[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 24, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H4334-H4336]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IN HONOR OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS, HIS
EXCELLENCY IMATA KABUA, AND THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, HIS
EXCELLENCY PHILLIP MULLER
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pease). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 7, 1997, the gentleman from American Samoa [Mr.
Faleomavaega] is recognized for 60 minutes.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of our
colleagues in the Congress to extend a warm and heartfelt welcome to
the President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, His Excellency
Imata Kabua, and the Honorable Minister of Foreign Affairs, His
Excellency Phillip Muller. Mr. Speaker, President Kabua and Foreign
Minister Muller have been in Washington for meetings with the
administration and our colleagues here in the Congress, representing
the interests of the good people of the Marshall Islands.
His Excellency Imata Kabua was elected President of the Marshall
Islands in January of this year. In his long distinguished career of
public service, he has served as Senator in the Parliament or the
Nitijela from 1979 to 1996, when he was appointed Minister representing
the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. President Kabua
[[Page H4335]]
presently occupies the rotating chairmanship of the South Pacific Forum
of Nations, the preeminent political organization for the nations of
the South Pacific.
His Excellency Phillip Muller was elected in 1984 and has likewise
been a long-standing member of the Parliament or Nitijela in the
Marshall Islands. He served as Minister and assistant to the President
from 1984 to 1986, and 8 years as Minister of Education, until his
assumption of duties as Foreign Minister for the Marshall Islands in
1994.
Mr. Speaker, on this occasion of their visit, I am extremely honored
to salute these distinguished statesmen and leaders from the Republic
of the Marshall Islands, one of our most cherished friends and sister
democracies in the Pacific region. The people of the Marshall Islands
and the United States share a close relationship that extends back over
a half century. Our bonds were forged from World War II, when after
heavy fighting in the Pacific, the United States liberated the
Marshallese people from Japanese occupation.
For the next 4 decades through a United Nations strategic trust
territory, the United States, as appointed trustee, provided for the
administration of the Marshall Islands and Micronesia. Under the United
Nations trust agreement, it was the obligation of the United States to
``promote the development of the inhabitants of the trust territory
toward self-government or independence, as may be appropriate to the
particular circumstances of the trust territory and its peoples of the
freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned.''
Pursuing a desire for self-determination, the people of the Marshall
Islands entered into a compact, a free association with the United
States in 1986, emerging from the trust territory as the independent
Republic of the Marshall Islands. Under the compact of free
association, the relationship between the Marshalls and the United
States is different from that we have with other governments. The
United States agreed to provide development funding to the Marshalls
for 15 years, and to provide for its defense and security. In exchange,
the Marshalls promised the U.S. exclusive access to its islands for
military purposes.
As a democratic government, the Marshall Islands has maintained
excellent relationships with our country. In the international arena
such as the United Nations, the Marshalls has worked closely with the
United States and supported us on most important votes, including the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Mr. Speaker, during the 5 decades of this extraordinary relationship,
the people of the Marshall Islands bore a tremendously high burden of
the costs of the Cold War to provide for America's defense and our
policy on nuclear deterrence.
{time} 2230
Between the years 1946 and 1958 our Nation tested approximately 66
atomic and hydrogen nuclear bombs at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls in the
Marshall Islands. In their destructive capacity the nuclear blasts
literally vaporized six islands in the Marshalls.
Mr. Speaker, the most devastating test was the 15 megaton Bravo shot
which is approximately over 1,300 times more destructive than the bombs
our Nation dropped on Japan and Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. This
single nuclear detonation on March 1, 1954, exceeded the combined
strength of all weapons ever fired in the history of mankind. On the
morning of the test the wind was blowing in the direction of two
inhabited atolls, Rongelap and Utrik. Yet despite this knowledge the
Pentagon chose not to delay the test. It is reprehensible, Mr. Speaker,
that for days after the blast the men, women, and the children of the
atolls of Rongelap and Utrik were not immediately evacuated but were
forced to bathe unknowingly in the radioactive fallout. It is a sad and
tragic chapter in our Nation's history what we did to these simple and
innocent human beings.
The legacy of the United States nuclear testing program has resulted
in a nightmare of health problems for the Marshallese people, including
the elevated rates of thyroid cancer. Cervical cancer mortality rates
are 60 times the U.S. rate; breast cancer mortality rates, 5 times
greater than in the United States, and reproductive complications
involving high rates of miscarriage and deformed stillborn babies.
Mr. Speaker, it is no wonder that half a century later the chain of
islands is still considered one of the most contaminated places in the
world. The residents of the Marshalls who inhabited Bikini Atoll still
await a cleanup of the nuclear testsite before they can return to their
homes. The residents of Rongelap Island who were forced to abandon
their homes since 1954 due to radioactive contamination likewise await
cleanup efforts before returning to their island, and the people of
Enewetak who have been forced to live in the southern portion of their
island await resettlement of the north, which is still radioactive.
Although the United States has allotted over $300 million in cleanup
and resettlement efforts for the atolls, the funds are substantially
less than what is needed to complete the process.
