Jeff Flake: “I had the good fortune to travel to the Marshall Islands a couple of months ago on the CODEL with the Secretary of the…”

“I had the good fortune to travel to the Marshall Islands a couple of months ago on the CODEL with the Secretary of the Interior and some of my colleagues. We were able to meet with President Note and the elected leaders of many of the surrounding atolls. It was our good fortune to go to Kwajalein, to be able to watch what we are doing there at the Ronald Reagan test site, to see how important our relationship is with the Marshall Islands. The U.S. nuclear testing program put the people of these remote islands in the front line of the Cold War. For many, many years testing went on. From 1946 to 1958, the U.S. detonated 67 atmospheric nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands. Most Americans have no idea the contribution that the people of the Marshall Islands have made to our peace and our security. Hopefully, this resolution will go some distance in expressing our gratitude and our appreciation for that relationship. We have an obligation to the people of the atolls that were affected by these tests that we are still carrying through. I was pleased to support the Compact of Free Association, or the extension of it. This is a good start. It represents a good foundation for a continued strong relationship. We ought to appreciate strongly the Marshall Islands for their support for our position in the United Nations.”