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Hearing Committee on Foreign Affairs House Of OVERSIGHT ON THE COMPACT OF FREE ASSOCIATION WITH THE REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS (RMI): MEDICAL TREATMENT OF THE MARSHALLESE PEOPLE, U.S. NUCLEAR TESTS, NUCLEAR CLAIMS TRIBUNAL, FORCED RESETTLEMENT, USE OF KWAJALEIN ATOLL FOR MISSILE PROGRAMS AND LAND USE DEVELOPMENT HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA, THE PACIFIC AND THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MAY 20, 2010 Serial No. 111–119 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 56–559PDF WASHINGTON : 2010 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:40 Nov 17, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\APGE\052010\56559 HFA PsN: SHIRL COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOWARD L. BERMAN, California, Chairman GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey Samoa DAN BURTON, Indiana DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey ELTON GALLEGLY, California BRAD SHERMAN, California DANA ROHRABACHER, California ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois BILL DELAHUNT, Massachusetts EDWARD R. ROYCE, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York RON PAUL, Texas DIANE E. WATSON, California JEFF FLAKE, Arizona RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri MIKE PENCE, Indiana ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey JOE WILSON, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas MICHAEL E. MCMAHON, New York J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida CONNIE MACK, Florida JOHN S. TANNER, Tennessee JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska GENE GREEN, Texas MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas LYNN WOOLSEY, California TED POE, Texas SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas BOB INGLIS, South Carolina BARBARA LEE, California GUS BILIRAKIS, Florida SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York MIKE ROSS, Arkansas BRAD MILLER, North Carolina DAVID SCOTT, Georgia JIM COSTA, California KEITH ELLISON, Minnesota GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, Arizona RON KLEIN, Florida RICHARD J. KESSLER, Staff Director YLEEM POBLETE, Republican Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA, THE PACIFIC AND THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa, Chairman GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois DIANE E. WATSON, California BOB INGLIS, South Carolina MIKE ROSS, Arkansas DANA ROHRABACHER, California BRAD SHERMAN, California EDWARD R. ROYCE, California ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York JEFF FLAKE, Arizona GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:40 Nov 17, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\APGE\052010\56559 HFA PsN: SHIRL C O N T E N T S Page WITNESSES Ms. Frankie A. Reed, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State ................................................... 16 Mr. Nikolao Pula, Director, Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior ........................................................................................................... 20 Steven Messervy, Ph.D., Deputy to the Commanding General for Research, Development, and Acquisition, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Com- mand, U.S. Department of Defense .................................................................... 30 Mr. Glenn S. Podonsky, Chief Health, Safety and Security Officer, Office of Health, Safety and Security, U.S. Department of Energy ............................ 36 Neal A. Palafox, M.D., M.P.H., Professor and Chair, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, John A. Burns School of Medicine, Uni- versity of Hawaii .................................................................................................. 62 Mr. Jonathan M. Weisgall, Legal Counsel for the People of the Bikini Atoll .... 75 Mr. Don Miller, Esq., Independent Attorney-at-Law ............................................ 91 Mr. Robert Alvarez, Senior Scholar, Institute for Policy Studies ........................ 104 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING The Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, a Representative in Congress from American Samoa, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment: Prepared statement ................................................... 6 The Honorable Gary L. Ackerman, a Representative in Congress from the State of New York, and Chairman, Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia: Prepared statement ................................................................. 12 Ms. Frankie A. Reed: Prepared statement ............................................................ 18 Mr. Nikolao Pula: Prepared statement .................................................................. 22 Steven Messervy, Ph.D.: Prepared statement ....................................................... 32 Mr. Glenn S. Podonsky: Prepared statement ........................................................ 38 Neal A. Palafox, M.D., M.P.H.: Prepared statement ............................................ 65 Mr. Jonathan M. Weisgall: Prepared statement ................................................... 77 Mr. Don Miller, Esq.: Prepared statement ............................................................ 93 Mr. Robert Alvarez: Prepared statement ............................................................... 106 APPENDIX Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 140 Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 142 The Honorable Diane E. Watson, a Representative in Congress from the State of California: Prepared statement ............................................................ 143 The Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega: Material submitted for the record ...... 144 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:40 Nov 17, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\APGE\052010\56559 HFA PsN: SHIRL VerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:40 Nov 17, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\APGE\052010\56559 HFA PsN: SHIRL OVERSIGHT ON THE COMPACT OF FREE AS- SOCIATION WITH THE REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS (RMI): MEDICAL TREATMENT OF THE MARSHALLESE PEO- PLE, U.S. NUCLEAR TESTS, NUCLEAR CLAIMS TRIBUNAL, FORCED RESETTLE- MENT, USE OF KWAJALEIN ATOLL FOR MIS- SILE PROGRAMS AND LAND USE DEVELOP- MENT THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2010 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA, THE PACIFIC AND THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:10 p.m., in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Today’s subcommittee hearing will come to order. This is a meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs Sub- committee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment. The hearing involves oversight on the Compact of Free Associa- tion with the Republic of the Marshall Islands, issues referencing the medical treatment of the Marshallese people due to our nuclear testing program, the activities of the Nuclear Claims Tribunal, greater understanding of the forced resettlement to some of these islands and the current use of Kwajalein Atoll and land use devel- opment—all these issues put together. I deeply appreciate the presence of our distinguished witnesses representing the various agencies of the Federal Government. My good friend and ranking member of this subcommittee, the gentleman from Illinois, will be here later so I will go ahead and begin our hearing this afternoon with my opening statement. From 1946 to 1958—that is, for some 12 years—the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands in the at- mosphere, on the surface and even below the surface to further our national security interests. Those tests destroyed the homes and the lives of hundreds of Marshallese people whose islands re- mained part of the U.S.-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:40 Nov 17, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\APGE\052010\56559 HFA PsN: SHIRL 2 Following World War II, the United States unilaterally declared these islands of Micronesia to be a strategic trust. Whether or not the United Nations liked it, we grabbed the islands and said they were ours. Today, more than half a century later, the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands still await adequate redress from the United States for the harm they suffered. The United States accepted responsibility for the problems caused by the tests in 1986 when the Republic of the Marshall Is- lands entered into a Compact of Free Association with the United States. Of particular interest to me is the provision of section 177 of the Compact of Free Association, which makes it very clear that the United States recognizes its responsibility, and I quote, ‘‘To ad- dress past, present and future consequences of the nuclear testing program, including the resolution of the resultant claims.’’ Afterwards, the United States authorized $150 million under sec- tion 177 and additional ex gratia assistance under sections 103, 105 and 224 of the compact to settle claims as determined by the Nuclear Claims Tribunal. Under the compact, the Republic of the Marshall Islands
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