Mr. Speaker, much of the attention was focused on the residents of
Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap, and Utrik Atolls. The radioactive fallout
from the U.S. nuclear testing affected people throughout the rest of
the Marshall Islands.
The Nuclear Claims Tribunal was created in 1991 to address these
radiation victims. The allocated $45 million the Nuclear Claims
Tribunal has rejected over 4,000 claims while confirming only 1,000
claims. In so doing, the tribunal has already exhausted its funds and
projects valid personal injury claims for cancer and radiation- related
illnesses to a total of over $100 million. And not yet considered by
the Tribunal are the claims to losses of properties and lands for our
nuclear testing program.
Mr. Speaker, in response to this, I would submit that Section 177 of
the Marshalls' Compact of Free Association may need to be invoked.
Section 177 provides that the United States may consider additional
nuclear test compensation in the face of changed circumstances from the
information available to compact negotiators in the 1980's. Certainly,
the Department of Energy's announced declassification of documents
relating to our nuclear testing program in the Marshalls has shed new
light on these issues. Moreover, recent scientific studies show that 15
atolls and islands in the Marshalls were exposed to significant amounts
of nuclear test fallout, not just the original four atolls considered
during the compact negotiations.
And I might also, Mr. Speaker, it does not even relate to the fact
that thousands of our own soldiers and sailors were also exposed
directly to nuclear contamination during our period of testing at this
time in the Marshalls.
Mr. Speaker, the people in the Marshall Islands have made great
contributions and sacrifices befitting the people of the United States
and the free world. We will never be able to fully compensate them, as
we cannot give them back their health or their lives of their unborn
children or return to their traditional culture. Nevertheless the
United States owes a moral duty and a serious obligation to the people
of the Marshall Islands.
In recognition of this duty, the Chairman of the House International
Relations Committee, the gentleman from New York, [Mr. Gilman], my good
friend, introduced House Concurrent Resolution 92 of which I am a proud
cosponsor along with the gentleman from Alaska [Mr. Young], the
chairman of the Committee on Resources in the House of Representatives
to recognize the tremendous sacrifices that the Marshallese people made
during World War II and for the 12 years that they were subjected, not
of their own choice, to nuclear contamination during our nation's
nuclear testing program in Micronesia.
Mr. Speaker, this resolution emphasizes the value of continuing
friendly relations between the United States and the Republic of the
Marshall Islands, and the Congress intends to maintain a long term
military alliance and strategic partnership between our nations. The
resolution further recognizes the importance of addressing nuclear
testing damages under Section 177 of the Compact of Free Association,
the Congress. In reviewing the compact
[[Page H4336]]
renegotiations should exercise vigilance in preserving the strategic
interests of the United States in maintaining friendship with the
Marshall Islands.
Mr. Speaker, I would urge that our colleagues support this worthy
measure that underscores the importance of our deep and enduring
relationship with the good people of the Marshall Islands, and, Mr.
Speaker, it is my sincere hope that in the coming weeks and months I
will provide for my colleagues and the American people a series of
floor statements to fully explain what took place in that 12-year
period of nuclear testing of our nuclear testing program in the
Marshall Islands and the need for the Congress to do more to properly
compensate the Marshallese people for the harm and suffering that we
brought to them.
Mr. Speaker, again I would issue my warmest greetings and best wishes
to President Imata Kabua and Foreign Minister Phillip Muller on their
visit to Washington and other members of their official delegations,
and, Mr. Speaker, I would like to offer for the record additional
materials to be submitted and be made part of the Record:
H. Con. Res. 92
Whereas on November 3, 1986, President Reagan issued
Proclamation 5564, implementing a Compact of Free Association
between the United States and the newly formed governments of
Pacific island areas which had been administered by the
United States since 1947 under a United Nations trusteeship;
Whereas the Compact of Free Association was approved by the
United States Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support
on January 14, 1986, under the terms set forth in the Compact
of Free Association Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-239);
Whereas, in addition to providing the multilateral
framework for friendly political relations with the new
Pacific island nations, the Compact of Free Association
established, on a bilateral basis, a long-term military
alliance and permanent strategic partnership between the
United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands;
Whereas for 50 years the Marshall Islands has played a
unique and indispensable role in maintaining international
peace and security through activities of the United States in
the Marshall Islands which were essential to the feasibility
and ultimate success of the United States-led strategy of
nuclear deterrence during the Cold War era, as well as the
United States Strategic Defense Initiative which contributed
significantly to the end of the nuclear arms race;
Whereas, the Republic of the Marshall Islands includes
Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll, which were the nuclear
weapons proving grounds for Operation Crossroads from 1946 to
1958, as well as Kwajalein Atoll, which was the site of the
mid-Pacific missile testing range for intercontinental
ballistic missiles fired from the Vandenberg facility, a
vital installation of the United States Army's ballistic
missile systems command and a key support facility for the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration and other
programs critical to the promotion of vital national
interests;
Whereas the people of the Marshall Islands and the United
States have a close and mutually beneficial relationship
which evolved from liberation and military occupation at the
