[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 202 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. J. RES. 202

Formally apologizing for the nuclear legacy of the United States in the 
 Republic of the Marshall Islands and affirming the importance of free 
    association between the Government of the United States and the 
                  Government of the Marshall Islands.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 6, 2024

Ms. Porter submitted the following joint resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee 
 on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
Formally apologizing for the nuclear legacy of the United States in the 
 Republic of the Marshall Islands and affirming the importance of free 
    association between the Government of the United States and the 
                  Government of the Marshall Islands.

Whereas the United States took the islands now constituting the Republic of the 
        Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the Federated States of 
        Micronesia along with the Northern Mariana Islands from Japan through 
        bloody battles during World War II;
Whereas the United States persuaded the United Nations to designate those 
        islands as a United Nations Trust Territory and the United States as 
        Administering Authority of those islands pending the development of 
        self-government on such islands;
Whereas the United States used the northern atolls of the islands to conduct 
        extensive nuclear weapons testing during the Cold War;
Whereas, in response to United Nations Security Council concerns with respect to 
        such testing, President Harry S. Truman wrote that the people of the 
        Marshall Islands ``will be accorded all rights which are the normal 
        constitutional rights of the citizens under the Constitution'' and 
        ``will be dealt with as wards of the United States for whom this country 
        has special responsibilities'';
Whereas March 1 is Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day in the Marshall Islands, 
        which memorializes the 67 nuclear tests the United States conducted in 
        the Marshall Islands;
Whereas, between 1946 and 1958, the United States conducted nuclear testing that 
        produced an explosive yield many times greater than the bombs that 
        destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, constituting the majority of explosive 
        yield of all atmospheric U.S. nuclear weapons testing;
Whereas the Castle Bravo test on March 1, 1954, remains the largest ever nuclear 
        test by the United States, which yielded an explosion equivalent to 
        approximately 1,000 times the power of the bomb that destroyed 
        Hiroshima;
Whereas the Castle Bravo test, in particular, seriously exposed civilians to 
        radiation;
Whereas research is not conclusive due to difference in methodology and 
        challenges in comparison, but one study conducted in 2019 by Columbia 
        University researchers found that levels of radioactive contamination on 
        the four atolls most affected by nuclear testing exceeded the levels of 
        radioactive contamination in Chernobyl, Ukraine, and Fukushima, Japan;
Whereas the resettlement of individuals on such atolls, which were later found 
        to be unsafe due to direct exposure to nuclear fallout, contributed to 
        increased cancer rates, birth defects, and other illnesses among the 
        people of the Marshall Islands;
Whereas, from January 1, 1977, to December 31, 1980, a joint task group made up 
        largely of contractors, but including Department of Defense 
        servicemembers and civilians, conducted radiological cleanup and built 
        the Runit Dome (also known as the Cactus Crater containment structure) 
        on Enewetak Atoll to house more than 110,000 cubic yards of 
        radioactively contaminated soil and debris;
Whereas more than 99 percent of all transuranic elements at Enewetak Atoll 
        remain outside the Runit Dome;
Whereas, since 2012, the Secretary of Energy has been responsible, under section 
        103(f)(1) of the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2003 (48 
        U.S.C. 1921b(f)(1)), for quadrennial studies of the groundwater 
        surrounding and in the Cactus Crater containment structure, but the 
        Secretary has failed to complete such studies;
Whereas, in October 2012, an official of the Department of Energy testified 
        before Congress that seawater is ``communicating'' with the radioactive 
        material in Cactus Crater;
Whereas many of the members of the Armed Forces who participated in the cleanup 
        of Enewetak Atoll have remained largely ineligible for benefits related 
        to radiation exposure;
Whereas the Government and the people of the Marshall Islands have an ongoing 
        need for assistance from the United States for personal injuries, 
        adverse effects on health, the loss of land, and property damages;
Whereas a study by the National Cancer Institute, published in August 2010, 
        found that 55 percent of the cancers in Rongelap Atoll and 10 percent of 
        cancers in Utrik Atoll during such period may be attributable to fallout 
        exposure;
Whereas in section 2(c) of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (Public Law 
        101-426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 note), Congress apologized to individuals 
        affected by above-ground nuclear testing in the Southwest United States, 
        but the United States has made no such apology for the legacy of United 
        States nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands;
Whereas the United States continues to have a critical national security 
        relationship with the Marshall Islands, which--

