Chico ofthe Provident THE MARSHALL March 28, ISLANDS 1980 ACE LOG Congressman Phillip Burton 2304 Reyburn House Office Bldg. Washington, D.C. Congressman Sidney R. Yates 2254 Rayburn House Office Bldg. BEST COPY AVAILABLE Washington, D.C. Dear Congressmen Burton and Yates: The people of the Marshall-Islands deeply appre- ciate your efforts in securing passage of H.R. 3756 (Public Law 96-205) which commits the Government of the United States to provide to the people of each of the atolis affected by the United States nuclear weapons testing program in the northern Marshali-Isliends during the period 1546 to 1958 "a program of medical care and treatment and envi- ronmental monitoring for any injury, illness or condition which may be the result directly or indirectly of such nucleer weapons testing program". Once in place, the pro- grams to be provided will meet serious and pressing medical needs of the people. However, the experience which we have had during the past year in our attempts to work with the Department of Energy and the Department of Interior to iden- tify probable radiation - related serious medical problems affecting the people of atolls other than Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap and Utirik has led us to the belief that without direct assistance from the Congress, the existing medical problems cf the people of these other atolls will remain. undetected and untreated and the purposes of H.R. not be fulfilled. 3756 wiil The events of the past year present an unfortunate and stark example of the cruel slowness with which the De- partment of Energy seems determined to proceed. When the Government of the Marshall Islands assumed office on May 1, 1979 and assumed responsibility for many of the files of the Trust Territory Government, disturbing in- formation was discovered in these files which indicated the occurence of serious birth defects and other medical abnorMalities of a type often connected to radiation exposure in people of atolls in the northern Marshall Islands which had-been viewed by the United States as either uncontaminated