He's sort of the co-chair and the commission is sort of housed in his agency and you know he and I came to the congress at the same time and so I look forward to working with him and exploring some of these issues."

Secretary Xavier Becerra is a former congressman from California.

Among the issues, Underwood expects to discuss with him, "making sure that we have a permanent set of circumstances to access quality health care, of course dealing with the pandemic, how do we deal with that, and the disproportionality of it. Different communities are experiencing the pandemic in different ways."

He said senior health care will also be in focus.

"When you use your senior population in Guam because they're not comfortable with the health care that is available in Guam, a lot of Government of Guam retirees, federal retirees, they go off- island, that money they take that money with them, and they take that health care dollars with them," he said.

The commission is expected to get together in January, and Underwood expects their efforts will culminate next May in conjunction with the observance of Asian American Pacific Islander Awareness Month.