JUNE 16, 1995

MR. SPEAKER:

AS A MEMBER OF CONGRESS FROM THE PACIFIC ISLANDS, I RISE AGAIN IN STRONG PROTEST TO FRANCE'S DECISION TO RESUME DETONATING NUCLEAR BOMBS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC ON FRENCH POLYNESIA'S MORUROA ATOLL.

FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC CLAIMS THAT THE EIGHT ATOMIC BOMB EXPLOSIONS PLANNED -- ABOUT ONE A MONTH BETWEEN THIS SEPTEMBER AND NEXT MAY -- ARE COMPLETELY SAFE TO THE ENVIRONMENT. I AM NOT PERSUADED.

THE PEOPLE OF THE PACIFIC KNOW FROM FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE THE HORRORS ASSOCIATED WITH NUCLEAR BOMB EXPLOSIONS AND TESTING. AS AN AMERICAN, I AM NOT PROUD OF THE LEGACY OF THE UNITED STATES TESTING PROGRAM OF THE 1940s AND 1950s ON BIKINI AND RONGELAP ATOLLS IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS. EVEN NOW, A HALF-CENTURY LATER, THAT BITTER LEGACY IS STILL BEING FELT IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS.

IN PARTICULAR, I HAVE LONG BELIEVED THAT WHEN THE U.S. DETONATED THE "BRAVO SHOT" ON BIKINI ATOLL -- A 15 MEGATON THERMONUCLEAR BOMB, A THOUSAND TIMES MORE POWERFUL THAN THE HIROSHIMA BOMB -- THE MARSHALL ISLANDERS RESIDING ON NEARBY RONGELAP AND UTIRIK ATOLLS WERE DEEMED EXPENDABLE. THESE PACIFIC ISLANDERS JUSTIFIABLY BELIEVE THEY WERE USED AS "GUINEA PIGS" AND TEST SUBJECTS FOR NUCLEAR RADIATION EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED BY THE U.S. PEOPLE THERE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN MEMORIES OF THE OFFSPRING OF PACIFIC ISLANDER WOMEN INFECTED BY RADIATION FROM THE NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS -- WHERE BABIES WERE BORN DEAD THAT DIDN'T LOOK HUMAN AND WERE CALLED "JELLY BABIES."

ALTHOUGH THE U.S., DECADES AGO, STOPPED ITS NUCLEAR TESTING IN THE PACIFIC, OUR NATION IS STILL MIRED IN THE PROCESS OF FACING RESPONSIBILITY AND MAKING FINANCIAL REPARATIONS FOR THE DEVASTATING IMPACT THAT OUR NUCLEAR BOMB EXPLOSIONS HAD ON THE PACIFIC PEOPLE OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS.

FRANCE HAS DETONATED OVER 200 NUCLEAR BOMBS ALREADY, WITH ALMOST ALL OF THOSE NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS TAKING PLACE IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC. AFTER SUSTAINING THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE DESTRUCTIVE ENERGY UNLEASHED BY THESE BOMBS, FRENCH POLYNESIA'S MORUROA ATOLL HAS BEEN DESCRIBED BY SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHERS AS A "SWISS CHEESE OF FRACTURED ROCK." LEAKAGE OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE FROM THE UNDERGOUND TEST SITES TO THE SURROUNDING WATERS AND AIR HAS BEEN PREDICTED AND IS INEVITABLE; THIS EMBODIES THE ENVIRONMENTAL NIGHTMARE THAT THE PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC HAVE LONG DREADED.

ACCORDING TO THE INTERNATIONAL PHYSICIANS FOR THE PREVENTION OF NUCLEAR WAR, UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR TESTS, SUCH AS THOSE AT MORUROA ATOLL, CAUSE RADIOACTIVITY TO LEAK OUT INTO THE SEA AND REACH HUMAN BEINGS THROUGH THE FOOD CHAIN. PREVIOUS NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC HAVE RESULTED IN A NUMBER OF EPIDEMIC-LIKE OUTBREAKS IN SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES, WHERE SYMPTOMS INCLUDED DAMAGE TO THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, PARALYSIS, IMPAIRED VISION, NAUSEA AND DIARRHOEA. I DO NOT FIND IT SURPRISING THAT REPORTS OF INCREASED CANCER RATES AMONGST TAHITIANS HAVE SURFACED. THE DAMAGE TO THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT CAN ONLY BE IMAGINED.

