A joint resolution formally apologizing for the nuclear legacy of the United States in the Republic of the Marshall Islands and affirming the importance of the free association between the Government of the United States and the Government of the Marshall Islands.
Bill: S.J.Res.40 | Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. (D-HI)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This joint resolution expresses that Congress

117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. J. RES. 40

Formally apologizing for the nuclear legacy of the United States in the 
 Republic of the Marshall Islands and affirming the importance of the 
 free association between the Government of the United States and the 
                  Government of the Marshall Islands.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 1, 2022

Ms. Hirono (for herself and Mr. Markey) introduced the following joint 
   resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                      Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
Formally apologizing for the nuclear legacy of the United States in the 
 Republic of the Marshall Islands and affirming the importance of the 
 free association between the Government of the United States and the 
                  Government of the Marshall Islands.

Whereas the United States freed the islands now known as the Republic of the 
        Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the Federated States of 
        Micronesia from Japan through bloody battles during World War II;
Whereas the United States persuaded the United Nations to designate those 
        islands as a United Nations Trust Territory and the United States as 
        Administering Authority of those islands pending the development of 
        self-government on such islands;
Whereas, in response to United Nations Security Council concerns with respect to 
        such administration, President Harry S. Truman wrote that the people of 
        the Marshall Islands ``will be accorded all rights which are the normal 
        constitutional rights of the citizens under the Constitution'' and 
        ``will be dealt with as wards of the United States for whom this country 
        has special responsibilities'';
Whereas the United States used the northern atolls of the Marshall Islands--

    (1) to conduct extensive nuclear weapons testing during the Cold War; 
and

    (2) to dispose of radioactive waste from the Nevada Test Site;

Whereas the nuclear weapons testing program of the United States contaminated at 
        least 11 of the 29 atolls of the Marshall Islands;
Whereas March 1 is Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day in the Marshall Islands, 
        which memorializes the 67 thermonuclear tests the United States 
        conducted in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958 and produced on 
        average approximately 1.7 times the explosive yield of the bomb that 
        destroyed Hiroshima every day for 12 years;
Whereas the Castle Bravo test on March 1, 1954, remains the largest ever nuclear 
        test by the United States, which yielded an explosion equivalent to 
        approximately 1,000 times the power of the bomb that destroyed 
        Hiroshima, and the unexpected size of the blast, combined with shifting 
        wind conditions, led to radioactive exposure of civilians on multiple 
        atolls, who were not evacuated for more than 48 hours after the blast;
Whereas a 2019 study by Columbia University researchers found that levels of 
        radioactive contamination on the 4 atolls most affected by nuclear 
        testing exceeded the levels of radioactive contamination in Chernobyl, 
        Ukraine, and Fukushima, Japan;
Whereas the resettlement of individuals on such atolls, which were later found 
        to be unsafe due to direct exposure to nuclear fallout, contributed to 
        increased cancer rates, birth defects, and other illnesses among the 
        people of the Marshall Islands;
Whereas the United States conducted medical research on individuals in the 
        Marshall Islands without their knowledge or consent;
Whereas, from January 1, 1977, to December 31, 1980, a joint task group of 
        members of the Armed Forces and civilian employees and contractors 
        conducted radiological cleanup and built the Runit Dome (also known as 
        the Cactus Crater containment structure) on Enewetak Atoll to house more 
        than 110,000 cubic yards of radioactively contaminated soil and debris;
Whereas, in addition to the radioactive waste from the Nevada Test Site that was 
        dumped into the Enewetak Lagoon, more than 99 percent of all plutonium 
        at Enewetak Atoll remains outside the Runit Dome;
Whereas, since 2012, the Secretary of Energy has been responsible, under section 
        103(f)(1) of the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2003 (48 
        U.S.C. 1921b(f)(1)), for quadrennial studies of the groundwater 
        surrounding and in the Cactus Crater containment structure, but the 
        Secretary has failed to complete such studies;
Whereas, in October 2012, an official of the Department of Energy testified 
        before Congress that seawater is ``communicating'' with the radioactive 
        material in Cactus Crater;
Whereas many of the members of the Armed Forces who participated in the cleanup 
        of Enewetak Atoll have remained largely ineligible for benefits related 
        to radiation exposure;
Whereas the Government and the people of the Marshall Islands have long argued 
        that compensation and assistance from the United States for personal 
        injuries, adverse effects on health, the loss of land, and property 
        damages have been inadequate;
Whereas a study by the National Cancer Institute, published in August 2010, 
        found that 55 percent of the cancers in Rongelap Atoll and 10 percent of 
        cancers in Utrik Atoll between 1946 and 1970 may be attributable to 
        fallout exposure;
Whereas, in section 2(c) of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (Public Law 
        101-426; 42 U.S.C. 2210 note), Congress apologized to individuals 
        affected by above-ground nuclear testing in the Southwest United States, 
        but the United States has made no such apology for the legacy of United 
        States nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands;
Whereas the Marshall Islands is one of the countries most vulnerable to the 
        climate crisis;
Whereas rising sea levels threaten to engulf the Marshall Islands, which has no 
        elevation higher than six feet;
Whereas Hilda Heine, former President of the Marshall Islands, stated that a 
        failure of developed countries to pursue bolder climate action meant 
        that her country was ``facing death row'';
Whereas the United States continues to have a critical national security 
        relationship with the Marshall Islands, which--

