Amata Cosponsors Resolution to Apologize for U.S. Nuclear Legacy in the Marshall Islands
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is an original cosponsor of legislation to apologize for the U.S. nuclear legacy in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The Resolution, introduced Friday, is sponsored by Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-California) with cosponsor Congresswoman Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa).
“The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a close friend to the United States, and dear to my heart from my time there in my youth,” said Congresswoman Amata. “Former President Amata Kabua was close to my father and like an uncle to me. His mother, Dorothy, named my sister. The U.S. settled known legal claims in 1986, but we’ve learned much more of the human needs and harm to the Marshallese and their island homeland. When my father was administrator there appointed by President John F. Kennedy, he saw the great damage personally from 67 still recent nuclear tests at the time. I believe this Resolution can only enhance the sense of a deep U.S. commitment to the Pacific region and our strategic partnerships.”
The resolution affirms the relationships between the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, as well as the Republic of Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia, described collectively as the Freely Associated States. The United States recently extended important international agreements with these allies that strengthen U.S. strategic options in the Pacific region.
The Resolution notes that “the Marshall Islands are more important to the national interests of the United States now than they have been at any time since World War II.”
The United States conducted 67 atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands from 1946 to 1958, while the U.S. was responsible for the welfare of the Marshallese people.
Upon passage, the Resolution would be an apology from the Congress on behalf of the United States to the individuals and families of the Marshall Islands for the hardships they have endured as a result of the United States nuclear testing program. The Resolution specifically acknowledges that it does not authorize any claim or settlement, or supersede any COFA agreement.
Congresswoman Amata visited the Marshall Islands in 2023 as part of a congressional delegation examining the Compacts of Free Association (COFA) agreements, and served as the Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee’s Task Force on the Indo-Pacific that successfully worked to pass the COFA legislation into law. She also serves as Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific, and as a co-chairman of the Congressional Pacific Islands Caucus.
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