The US controls the security and defence of the islands. The islands receive 65 million dollars in aid every year and permit the US to use Kwajalein as a base and missile test range. The legacy of the postwar US occupation is seen particularly starkly on Bikini and Enewetak, which were both used for nuclear weapons testing between 1946 and 1958. The US has paid more than 100 million dollars to the test victims, but whilst Enewetak has been partly decontaminated, Bikini is still uninhabitable. Imports are currently more than double exports, the government is the largest employer, many islanders live by subsistence farming, and there seems limited scope for developing alternative revenue.
Tourism is one option.
The islands also sell fishing rights to other countries, and offer ship registrations under the Marshall Islands flag. Kessai Note Note was elected president by the 33-member parliament in January 2000. He has also pledged to root out corruption and create good governance by strengthening the judiciary. The government generally respects freedom of speech and of the media, although journalists occasionally practise self-censorship on sensitive political issues. A privately owned weekly newspaper is published in both English and the Marshallese language.