Statement of the Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Regarding the United States Nuclear Testing Program on the Marshall Islands

July 19, 2005

Mr. Chairman:

Thank you for your leadership for providing this opportunity to consider the issues relating to the Marshall Islands Changed Circumstances petition.

As the Ranking Member of the International Relations Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific and as a Pacific Islander, I feel that I have a special responsibility to safeguard the interests of our Pacific Island cousins from the Marshall Islands, who have sacrificed greatly for our common good. From 1946 to 1958, the United States detonated 67 nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands, representing nearly 80 percent of all atmospheric tests ever conducted by the United States. If one were to calculate the net yield of these tests, it would be equivalent to the detonation of 1.7 Hiroshima bombs every day for twelve years. These tests exposed the people of the Marshall Islands to severe health problems and genetic anomalies for generations to come.

The U.S. nuclear testing program in the Marshall Islands continues to devastate the Marshall Islands and the funds provided by the United States under the Compact of Free Association are grossly inadequate to provide for health care, environmental monitoring, personal injury claims, or land and property damage.

Pursuant to the Compact and the accompanying Section 177 Agreement, the United States accepted responsibility for the damage to the property and environment of the Marshall Islands and the health of its people. This agreement did not constitute a final agreement as evidenced by the inclusion of Article IX authorizing the government of the Marshall Islands to petition the U.S. Congress in the event of “changed circumstances that render the provisions of this agreement manifestly inadequate.”

The government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands has submitted a request to Congress based on a changed circumstances claim. The Administration, however, as represented by the State Department, in its report evaluating the Marshall Islands’ request rejected the arguments made in the Marshall Islands petition, contending that the claims did not constitute “changed circumstances” as defined in the agreement.

For the record, Mr. Chairman, I want to make it clear that I take issue with the State Department’s position. While the State Department denies that there is a legal basis for Congress to hear this petition, the fact remains that we in Congress should decide this for ourselves.

As you are aware, Mr. Chairman, the State Department issued a report in November 2004 evaluating the Marshall Islands’ Petition, concluding that the Marshall Islands’ request does not qualify as changed circumstances within the meaning of the agreement, so there is no legal basis for considering additional payments.

The State Department fails to explain how the declassified documents, released a decade after the agreement was reached, indicating a wider extent of radioactive fallout than previously disclosed, or a National Cancer Institute study indicating that more cancers will surface, do not constitute a legal basis for Congress to consider their circumstances.

Mr. Chairman, I submit this is much larger than a legal issue – this is a moral issue. The fact is, the people of the Marshall Islands are still suffering severe, adverse health effects directly related to our nuclear testing program and they are still unable to use their own lands because of the radiation poisoning. We have a moral obligation to provide for health care, environmental monitoring, personal injury claims, and land and property damage in the Marshall Islands. This is the least we can do, considering the historic contribution the people of the Marshall Islands have made in the Cold War struggle to preserve international peace and promote nuclear disarmament.

The people of the Marshall Islands have brought their ongoing health, environmental, and loss of land issues to Congress for our consideration. While we may find that we cannot provide the amount of money requested, I believe we do have an obligation to examine carefully the application they have submitted, to ensure that we live up to the responsibility we embraced over 50 years ago when we began nuclear testing in the Pacific. We should not be looking for ways to sidestep this responsibility. We should ask ourselves if we have done everything we can possibly do to make things right for the people of the Marshall Islands who have sacrificed their lives, their health and their lands for the benefit of the United States.

I have reviewed the petition. I have researched this issue extensively, and I believe enough evidence exists to justify a thorough review of the changed circumstances in the petition.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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Faleomavaega Speaks in Support of Marshall Islands