Honorable Richard M. Page 9 Nixon May 4, 1973 af i The purposeof this letter is to show the treatment of the Bikinipeople by. the United States. government, ‘and to detailthe sufferings _andgrievances ofthe displaced people of Bikinil” They have endured endless broken promises; threeforced“relocations of their homes; malnutrition and near-starvation; ‘atomic destruction f their~homeland andirradiation of” theirsoil; deterioratio : oftheir social structure” and Toss”of asense of community; loss of many skillsrequired forfishingonanatoll; isolation and”rejection‘by the government; and the certain”risk of living withthe dangers6f radioactivity.”For “all-of thts they haveréccived”atrust fund“that-to Ses money, Some Surplus U.S.D.A. food and an isolated and miserable island far from their home. Surely the United States will not ignore their rights end complaints. Surely they are entitled bo at least the same treatment that was awarded to the people of Enewetak. In 1970, the United States government made an "ex-gratia" payment to the people of Enewe tcak, now residing on Ujelang, of The $1,020,000, in payment for che sutferings they had endured. pp Enewetakese cleaziy deserve such a payment. But the people of #Gikini have perhaps suffered much more at the hands of the United iStates atomic-test program than the people of Enewetak. Yet they Nhave received a great deal less. All they now ask is similar “treatment and a similar trust fund that will enable them to reach a state of self-sufficiency. Now is the time to open discussions on such a subject, and act according to the resolution passed by the Congress of Micronesia on January 30, 1973, and attached herewith. The people of Bikini Look forward to a prompt answer from the United States government. Sincerely yours, MICRONESTAN LEGAL SERVICES CORP. Counsel for Bikini People HAMLET J. BARRY, JAMES LICKS TIL and bysoe,Wonca. liam! J. Sarry, Lit Divecting Actorney, . Marshalls Morton shingcton, the DBD. Cc. Intector Rororabple Edward E. Jobuston igh Commissioner, TTPET Suipan, Mariena Islands 96956 e aroe 2c