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‘WISE OF REPRESENTA TIVES Committee on Interior & %~$a.. “(%QSenate, United States Congres I wish to bring to your attention and consideration a matter of great concern to me personally and the people on whose behalf I am writing you and the I am speaking of the plight of the people of Rongelap and Utirik who were exposed to radioactive fallout from the 1954 hydrogen bomb tests in Bikini. I now believe that the United States Government has, for reasons I can only guess, ignored and neglected the health of these H-bomb victims. Moreover, they have not been adequately compensated for what they have been subjected to. And because of circumstances surrounding +e 1954 - tests, I am now compelled to believe that their plight may have not been wholy an accident as the U.S. Government has been claiming. I have enclosed a copy of the Journal of the House of Representatives, Congress of Micronesia, which contains the speech I made concerning these people. The journal also coilta~.nsa memorandum detailing the deportation - from Micronesia last December cf a professional Japanese medical team wno had come at mjr invitation to investigate the health of these H-bomb victims. Also in the journal are observations of the Head of the Japanese team contaiaed in a letrer to inc. I am writing to you and the members of the Comiiittee because I believe that you share the same concern for the plight of these people. I also believe that you want to clear che air of any question surrounding the BEST CGPY AVAILABLE
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Thank you for your attention and assistmce in,. . . this matter. Hous of Representatives
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tl@-Code.of the Trust Territory relating to a t~ resoucces, ahd for other purposes. ,’ Introduced by: Rep, Haruo ,, “the Trust T4rritory relating to application for I%<roduced by: Rep. Haruo Amending Subsection (4) of Section 5, Title 33 of the Trust Territory Code to expand the powers of ‘ the District Economic Development Boards,and for Introduced bg~ Rep. Haruo ., ‘Amendingcertain Sections of Title 49 of the Code of the Trust Territory to provide for certain powQr~’ fo$’@”e district representatives of the chief of tha’bivlsion of Labor, and for other purpmes. Relating to mortgages of real proparty or fixtures. ‘!In~&duced by: Rep. Bales TO create a Special Joint Committee concerning. . Rong91ap MILi Utirik Atolls, to Lppropriat9 noney therefor and for other purpose9. l.m@rtant bill and if I am in order, and with your peti.ssion, I’would “’ I&e to make some supportive statements. I.~resentative Bales: “W, Speaker, as you probably know, last dont$ Y ~n’viteda Japanese medical team to come here and try and hel~ the peqle
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a ,, ‘them@Om, Micronesia. There are a lot of competent Americans who could ., replace them. who do they think they are turning down the wishes Iofthe.; .< 1’ ‘Microhesianpeople? I don’t think they have the right to do that. These c,:. are Q“UXislands. They have been here only a short time. Mr. Speaker, 1’” ;, really don’t think that this kind of thing should be allowed. Who in the hell do they think they are to turn down the wishes of our people? Nowt ~~WMr,Speaker, ~ am going to deliver my speech. 1 ‘Mr. Speaker and honorable colleagues, on behalf of two 9rcW~s of. i ‘our’~onstituents,I rise today to express their sincere appreciation and1“ ,-., gra&tude for the ready understanding antimoral eupport that this Congress “c ~., ,,:,ha~:+i the past unhesitatingly extended to them. On their behalf I also ,. be”se,echthis Congress to not forget them in the future but to continue 1,, stic~;generousunderstanding and support for them. ! ‘!!’# “The people I am speaking for are our constituents from the islands 1. *’ ~(of Rongelap and Utirik in the Marshalls. AS you know, these Micronesians, .. f ;ar’kthe.brothers and sisters who were exposed to and have since been ‘ ~’suffii:ingthe effects of atomic radiation emanating from the 1954 hydrogen ‘[ Ii’bombtfea,tinBikini by our Administering Authority. ,1’‘, “~,~,Speaker, while I am not in possession of conclusive evidence “’~tc$prova it ,tothis House, I am now convinced that the United States ‘kn~ingly”and consciously allowed the people of Rongelap and Utirik to ,, Tl)iswas done to the Rongelapese and ~ might;be exposed to radiation in the event of war with en enemy country. ,’ t ‘Thi&~.is.acrime unmatched in peacetime. ,: .{,’:’,*,It is now 18 years since the beastly crime against all humanity and~the people of Micronesia was committed but the ~inner who professes “tQ be the nust decent nation on earth has conveniently and successfully ‘:’;sweptit under the rug of deception and secrecy. simple justice begs,ioz / ‘We are ~old that the radioactive fallout on these people was an ,,, accident caused by a shift of winds, tio dots the United States interid “<’to fool with this sort of statement? The reason, it is written, why BikinL : “was ,chosen tis the site of the atomic tests was that few people would be “affected, This is an acknowledgment that the United States knew that .’t~bse people would be exposed to the fallout. Moreover, Rongelap and Uti~~k ‘:Tarewithin 300 miles from Bikini and surely the tlni~cdStates kricwthat , :“theseislands were within the range of the fallout. I callrlotnt,lphut affair tainted with racism, The United ScaLes chose to mahe guinea pi’gs .out”gf’’ourpeople because they are not white but some brown naci’resin .t$t?ircontribution to American medical science, they have been given “’pitifully small monetary compensation. About 80 Rongelapese have xecoived $800’,000and all the 159 Utirikese have been prdmised a meager $16,000. , exflbsedto the fallout were y~.v?riL=#omillion dollars, x ask--am
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,~~,ofatomic end nuclear we~pons, have been making visits to Rongelap and the collection of medics) data instead of the restoration of health to H-bohb vidtims who have developed all kinds of diseases and abnozmalitie.s.1. “~. speaker and rrembnrsof the House, there is reason to believd’,,kh;t the Admin,istcringAuthority has chosen to neglect and ignore the health of the’!H-bpfiv~%tims in Ronqalap and Utirik and is now obstructing effor,ts by others to restoro health to these unfortunate victims of the bomb. I’ am convinced that they have not beer]given proper medical examination nor Japahese medical team that I invltui to help our people but who were un<;~: ceremoniously deported from Micronesia by High Commissioner Johnston and;his Cofipany,Acting Attorney General Bowles. As true guardian of the interests of the peopla of Micronesia, we mutitnot allow these people, few and remote as they are, to live L\e way they have lived without seeking ways and means to help them. For 18 years they have quietly suffered and died, but now they see a ray of hope in this Corigressin assisting them. ,, ‘“On their behalf, therefore, I am requesting that this Congr.:ssiri some atipropriatemanner indicate ib~ displeasure at the deportation by i.u the hdntihisteringAuthority of the Japanese medical team who came to n Micronesia last December for the purpose of aiding the H-bomb victims in Ron@lap and Utirik. I am sure that they will rejoice at such an action t?.i ‘“I am also requesting on their behalf that the Congress of Micronesia “ Okasgis+tin the restoration of their health and extend an official invitation to ‘tie,WorldHealth Organization and the Japan Congress Against A-anti ff-Bombs.~p,ccmeto Micronesia to investigate and examine the health Conditikh’of the people of Rongelap and Utirik. .“Ifthere is no objection from my colleagues, I would like, Mr. Speakert to’insert into the official records of tho HOUGO certain infor- “ tnationpertaining to what I have ;ust baen riharingwith you for the last The Chair recognized Representative Setik. mruil~alosmentioned. I would like the information to which lticCongressman refdrred to become a permanent recc@ of tho Congxess, and I c>ffexit’for Suhjectt Visit of Japanese Ncdical S“ti,,;veyTeam, December 7, 1971
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before the arrival of the team and attending newmen (sic) insisted temporarily denied raason thereof.’ “It was in this context that the medical tell’,!+ndentou~aye actllallyarrived on Oec. 7. “(n Dec. 6, Rep. Bales had requested MLSC to step into the case and formally represent himself and the with the hG, Neither Ataji nor myself had any knowledge of the actual ingress into the TT of the group. Ataji had assumed that they would ‘ remain in Japan until permission had been obtained from Saipan. Each’‘I of the members of the group obtained a US visa in Japan and apparently ‘decidedto enter the Trust Territory as tourists and clear up the’‘“’j” business of government approval to do their actual work after their arrival. It should a~so be notecithat the group had made a rather , .,confused and incomplete application to Saipan before their ticpartur~.‘ # The initial application stated that only one doctor was in the party and l“Congressagainst Nuclear Weapcms, This organization is base~?in ~),Hiroshimaand is informally affiliated with the Socialist Party in ‘Japan. Gensuikon is not, however, a distinctly political organization and, according to the newsnen accompanying the party, receives brbad support from a number of political elements in Japan. i,,.:,,, ,:1 Japan in August, 1971. At that time, he explained to Gensuikon.. hehad received continuous, factually sound complaints from the people of these islands concerning injuries resulting from nuclear fall-out . and, also, the failure of the AF;Cfield teams to treat many individual victims or properly report the ecological and physical cleterioration ‘ accruing on the islands as a r,:sultof the Narch 1954 bomb tests on .,,Bikini.Gensuikon had been instrumental in assiting (sic) the crew l <~~+ers of the ~h~ Dragon, the Japanese fishing boat affected by the government. Perhaps for that reason, Gensuikon agreed to organize ‘>, ~d sponsor a medical team to visit the Utirik and Rcn{t}.apatolls: “The team was headed by Dr, Kimi Honda, a speci?, s in internal rrnedicineand metier of Gensuikon. At the request of ~ la Thomasr . affiliated himself with the effort. Dr. Ezaki is a ~1 .’.minent-,(sic~‘ Specialist in thyroid ciisorder.,caused by radiation 2 is headlof rehainder of the grou~ was composed of two m,?mbersof :.suikont; One individual who was returning to fiic~ormsiafrom Japan on the ),1>,,> .“on the morning of Dec. 8? 1971, a meo:~.rtgwas held in the Nlcljeia