end of World War II to United States administration under the
United Nations trusteeship from 1947 to 1986 and which is now
maintained on a government-to-government basis under the
Compact of Free Association;
Whereas this relationship was forged through a process of
self-determination and democratization which reflects the
common values and cross-cultural respect that the people of
the Marshall Islands and the people of the United States have
developed since the middle of the last century when American
missionaries first came to the Marshall Islands;
Whereas the people of the United States and its allies paid
a high price, including great loss of life and injuries in
the heroic battles for Kwajalein and Roi-Namur, to liberate
the Marshall Islands during World War II and again made
sacrifices as a result of the Cold War nuclear arms race;
Whereas the people of the Marshall Islands suffered great
injury and hardship due to the exposure of individuals to
nuclear test radiation and the radiological contamination of
the Marshall Islands;
Whereas, in recognition of the unique role of the Republic
of the Marshall Islands in supporting the United States
during the Cold War, the 104th Congress provided additional
assistance, pursuant to the Compact of Free Association Act
of 1985, to meet the special need of the people of the
Marshall Islands arising from the nuclear testing program,
including funding for radiological monitoring, island
rehabilitation, and community resettlement programs;
Whereas within the framework of the settlement of all legal
claims under section 177 of the Compact of Free Association
Act of 1985, the Congress continues to monitor and evaluate
measures being taken to implement programs authorized
under Federal law to promote the recovery, resettlement,
health, and safety of individuals and communities affected
by the nuclear testing program in the Marshall Islands;
Whereas the special relationship between our nations and
our peoples is a bond that has grown strong as a result of
our shared history and common struggle and sacrifices in the
cause, not of conquest, but to promote international peace
and security and secure liberty for future generations; and
Whereas, just as the extraordinary demands of world
leadership fell on the United States in this century, among
this Nation's allies the Marshall Islands bore an immensely
disproportionate share of the burden of the Cold War, and
this remote island nation continues to play an important
strategic role in the preservation of global peace as well as
in the military and scientific programs which promote the
United States, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the
other people of the world: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That Congress----
(1) recognizes the value of continued friendly relations
between the United States and the Republic of the Marshall
Islands;
(2) intends to maintain, through appropriate mutually
agreed political and economic measures, the long-term
military alliance and strategic partnership defined by the
Compact of Free Association as a primary element of bilateral
relations between the United States and the Republic of the
Marshall Island in the future;
(3) recognizes the importance of ongoing measures to
address, in accordance with the legal settlement set forth in
section 177 of the Compact of Free Association of 1985, the
impact on the Marshall Islands of the nuclear testing
program; and
(4) intends, through its oversight responsibilities and the
exercise of its Constitutional authority regarding
negotiation and approval of bilateral agreements with respect
to those provisions of the Compact of Free Association which
expire in 2001, in exercise vigilance in preserving the
strategic interests of the United States in ensuring that the
friendship between the United States and the Republic of the
Marshall Islands is sustained as mutually agreed pursuant to
their respective constitutional processes.
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biographical data for his excellency imata kabua, president of the
republic of the marshall islands
His Excellency Iroijlaplap Imata Kabua was elected
President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands on January
13, 1997 following the sudden passing of his cousin, the late
Iroijlaplap President Amata Kabua, in December 1996.
President Imata Kabua is both Head of Government and Head of
State.
President Imata Kabua is the current serving chairman of
the South Pacific Forum.
Born on May 20, 1943 on Enmat, Kwajalein Atoll in the
Marshall Islands, Mr. Kabua first attended the Ebeye Public
Elementary School in Kwajalein and later went to Marshall
Christian Elementary and Laura Intermediate School, Majuro.
Mr Kabua attended the Kauai Technical School, Honolulu
Christian College and later Ventura College, California, USA.
President Kabua began his public service career as
principal of the Ebeye Christian Elementary School. Later, he
served as Postmaster of Ebeye Post Office.
Mr. Kabua's political career began when he first served in
1976 as senator to the Nitijela under the US Trusteeship,
followed by his consecutive election as delegate to the first
and second Marshall Islands Constitutional Conventions (MICC)
in 1978 and 1990 respectively. In 1994, he was elected to the
third MICC as delegate Iroij from Ralik. He then served as
senator to the Nitijela under the Constitutional Government
in 1979, until 1996 when he was appointed as Minister without
Portfolio for the Ralik Chain.
As Iroijlaplap, Mr. Kabua is an active leader in cultural
affairs. He is presently one of the four major Iroijlaplaps
from the Ralik Chain in the Marshall Islands.
President Kabua continues to lead and guide the development
work on his constituent island atoll, Kwajalein, where in the
past he served in a range of key positions including as
president of the Kwajalein Atoll Corporation (KAC), chairman
for Kwajalein Atoll Development Authority (KADA), and
chairman for Kwajalein Atoll Joint Utility Resource (KAJUR).
President Kabua's hobbies include tennis, chess, table
tennis, checkers and fishing. In 1969, Mr. Kabua was awarded
a gold medal each for volleyball and table tennis at the 1969
Micronesian Olympic Games in Saipan.
President Kabua is married to the First Lady Hiromi Konou
Kabua. They have 8 children.
President Kabua is a member of the Protestant Church.
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