    (1) is home to a facility the Joint Chiefs of Staff refer to as ``the 
world's premiere range for intercontinental ballistic missile testing and 
space operations support''; and

    (2) in conjunction with the other Freely Associated States, guarantees 
the United States strategic control of an area of the Pacific Ocean between 
the Philippines and Hawaii that is larger than the 48 contiguous United 
States;

Whereas the sustained commitment by the United States to the Freely Associated 
        States will--

    (1) ensure that the United States maintains control of shipping lanes 
in the Pacific Ocean; and

    (2) deter efforts by the Peoples Republic of China to alienate the 
people of the Freely Associated States from the United States;

Whereas the Marshall Islands are more important to the national interests of the 
        United States now than they have been at any time since World War II;
Whereas President Ronald Reagan encouraged the people of the Marshall Islands to 
        ratify the Compact of Free Association Between the United States and the 
        Republic of the Marshall Islands, done at Majuro on June 25, 1983, by 
        telling such people, ``you will always be family to us''; and
Whereas the United States has a moral responsibility and a national security 
        imperative--

    (1) to formally apologize to the people of the Marshall Islands for the 
consequences of the nuclear weapons testing program;

    (2) to reaffirm the kinship and commitment of the United States to, and 
concern for, the people of the Freely Associated States; and

    (3) to demonstrate that the United States lives up to its history and 
responsibilities in the vital Indo-Pacific region and elsewhere: Now, 
therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress--
            (1) recognizes that--
                    (A) the United States nuclear testing program and 
                radioactive waste disposal in the Marshall Islands 
                caused irreparable material and intangible harm to the 
                people of the Marshall Islands; and
                    (B) although the United States governed the 
                Marshall Islands during such nuclear testing program 
                and had complete responsibility for the welfare of the 
                people of the Marshall Islands, the United States--
                            (i) failed to evacuate those people from 
                        areas contaminated by nuclear radiation;
                            (ii) the historic resettlement of the 
                        atolls occurred in conditions that carried 
                        risks, although remediation and cleanup has 
                        improved the conditions since that time; and
                            (iii) conducted medical research on 
                        individuals without the consent of such people;
            (2) apologizes on behalf of the United States to the 
        individuals and families of the Marshall Islands for the 
        hardships they have endured as a result of the United States 
        nuclear testing program and radioactive waste disposal;
            (3) has committed to provide assistance to the Marshall 
        Islands and the other Freely Associated States (the Federated 
        States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau) to adapt to the 
        worst effects of the climate crisis which, among other 
        existential challenges, includes rising seas that are moving 
        radioactive matter outside of the Runit Dome, and should do 
        more in this regard;
            (4) urges the Secretary of Energy to complete as soon as 
        possible a radiochemical analysis of the groundwater 
        surrounding Cactus Crater in accordance with section 103(f)(1) 
        of the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2003 (48 
        U.S.C. 1921b(f)(1));
            (5) commits to securing healthcare coverage for veterans of 
        the Armed Forces and civilian personnel who participated in the 
        clean up of radiological waste of former United States nuclear 
        test sites in the Marshall Islands;
            (6) affirms that the Compact of Free Association, as 
        amended and added to, between the United States and the 
        Republic of the Marshall Islands, done at Majuro on June 25, 
        1983 (referred to in this resolution as the ``Compact of Free 
        Association''), most recently in the Compact of Free 
        Association Amendments Act of 2024, reflected the ongoing 
        commitment of the United States to address problems faced by 
        the people of the Marshall Islands stemming from United States 
        nuclear weapons tests in many respects through section 206(c) 
        of the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2024 and 
        other provisions, and is the cornerstone of the strong 
        relationship between the Marshall Islands and the United 
        States, which also includes--
                    (A) vital contributions of the people of the 
                Marshall Islands in the United States;
                    (B) high rates of service in the Armed Forces by 
                citizens of the Marshall Islands; and
                    (C) a shared desire for a free, stable, and 
                prosperous Indo-Pacific region;
            (7) has demonstrated commitment between the United States 
        Freely Associated States and the United States Government to be 
        the bedrock of a free and open Indo-Pacific through the Compact 
        of Free Association Amendments Act of 2024; and
            (8) acknowledges that nothing in this resolution--
                    (A) authorizes any claim against the United States;
                    (B) supersedes any provision of the Compact of Free 
                Association or its subsidiary agreements; and
                    (C) serves as a settlement of any claim against the 
                United States.
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