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the applicable law revealed that under 53, l’TCSection 54 an nL’Lica,tion [for an entry permit cbuld be made to and granted by the Distiil Ad- ‘ gtoup was introduced to the Diotad and I explained the circumstances would remain in ~ajuco and conductthemselvesstrictlyas tourists.’.1 then indicatedthat under Section54, it was possible for the Distad to make an immediate evaluation of the proposed activity of the survey teantand a decision as tQ whether they be allowed into or excluded from f.$$Trust Territory under the standards set out in Section 56. The Vi&tad stated that he was aware that the application was presently under consideration by tie Attorney General and flatly declined to take any substantive action not first approved by the AG in Saipan. It was unfortunate that at this stage, Russ Walker was not present to advise the Distad who was extrdmely edgy and simply unwilling to accept my assurances that he had adequate authority to act. The Distad ~en proposed that we tele?hone Acting AG Bowles in Saipan. t.cmrists,had no authority to be in the Trust Territory and inust dd.parton the afternoon flight for Honolulu. I stated $hat so long ,10 lh~ conducted themselves as tourists and refrained for all nont:.!lristactivity, they must be allowed to remain pr:llding a detern~nation ugon their application ior non-tourist or business status. Pf.wlesfinally agreed to accept my offer to provide him with a rrrnpleteinformation concerning the personnel within the group and their proposed activities within Micronesia and to reconsider (W= recaived his cabl.oto this effect shortly after the phone call w.~nPoncludcd. It was apparently sent as soon as he became aware of t))fI tram’s presence in Majuro.) Both me and the Distad requested !v.,t,he immediately come to Ma;uro to make an assesment (sic) of :-b,!qituation and conduct a hearing tO determine the propriety of the Information he had aqrpcd to I,::eiveand insisting that the group wouid remain in Majuro as tourists u’til he made z substantive decision regarding thtimedical survey under Section 56. WQ also stated our intention to apj?ealhifideci:,~{munder Section 58 if the application ,: was denied. Even though $c+cti:n58 appeared to allow appeal in cases involving US nfitionalsOlidCitiZcl-\:;, it is directed specifically to decisions oflthe HiCom undl:,$cction 56(11). I figured that denial of the medical survey would, in~vitably! have LO he grouncledU?on the
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aware’of A/D 69-1. Indeed, the Immigration Officer pointed out w ~ that virtually every person in Majilrnwho had been granted non-tourist :’ ‘~6uri9t.’ The Distad agreed that Bowles’ decision was less than c~ndid and fair and tacitly agreed to allow the Japanese to remain . un~ik a more satisfactory resolution of the issue could be obtained: “At<this point, Sen, Kabua cabled Bowles, insisting that his ‘-’’”: decision was based on unknown legal technicalities and failed to take into actouritthe political and diplomatic factors of the situation. Rap. Bales stated in his resptinseto Bowles’cable that if the Japanesewere not allowedto visit the islanc3s,he would encourage the exclusion of Dr. Robext Conard and the AEC until the matter of” the Japanese could be cleart?dUP. Senator Kabua received a response from &e AG on Dec. 10 or 11. ~t stated vaguely that his decision was necessary to protect tho immigration security of the Terzitory ‘,!1 and the diplomatic sources in ,Japanand Washington had lmcn consulted before the decision had been made. We received no further clarifiimpatient throughout these negotiations since they had limited funds: and limited time to devote to Xhe enterprise. On Wed. Dec. 15th, they determined to have the next day. ‘l’hatevening, they invited Ataji-bmyself and senator Kiibua to a farewell dinnet, to thank us for the ‘valiant’ effoxts we had made on their behalf. (“}::: provide w with copios of all the press coverage from Japan. He ‘ also indicated that if we could succeed in obtaining permission to] conduct the survey, they would be willing to return, perhapS Flcxk “The iseue at the junctuluis whetherwe shouldproceed to appeal”i the AG decieion of Dee, 13 - this was the date of receipt of k!c Cinal “! denial of our application. Sec. 58 allows appeal within 3.5dayco~~~da ~’ date of the decision by tho HiCom or”hia delegate. 1 will consulky;’- further with Rep. Balo8 and seek advice and commentary from 2~~C-. “
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victims, we have been realized anew the fear of it-bombtest in 1954.1, It is really regrfitt.ablethat sufferings from the blast have been influenced still now, and we fear that which will cause to bring ‘ about another suffering as cancer in near future. What is more, if an inherited impediment caused by the radioactive fallout would , sP~n9 9P among their descendants, their misfortune would be doubled; ‘:~”~..!yfh~eare many children who are born cripple and leukemia amon~” ‘ x~the nuclear blast bring about such a many misfortune artificially; l~an but say that it is profanity against God and human beings. ~“. ~l. al am sorry that I cannot write you all our report concerning ,’ “ the survey team, for we are putting i.norder all the collected …
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