UNCLASSIFIED
ENCLOSURE IV
DRAFT STATEMENT ON NUCLEAR TESTS IN US TRUST TERRITORY
BY U.S, REPRESENTATIVE TO TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL'S
SUBCOMMITTER ON PETITIONS
Mr. President,
Nothing would please the United States more than to be
able to comply with the wishes of the Marshallese people that
nuclear tests be discontinued in their islands, but this is not
yet possible.
I can, however, assure the Council
(the Committee)
and the Marshallese people that the decision to hold further
tests in these islands was considered a matter of such gravity
that it was
taken by President Eisenhower himself.
Moreover,
it was not taken until very careful and comprehensive studies
were made that convinced him that there was at present no
practicable alternative.
Under President Eisenhower's leadership, my Government
is earnestly seeking, along with other governments, a fully
safeguarded disarmament agreement which would make such tests
unnecessary.
Until such an agreement has been reached, and as
Zong as there is the threat of Soviet aggression, elementary
Prudence requires the United States to continue its tests,
It
is our conviction that we have a responsibility not only to
curselves but to all the peoples of the free world to maintain
at a maximum our capacity to deter aggression and preserve
peace.
Thus we do believe that, under present circumstances,
further tests are "absolutely necessary for the eventual
well-being of all the people of this world."
The question remains as to whether such tests could not
be conducted elsewhere than in the Trust Territory of the
Pacific Islands.
An exhaustive examination of alternative sites
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Enclosure IV