Ginsaurs, FELDMAN. WEIL AND BRESS

Mrs. Ruth Van Cleve
December 15, 1980
Page Four

approximately 550 of the 925 Bikinians, or 60%, live on Kili,
while an additional 140, or 15%, live on Ejit.
The combined
Kili and Ejit populations comprise 75% of the total Bikini
population.
Different U.S. programs have benefited the Bikinians
differently.
For example, all 925 Bikinians share equally,

on a per capita basis, in the trust fund established by

Public Law 94-34 and augmented by Public Law 95-348. However,
only the Bikinians living on Kili and Ejit receive U.S.D.A.
supplemental food;

the Bikinians living elsewhere in the

Marshalls do not receive these direct benefits.
Other U.S.
programs, such as the proposed airstrip for Kili, will be of
direct benefit only to the Kili residents.

In sum, different

U.S. programs serve different needs.
Some programs have been
directed to all the Bikinians, some to those Bikinians on
Kili and Ejit and others only to those on Kili.
I have found nothing in the legislative history of Public
Law 96-205 suggesting that Congress intended to provide health
care for all the people of Bikini.
That is not to say that .
the Bikinians would oppose such a measure;

welcome such a program.

indeed,

they would

However, if the first year's cost of

providing health care to all the people of the four affected
atolls is $10.6 million, and the cost of providing nearly the

same health care to most of the people of such atolls is 908%
less,

the second option should be seriously considered, espe-

cially in light of the new mood on Capitol Hill regarding
federal expenditures.

The program I propose -- which was not one of the two
budgeted in the Loma Linda report -- would consist of the
following:
1.
For primary health care, establish on Kili and Ejit
Islands, and Eneu, if the people decide to move back to
Bikini Atoll, a dispensary/clinic together with a resident
health officer or assistant and adequate supplies.
This
will serve the primary health needs of 75% of the Bikinians,

.a group consisting of those most in need of -- and deserving

of -- primary health care.
Other Bikinians, now living in
Majuro, Ebeye and other parts of the Marshall Islands or the
United States, would continue to rely on existing primary
health care facilities in their communities.
2.

Provide all Bikinians with photographic identifica-

Select target paragraph3