Congressional Record: May 12, 1999 (House)
Page H3063-H3065
ENSURING PROPER COMPENSATION FOR THE NUCLEAR CLAIMS, RELOCATION AND RESETTLEMENT COSTS OF THE PEOPLE OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) is recognized for 5 minutes. Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the House Committee on Resources held a hearing on a subject that I feel is critically important, and I wanted to take this opportunity to share it with our colleagues and to our Nation. Mr. Speaker, I deeply commend the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the House Committee on Resources chairman, and the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), the committee's ranking Democrat for convening a hearing to review the long-term effects of America's nuclear testing program on our close friends and long time allies, the good people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Mr. Speaker, our great Nation owes an immense debt to the Marshallese people for their tremendous sacrifices that directly contributed to and continues to contribute to our Nation's nuclear deterrent and ballistic missile defense capability. Mr. Speaker, the United States in the 1950s detonated 67 nuclear bombs in the homeland of the Marshallese people, directly facilitating development of America's nuclear arsenal while poisoning the environment and the people in the Marshall Islands. Today the Marshallese people continue to contribute to America's security by providing U.S. testing facilities at Kwajalein Atoll. This atoll, Mr. Speaker, happens to be the largest atoll in the world, for development of our Nation's ballistic missile defense against rogue states possessing weapons of mass destruction. I want to share a little bit of data with my colleagues, Mr. Speaker. The total amount of TNT that was exploded [[Page H3064]] at the Nevada nuclear test site was about 1.1 megatons. Now, the amount of TNT that we exploded in the Marshall Islands was 93 megatons. If I could give another example, Mr. Speaker, the hydrogen bomb that was dropped in the Marshall Islands in 1954 was 15 megatons, which is about 1,000 times more powerful than the two bombs that we exploded at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in World War II. Mr. Speaker, the actions of the United States Government have caused the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands immense harm, which continues to this day. With some 67 underwater surface and atmospheric tests of atomic and thermonuclear weapons tested in the Marshalls we have rendered uninhabitable, due to nuclear radiation, much of these people's homelands. We have disrupted their lives by removing them from their homelands and in some cases they have yet to return out of fear of radiation contamination should they return. On top of that, numerous Marshallese have suffered from cancers, leukemia and other life-threatening diseases directly connected to nuclear radiation poisoning. Mr. Speaker, because of the recent declassification by the Department of Energy of previously classified documents, we now know that our government has not always been candid and forthright with the people of the Marshall Islands. Because of what some would consider callous disregard and perhaps duplicity for the well-being of the residents of the Marshall Islands, they no longer trust our government to do the right thing. After a preliminary review of the facts, Mr. Speaker, I submit I can understand why our Marshallese friends feel this way. Mr. Speaker, I regret to report that this whole process has taken too long and has been woefully underfunded. In this time of expected U.S. budget surpluses from which the House of Representatives last week ad hoc allocated some $12.9 billion for Kosovo and defense concerns, Mr. Speaker, we really have no excuse for not addressing completely these serious problems which our great Nation has caused for the good people of the Marshall Islands. Mr. Speaker, I would urge our colleagues to support full and timely compensation for the nuclear-related injuries sustained by the Marshallese people when this matter comes before us. This is the very least we can do in recognition and repayment of the sacrifices made by the people of the Marshall Islands that have ensured that the United States remains strong, remains free and remains protected. Mr. Speaker, I include the following for the Record: U.S. NUCLEAR TESTS IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Test No. Date Site Type Yield (kt.) Operation Test -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 6/30/46 Bikini................... Airdrop.................. 