REMARKS BY SENATOR BORJA
RONGELAP/UTIRIK COMPENSATION
MARCH 2, 1974
MR.
PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE SENATE.
TWENTY YEARS AGO YESTERDAY, ONE OF THE MORE UNFORTUNATE
INCIDENTS IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND HAPPENED.
AND TO ADD TO THIS
MISFORTUNE, THE INCIDENT HAPPENED TO MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED MICRONESIANS
WHO WERE FROM THE ISLANDS OF RONGELAP AND UTIRIK IN THE MARSHALL
ISLANDS DISTRICT.
ON MARCH 1, 1954
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA EXPLODED ON BIKINI
ATOLL, A GIGANTIC HYDROGEN BOMB.
THIS BOMB WAS THE BIGGEST AND MOST
POWERFUL DEVICE EVER DETONATED BY MAN.
30,000,000 ,000 POUNDS OF DYNAMITE.
IT WAS EQUIVALENT TO MORE THAN
FURTHERMORE, SINCE THE DEVICE WAS
A "NUCLEAR" WEAPON, THE PRODUCTS OF THE EXPLOSION WERE HIGHLY RADIOACTIVE.
WHAT HAPPENED AS A RESULT OF THAT EXPLOSION IS A MATTER OF
HISTORY AND ALSO A MATTER OF RECORD AS STATED IN A REPORT BY THE
SPECIAL JOINT COMMITTEE CONCERNING RONGELAP AND UTIRIK WHICH WAS
ADOPTED BY THIS CONGRESS LAST YEAR.
ON A THEORETICAL BASIS, MR. PRESIDENT, IT IS VERY EASY TO
SYMPATHIZE WITH THOSE PEOPLE WHO WERE AFFECTED.
HOWEVER, I WISH TO
NOTE THAT AS CHAIRMAN OF THE SPECIAL JOINT COMMITTEE AFTER HAVING
REVIEWED ALL THE MATERIALS; AND AFTER HAVING SEEN PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE