Q!;-<;,.:m;m ;: ‘, ‘. . E!9Q!l Ujelang Atoll Enewetak Atoll Dry Land 25.47 0.67 387.99 2.75 The limited food production potential on Ujelang has made it necessary to import more commodities than would normally be required on Enewetak. In hearings on Department’of the Interior appropriations for 1978, representatives of the people of Enewetak said that the desire of the people to return has never diminished but rather, with the passing time, has increased. They said -that for them to live anywhere else in the world would make them squatters and vagabonds; the land, the atoll, is part of them and they are part of it in a way which is difficult to &scribe. They said every family and every person, including newborn infants, has a specific place there~ . fnherited from their ancestors. . Uhen asked why they do not just accept a monetary settlement ‘instead of returning to Enewetak, they”replied that-money is not and never can be a substitute for their islands. They said it is against their nature and their custom to sel1 their land or to take money for it. They concluded that from their point of view.they must return to Enewetak Atoll because it is the only place which God has set aside for them and for no other people. The Senate Committee on AnnealServices authorization to accomplish the cleanup,. agreed to a one time Although thernoral - obligation to permit the people of Enewetak to return to their atoll was -a major consideration, its decision was based primarily on th~ premise that the Un~ted States cannot walk away from the damage its testing program created 2 .