[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.
                                                                    ____



  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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