Yet the basic information
to the interests of the Administering Authority.
needed by the Committee must by necessity come from that very same source.
Coupled with this are the contradictory natures of Micronesian and American
interests embodied in the Trusteeship Agreement which are manifested in the
In short, the Committee,
daily operations of the Trust Territory Government.
in carrying out the wishes of the elective legislature of Micronesia, has had
to deal with an incident caused by the United States.
In trying to investigate
the matter, it has had to request information from U.S. agencies and departments,
This situation was further exacerbated by the events which transpired in
December, 1971, and January and March of 1972,
The issue of the medical treatment
of the Rongelapese and Utirikese had beome a “hot potato" politically (a fact
which is discussed in the report).
As a consequence, a somewhat highly charged
emotional atmosphere has pervaded the Committee's work and investigations since
its inception,
This is clearly evidenced by the pointed absence of an enacting
signature on the law which created the Committee.
The law and the Committee
were passively allowed to come into existence through mechanisms of law, rather
than with official approval of the Administering Authority.
This apprehension
about the Committee and its work has, in some quarters, been lessened as it has
continued its work.
The Committee has always taken the approach that its studies
should be serious, well-considered, careful and conducted in a mature and
professional manner.
This has resulted in developing excellent rapport and
cooperation with the executive branch of the Trust Territory Government, although
the same cannot be said to hold true at certain other levels.
This has been
evidenced at various times by several occurrences described below,
First, the Committee was pleasantly surprised by the fortuitous appearance
of Dr. Darling of the ABCC and Dr. Steinfeld of the U.S. Public Health Service
while on Saipan.
They appeared in a deus ex machina fashion as in Greek plays