21.00 CROSSROADS............... ABLE 2 7/24/46 Bikini................... Undrwtr.................. 21.00 CROSSROADS............... BAKER 3 4/14/48 Enewetak................. Tower.................... 37.00 SANDSTONE................ XRAY 4 4/30/48 Enewetak................. Tower.................... 49.00 SANDSTONE................ YOKE 5 5/14/48 Enewetak................. Tower.................... 18.00 SANDSTONE................ ZEBRA 6 4/7/51 Enewetak................. Tower.................... 81.00 GREENHOUSE............... DOG 7 4/20/51 Enewetak................. Tower.................... 47.00 GREENHOUSE............... EASY 8 5/8/51 Enewetak................. Tower.................... 225.00 GREENHOUSE............... GEORGE 9 5/24/51 Enewetak................. Tower.................... 45.50 GREENHOUSE............... ITEM 10 10/31/52 Enewetak................. Surface.................. 10,400.00 IVY...................... MIKE 11 11/15/52 Enewetak................. Air Drop................. 500.00 IVY...................... KING 12 2/28/54 Bikini................... Surface.................. 15,000.00 CASTLE................... BRAVO 13 3/26/54 Bikini................... Barge.................... 11,000.00 CASTLE................... ROMEO 14 4/6/54 Bikini................... Surface.................. 110.00 CASTLE................... KOON 15 4/25/54 Bikini................... Barge.................... 6,900.00 CASTLE................... UNION 16 5/4/54 Bikini................... Barge.................... 13,500.00 CASTLE................... YANKEE 17 5/13/54 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 1,690.00 CASTLE................... NECTAR 18 5/2/56 Bikini................... Air Drop................. 3,800.00 REDWING.................. CHEROKE 19 5/4/56 Enewetak................. Surface.................. 40.00 REDWING.................. LACROSSE 20 5/27/56 Bikini................... Surface.................. 3,500.00 REDWING.................. ZUNI 21 5/27/56 Enewetak................. Tower.................... 0.19 REDWING.................. YUMA 22 5/30/56 Enewetak................. Tower.................... 14.90 REDWING.................. ERIE 23 6/6/56 Enewetak................. Surface.................. 13.70 REDWING.................. SEMINOLE 24 6/11/56 Bikini................... Barge.................... 365.00 REDWING.................. FLATHEAD 25 6/11/56 Enewetak................. Tower.................... 8.00 REDWING.................. BLACKFOOT 26 6/13/56 Enewetak................. Tower.................... 1.49 REDWING.................. KICKPOO 27 6/16/56 Enewetak................. Air Drop................. 1.70 REDWING.................. OSAGE 28 6/21/56 Enewetak................. Tower.................... 15.20 REDWING.................. INCA 29 6/25/56 Bikini................... Barge.................... 1,100.00 REDWING.................. DAKOTA 30 7/2/56 Enewetak................. Tower.................... 360.00 REDWING.................. MOHAWK 31 7/8/56 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 1,850.00 REDWING.................. APACHE 32 7/10/56 Bikini................... Barge.................... 4,500.00 REDWING.................. NAVAJO 33 7/20/56 Bikini................... Barge.................... 5,000.00 REDWING.................. TEWA 34 7/21/56 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 250.00 REDWING.................. HURON 35 4/28/58 Nr Enewetak.............. Balloon.................. 1.70 HARDTACK I............... YUCCA 36 5/5/58 Enewetak................. Surface.................. 18.00 HARDTACK I............... CACTUS 37 5/11/58 Bikini................... Barge.................... 1,360.00 HARDTACK I............... FIR 38 5/11/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 81.00 HARDTACK I............... BUTTERNUT 39 5/12/58 Enewetak................. Surface.................. 1,370.00 HARDTACK I............... KOA 40 5/16/58 Enewetak................. Undrwtr.................. 9.00 HARDTACK I............... WAHOO 41 5/20/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 5.90 HARDTACK I............... HOLLY 42 5/21/58 Bikini................... Barge.................... 25.10 HARDTACK I............... NUTMEG 43 5/26/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 330.00 HARDTACK I............... YELLOWWD 44 5/26/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 57.00 HARDTACK I............... MAGNOLIA 45 5/30/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 11.60 HARDTACK I............... TOBACCO 46 5/31/58 Bikini................... Barge.................... 