POLITICAL LEADERS IN FRENCH POLYNESIA, INCLUDING FRENCH POLYNESIA'S PRESIDENT GASTON FLOSSE, HAVE REGISTERED STRONG OBJECTION TO RESUMED NUCLEAR TESTING IN THEIR HOMELAND. A HOSTILE REACTION FROM THE TAHITIAN PUBLIC IS GENERATING AND EFFORTS TO DISCOURAGE VIOLENCE ARE BEING UNDERTAKEN. UNDERSTANDABLY, THE PEOPLE OF FRENCH POLYNESIA ARE GREATLY DISTURBED BY THE REBIRTH OF THE NUCLEAR MONSTER IN THEIR MIDST AND THE NUCLEAR POISON TO BE SPAWNED.

I AND MANY OTHER PACIFIC ISLANDERS HAVE THE GREATEST RESPECT FOR FRENCH OCEANOGRAPHER JACQUES-YVES COUSTEAU, WHO OVER THE YEARS CAME TO THE SHORES OF MANY SOUTH PACIFIC ISLANDS FOR RESEARCH AND WHILE THERE GAINED A SPECIAL SENSITIVITY FOR THE PACIFIC LIFESTYLE AND OUR VITAL DEPENDENCE ON THE SEA. JACQUES COUSTEAU, IN MY MIND, IS THE LEADING INTERNATIONAL SPOKESMAN FOR PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION OF ALL FORMS OF MARINE LIFE.

I AM GRATIFIED TO LEARN THAT JACQUES COUSTEAU HAS CONDEMNED HIS GOVERNMENT'S DECISION TO RESUME EXPLODING NUCLEAR BOMBS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC. IN A STATEMENT FROM PARIS, COUSTEAU STATED HIS REGRET THAT FRANCE HAS GIVEN IN TO OUT-DATED ARGUMENTS, AS GREAT WARS ARE OF THE PAST. COUSTEAU DECLARED THAT TODAY'S WISDOM MAKES IT NECESSARY TO OUTLAW ATOMIC ARMS.

WITH FRENCH OPINION POLLS DOCUMENTING JACQUES COUSTEAU AS THE LEADING POPULAR FIGURE IN FRANCE, I WOULD URGE HIM TO TAKE UP THE FIGHT WITH THE GOOD PEOPLE OF FRANCE TO STOP THEIR GOVERNMENT'S RESUMPTION OF NUCLEAR BOMB DETONATIONS IN FRENCH POLYNESIA. JACQUES COUSTEAU, PERHAPS MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE, HAS A UNIQUE AND KEEN APPRECIATION OF HOW NUCLEAR BOMB EXPLOSIONS CONSTITUTE THE ULTIMATE RAPE OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC'S FRAGILE MARINE ENVIRONMENT.

MR. SPEAKER, I SAY TO THE GOOD PEOPLE OF FRANCE, YOUR GOVERNMENT HAS ALREADY EXPLODED OVER 200 NUCLEAR BOMBS AND YET IT SEEKS TO FURTHER POLLUTE THE SOUTH PACIFIC WITH EIGHT MORE NUCLEAR BOMB DETONATIONS. WITH THE WORLD MOVING TOWARD AGREEMENT THAT NUCLEAR WEAPONS SHOULD BE OUTLAWED, FRANCE'S ACTION ENCOURAGES THE EXACT OPPOSITE. BY DISMISSING CRITICISM OF ADDITIONAL TESTS WITH THE EXCUSE THAT FRANCE HAS TESTED LESS THAN OTHER NUCLEAR POWERS, FRANCE OPENS A PANDORA'S BOX THAT MAY UNDERMINE NEGOTIATION OF A COMPREHEN-SIVE TEST BAN TREATY. IN THE FACE OF THIS ACT OF BAD FAITH, CERTAINLY THE CHINESE, AS WELL AS OTHER ROGUE COUNTRIES WITH NUCLEAR AMBITIONS, MAY CONSTRUE THIS AS AN OPEN INVITATION TO CONTINUE NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTING AND DEVELOPMENT UNTIL THEY MATCH THE LEVELS OF THE NUCLEAR SUPERPOWERS.

MR. SPEAKER, THIS PLANET HAS ALREADY BEEN SAVAGED WITH OVER 2,036 NUCLEAR BOMB EXPLOSIONS. IT IS TIME THAT WE STOP THIS MADNESS AND I CALL UPON THE GOOD PEOPLE OF FRANCE TO HOLD THEIR GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE. I WOULD URGE MOST STRONGLY THAT PARIS RECONSIDER ITS DECISION TO RESUME NUCLEAR BOMB EXPLOSIONS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC.