were HE - 9. . ~ —_——— SL In the bill providing for continuation of its life, Sa the Special Joint Committee is instructed to seek broad compensation for a variety of damages. S. B. No. 89 may be viewed as the first round in a series of negotiations that will involve larger compensation questions later. ALTERNATIVES 10, Three alternative actions may be considered for the AEC in negotiating an executive agreement with the High Commissioner. a. Refuse to offer reimbursement on ‘grounds that government rather than : agency action is appropriate. b. Unconditionally agree to offer payment as requested in the bill. c. Propose a provisional agreement under which costs would be shared with Department of Interior pending acceptable revision of bill in next session of Micronesian Congress and then fully assumed by AEC. ll. a, Refuse to offer reimbfusement on grounds that government rather than agency action is appropriate. (1) Pros: (a) The AEC could not be interpreted as assuming responsibility for damage to the exposed populations. (b) Consultation with other departments or agencies of the government such as the State Department would become possible. (c) The AEC could not be accused of circumventing the intent of Congress as expressed in U. S. Public Law 88-485. (2) Cons: (a) pla. un be U.S. In contrast to press treatment of thegovernment of the Trust Territory, which signed the bill into Law, the AEC might be subjected to adverse publicity for failure to cooperate. (b) The medical care provided in the bill also provides medical information of possible value to the Brookhaven survey team and therefore can be viewed as a research activity, (c) There are precedents for provision of medical care in support of research as in the activities of the ABCC and certain AEC laboratories. (d) There may be advantages in handling this inexpensive item separately from the large compensation package which is likely to come later, [O15bb1 s-