    (1) is home to a facility the Joint Chiefs of Staff refer to as ``the 
world's premiere range for intercontinental ballistic missile testing and 
space operations support''; and

    (2) in conjunction with the other Freely Associated States, guarantees 
the United States strategic control of an area of the Northern Pacific 
Ocean between the Philippines and Hawaii that is roughly the size of the 
continental United States;

Whereas a sustained commitment by the United States to the Freely Associated 
        States would--

    (1) ensure that the United States maintains control of shipping lanes 
in the Pacific Ocean; and

    (2) deter efforts by the Peoples Republic of China to alienate the 
people of the Freely Associated States from the United States;

Whereas the Marshall Islands are more important to the national interests of the 
        United States now than they have been at any time since World War II;
Whereas President Ronald Reagan encouraged the people of the Marshall Islands to 
        ratify the Compact of Free Association Between the United States and the 
        Republic of the Marshall Islands, done at Majuro June 25, 1983, by 
        telling such people, ``you will always be family to us''; and
Whereas the United States has a moral responsibility and a national security 
        imperative--

    (1) to formally apologize to the people of the Marshall Islands for the 
consequences of the nuclear weapons testing program;

    (2) to reaffirm the kinship and commitment of the United States to, and 
concern for, the people of the Freely Associated States; and

    (3) to demonstrate that the United States lives up to its history and 
responsibilities in the vital Indo-Pacific region and elsewhere: Now, 
therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress--
            (1) recognizes that--
                    (A) the United States nuclear testing program and 
                radioactive waste disposal in the Marshall Islands 
                caused irreparable material and intangible harm to the 
                people of the Marshall Islands; and
                    (B) although the United States governed the 
                Marshall Islands during such nuclear testing program 
                and had complete responsibility for the welfare of the 
                people of the Marshall Islands, the United States--
                            (i) failed to evacuate those people from 
                        areas contaminated by nuclear radiation;
                            (ii) prematurely resettled such people in 
                        unsafe conditions; and
                            (iii) conducted medical research without 
                        the consent of such people;
            (2) apologizes on behalf of the United States to the 
        individuals and families of the Marshall Islands for the 
        hardships they have endured as a result of the United States 
        nuclear testing program and radioactive waste disposal;
            (3) commits to providing assistance to the Marshall Islands 
        and the other Freely Associated States to adapt to the worst 
        effects of the climate crisis;
            (4) urges the Secretary of Energy to complete as soon as 
        possible a radiochemical analysis of the groundwater 
        surrounding Cactus Crater in accordance with section 103(f)(1) 
        of the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2003 (48 
        U.S.C. 1921b(f)(1));
            (5) calls upon the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary 
        of Energy to fully support the study required under section 
        1685 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
        2022 (Public Law 117-81; 135 Stat. 2125), which directs the 
        Public Interest Declassification Board to explore the 
        feasibility of the declassification of documents related to 
        United States nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands;
            (6) commits to securing healthcare coverage for veterans of 
        the Armed Forces and civilian personnel who participated in the 
        clean up of radiological waste of former United States nuclear 
        test sites in the Marshall Islands;
            (7) affirms that the Compact of Free Association between 
        the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, 
        done at Majuro June 25, 1983 (referred to in this resolution as 
        the ``Compact of Free Association''), is the cornerstone of the 
        strong relationship between the Marshall Islands and the United 
        States, which also includes--
                    (A) vital contributions of the people of the 
                Marshall Islands in the United States;
                    (B) high rates of service in the Armed Forces by 
                citizens of the Marshall Islands; and
                    (C) a shared desire for a free, stable, and 
                prosperous Indo-Pacific region;
            (8) recognizes that it is incumbent on the United States to 
        open dialogue regarding the nuclear legacy of the United States 
        in Marshall Islands during any negotiation of the Compact of 
        Free Association or its subsidiary agreements;
            (9) welcomes the commitment of the Government of the United 
        States, outlined in the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United 
        States, published by the White House in February 2022, to 
        ``prioritize negotiations on our Compacts of Free Association 
        with the Freely Associated States as the bedrock of the U.S. 
        role in the Pacific'', and urges the President to appoint a 
        special envoy to guide the interagency process of negotiating 
        an extension of the Compact of Free Association; and
            (10) acknowledges that nothing in this resolution--
                    (A) authorizes any claim against the United States;
                    (B) supersedes any provision of the Compact of Free 
                Association or its subsidiary agreements; and
                    (C) serves as a settlement of any claim against the 
                United States.
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