92.00 HARDTACK I............... SYCAMORE 47 6/2/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 15.00 HARDTACK I............... ROSE 48 6/8/58 Enewetak................. Undrwtr.................. 8.00 HARDTACK I............... UMBRELLA 49 6/10/58 Bikini................... Barge.................... 213.00 HARDTACK I............... MAPLE 50 6/14/58 Bikini................... Barge.................... 319.00 HARDTACK I............... ASPEN 51 6/14/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 1,450.00 HARDTACK I............... WALNUT 52 6/18/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 11.00 HARDTACK I............... LINDEN 53 6/27/58 Bikini................... Barge.................... 412.00 HARDTACK I............... REDWOOD 54 6/27/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 880.00 HARDTACK I............... ELDER 55 6/28/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 8,900.00 HARDTACK I............... OAK 56 6/29/58 Bikini................... Barge.................... 14.00 HARDTACK I............... HICKORY 57 7/1/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 5.20 HARDTACK I............... SEQUOIA 58 7/2/58 Bikini................... Barge.................... 220.000 HARDTACK I............... CEDAR 59 7/5/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 397.00 HARDTACK I............... DOGWOOD 60 7/12/58 Bikini................... Barge.................... 9,300.00 HARDTACK I............... POPLAR 61 7/14/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... LOW HARDTACK I............... SCAEVOLA 62 7/1/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 255.00 HARDTACK I............... PISONIA 63 7/22/58 Bikini................... Barge.................... 65.00 HARDTACK I............... JUNIPER 64 7/22/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 202.00 HARDTACK I............... OLIVE 65 7/26/58 Enewetak................. Barge.................... 2,000.00 HARDTACK I............... PINE 66 8/6/58 Enewetak................. Surface.................. FIZZ HARDTACK I............... QUINCE 67 8/18/58 Enewetak................. Surface.................. 0.02 HARDTACK I............... FIG -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, United States Nuclear Tests: July 1945 through September 1992. Document No. DOE/NV-209 (Rev. 14), December 1994. RMI Nuclear Claims Tribunal. Annual Report to the Nitijela For the Calendar Year 1996. Majuro: 1997. [[Page H3065]] TABLE I.--CUMULATIVE DOSES BY EVENT AND LOCATION (Finite Dose to Next Event)--mr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENT BRAVO ROMEO KOON UNION YANKEE NECTAR TOTAL Days between events 26 11 19 9 9 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AERIAL MONITORING Lae.......................... 5.5 12 12 7.5 78 95 125 Ujae......................... 6 32 17 9.5 48 1.4 114 Wotho........................ 250 270 110 55 95 4 784 Ailinginae................... \1\ 60,000 3,400 3,300 8 600 70 67,000 Rongelap..................... \1\ 180,000 11,000 6,000 3,400 1,700 300 202,000 Rongerik..................... \1\ 190,000 9,000 5,000 550 1,400 280 206,000 Taongi....................... 280 60 9.5 10 10 ................ 370 Bikar........................ \1\ 60,000 3,000 1,200 650 1,700 150 67,000 Utirik....................... \1\ 22,000 1,200 700 100 330 50 24,000 Taka......................... \1\ 15,000 800 1,000 120 380 50 17,000 Ailuk........................ 5,000 410 110 100 500 20 6,140 Jemo......................... 1,200 410 130 18 200 20 1,978 Likiep....................... 1,700 170 80 30 200 16 2,196 Namu......................... 1.8 90 100 0 25 0 216 Ailinglapalap................ 7.2 140 100 8 0 0 255 Namorik...................... 20 160 70 2 0 0 252 Ebon......................... 20 250 50 8 25 0 353 Kili......................... 20 200 70 0 0 1.3 291 Jaluit....................... 20 300 70 8 0 2.6 401 Mili......................... 60 160 200 20 0 1.3 441 Arno......................... 60 200 300 8 25 1.3 594 Majuro....................... 200 200 50 20 0 1.3 471 Aur.......................... 40 200 50 8 40 2.6 341 Maledlap..................... 350 120 50 0 25 4.0 549 Erilaib...................... 390 200 50 0 0 6.5 647 Wotje........................ 1,800 300 200 13 220 10 2,543 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ Based on arrival estimated from Rongerik data.