Political Quotes

“I rise today to introduce a resolution that affirms the importance of our compact of free association with the Republic of the Marshall Islands and apologizes to the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands on behalf of the U.S. Government for the United States' nuclear testing program. I am thankful to Senator Markey for joining me in this resolution as we seek to strengthen the ties between the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. After freeing what are now the Republic of the Marshall Islands from Japanese control during the Second World War, the United States was entrusted with administering the islands as a part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Under the trusteeship, the United States was charged with promoting self-government and the economic and educational advancement of the islands. The trusteeship also obligated the United States to protect the health of the inhabitants of the trust territory. President Harry Truman reaffirmed the United States' ``special responsibility'' for the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands when he reassured the United Nations that the people of the Marshall Islands ``will be accorded all rights which are the normal constitutional rights of the citizens under the Constitution.'' In many ways, the Government of the United States failed to live up to that special responsibility.…”