[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 692 Engrossed in House (EH)]


H. Res. 692

                 In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

                                                         April 5, 2006.
Whereas between 1946 and 1958, the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests in 
        the Marshall Islands, 66 of which resulted in atmospheric fallout;
Whereas the most powerful of these tests was the hydrogen weapons test codenamed 
        Bravo, a 15-megaton device detonated on March 1, 1954, at Bikini atoll;
Whereas the Bravo detonation alone was the equivalent to 1,000 Hiroshima-sized 
        bombs;
Whereas 17 other tests in the Marshall Islands were in the megaton range, and 
        the total yield of the 67 tests was 108 megatons, the equivalent yield 
        of more than 7,000 Hiroshima bombs and 93 times the total of Nevada 
        atmospheric tests;
Whereas in July 1998, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated 
        that 6.3 billion curies of radioactive iodine-131 were released to the 
        atmosphere as a result of the testing in the Marshall Islands;
Whereas the 12-year nuclear testing program has been the defining experience of 
        the modern era for the people of the Marshall Islands, and these 
        momentous events created a common bond between the people of the 
        Marshall Islands and the United States military and civilian personnel 
        who shared hardships and suffering with the people of the Marshall 
        Islands during the testing program;
Whereas as a Member State of the United Nations, the world body that once had 
        oversight of United States stewardship of the trusteeship for the people 
        of the Marshall Islands and their island homelands, the Republic of the 
        Marshall Islands has an unmatched record of working in conjunction with 
        the leadership of the United States in the pursuit of international 
        peace and security, the rights and well-being of the peoples of the 
        world, and in the War on Terrorism: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) commends the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands for 
        the contributions and sacrifices they made to the United States nuclear 
        testing program in the Marshall Islands;
            (2) solemnly acknowledges the first detonation of a hydrogen bomb by 
        the United States on March 1, 1954, on the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall 
        Islands; and
            (3) remembers that 60 years ago the United States began its nuclear 
        testing program in the Marshall Islands.



            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.