[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 69 (Friday, May 9, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               SUSTAINING AN AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC SUCCESS

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                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 8, 2003

  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, later this month, the U.S. will welcome 
President Note of the Marshall Islands as he visits our country. His 
visit here will coincide with the Bush Administration's transmittal to 
Congress of the document that governs the bilateral relationship 
enjoyed by our nations. This little known treaty embodies the best of 
U.S. diplomacy and strategic policy in recent decades. Ronald Reagan 
was President and the Democrats controlled both House of Congress when 
a bipartisan majority of both Houses approved the Compact of Free 
Association between the U.S. and two Pacific island micro-states.
  The treaty of free association between the United States, Republic of 
the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia ended more 
than four decades of United Nations trust territory status for the 
islands, and these new nations, under new flags, themselves then became 
members of the United Nations. Not only was this a good model for 
decolonization of dependent territories, but the compact also preserved 
U.S. strategic interests in the islands. Under the treaty, an area of 
ocean as large as the continental United States, with strategically 
located islands stretching from the mid-Pacific to the Asian rim, 
remains foreclosed in perpetuity to the military forces of any nation 
other than the United States.
  U.S. strategic interest in the Marshall Islands began in 1946 when 
the U.S. conducted its first atmospheric nuclear weapons test at 
Bikini. During the next decade over 67 tests were conducted, leaving a 
legacy of injuries to people and contamination of homelands that is 
still being resolved through claims settlement proceedings authorized 
by Congress under the compact. Amazingly, the islanders suffered 
greatly but consider themselves survivors rather than just victims, 
U.S. allies rather than just a subjugated people.
  In addition nuclear test sites in the islands, Kwajalein Missile 
Range in the Marshall Islands was perhaps the most vital facility in 
the U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile development program, a 
centerpiece of U.S. nuclear deterrence that prevented the Cold War from 
turning into nuclear winter. Renamed the U.S. Army Ronald Reagan 
Missile Test Range, Kwajalein played an indispensable role in the 
Strategic Defense Initiative that helped bring about disarmament and 
end the Soviet empire.
  To preserve the compact's success and the underlying strategic 
interests, Congress has to renew the economic assistance provisions of 
the compact that expires this year. The Bush Administration has 
consulted with Congress about renewal terms in a bipartisan spirit, and 
has addressed concerns raised by GAO about fiscal accountability for 
the island governments, as well tightening up controls on migration 
between the islands and the mainland.
  Free association is based on separate sovereignty, nationality and 
citizenship, and is free because any party to the compact can terminate 
it in favor of full independence at any time. Thus, it is not some 
screwy scheme of co-mingled nationality or neo-colonial entanglement. 
Indeed, the whole point of free association is that it continues as 
long as it serves the mutual interest of the parties. Clearly, from a 
strategic point of view alone, U.S. interests preclude letting the 
compact lapse.
  Moreover, the islands have been good allies, reliably voting with the 
U.S. in the U.N. on important issues. Under the compact, islanders are 
eligible for service in the U.S. military, and both Marshall Islanders 
and Micronesians have fought with the 3d Infantry in the streets of 
Baghdad as comrades in arms with American soldiers.
  This is an alliance that represents the best of American diplomacy, 
and the compact also demonstrates that America deals honorably with 
small nations that share our values. Obviously, there are other 
priorities, but the Administration should send the treaty renewal 
agreements to Congress without further delay, and Congress should renew 
the Compact of Free Association before it expires, thereby sustaining a 
bipartisan foreign policy and national security success story.

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