Here is the link to all OMNI newsletters:

http://www.omnicenter.org/newsletter-archive/   For a knowledge-based peace, justice, and ecology movement, enabling an informed citizenry to connect all the dots as the foundation for change.

	This Marshall Islands article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Embassy of the United States Majuro, Marshall Islands

·                                      > 

·                                 Speeches     > 

·                                 Ambassador Speeches and Remarks     > 

·                                 Ambassador Speeches 2012     > 

·                                 Nuclear Victims’ Remembrance Day (March 1, 2012)

News and Events 

·                                 Embassy News

·                                 Speeches

o                                                 Ambassador Speeches and Remarks

o                                                 Other Speeches

·                                 Compact Payments

·                                 News From Washington

·                                 State Department Reports

·                                 Political and Economic Section

·                                 Press Releases

AMBASSADOR SPEECHES 2012

Nuclear Victims’ Remembrance Day

March 1, 2012 | Ambassador Campbell

Ambassador Campbell speaking on Nuclear Victims’ Remembrance Day

I am privileged to speak to you today on this poignant, yet important, occasion. President Loeak, Honorable Ministers and Senators, traditional and religious leaders, members of the diplomatic corps, representatives and citizens of Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap and Utrok, honored guests.

Fifty-eight years ago, the world witnessed for only the second time the detonation of a hydrogen bomb. Code-named Bravo, the explosion was three times the magnitude expected by scientists and 1,000 times as powerful as the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Scientists and officials also did not anticipate the change in winds at high altitudes that sent part of the radioactive debris over the populated atolls of Rongelap and Utrok. As has often happened in history, humankind suffered because it became entangled in natural forces it did not fully understand nor control.

Thankfully, we learn from our mistakes. Mankind has grown to accept responsibility for errors and has worked to right past wrongs and proceed more cautiously. Indeed, the nuclear age provides a fitting and encouraging outlook on our future. In the 1920s, watches were painted with radioactive radium so they would glow. Workers and companies were oblivious to the health consequences and focused only on radium’s unique luminescence. During the early years of the Cold War, atomic tests were used as proxies for global power and influence, and scientists were only beginning to understand how radiation affected the surrounding environment.

Fifty-eight years later, the world is much wiser. Global nuclear weapons stockpiles continue to decline. Scientists and policy advisors have a much better understanding of radiation and its effects. And efforts at rehabilitating areas affected by nuclear tests are continuing throughout the world.

The people of the Marshall Islands have been uniquely aware of and impacted by this history. All told, 565 Marshallese living on Enewetak, Bikini, Rongelap, and Utrok were relocated due to nuclear testing. I honor their courage and resilience for beginning anew while preserving their love for their home atolls. I honor those from Enewetak and Utrok who left their atolls and have now returned to strengthen their communities on their home atolls. And I am pleased with the progress that has been made in rehabilitating Rongelap.

To date the United Stateshas provided nearly $600 million in compensation and assistance to the Republic of the Marshall Islandsto help the affected communities overcome the effects of nuclear testing on your atolls. And while the Compact of Free Association includes a full and final settlement of all nuclear-related claims, the U.S. nonetheless continues to support the country through radiation-related health care services and continued monitoring and environmental assessments on the affected atolls.

The United States sincerely regrets the Castle Bravo accident. But we are proud of our decades of friendship with the Marshall Islandsand our efforts to help the people of the four atolls to move forward with their lives and create a better community.

Let us continue to build upon the legacies of the 565 inhabitants living on the four northern atolls at the time of the nuclear testing. Today, those original inhabitants have thousands of descendants living throughout the Marshall Islands, the United States, and the world. Thankfully, much of the world has moved beyond nuclear testing, and those descendents will not be compelled to leave their homes for such purposes.

But Americans and Marshallese still live in a changing world. The effects of climate change are real and will require courageous collaboration and adaptation. Education remains an essential component if we are to succeed in the modern, global economy. Health crises, particularly the growing scourge of diabetes caused by lifestyle, are immediate threats to the country. And improving the quality of life for all requires careful management of limited public resources. I applaud the new government’s efforts to look forward, to help the country meet these challenges. And I again offer to President Loeak and his Cabinet the active cooperation and assistance of the U.S. Embassy and the U.S. Government in achieving these goals. Together, we learn from the past and improve the future.

Thank you. Komm

END MARSHALL ISLANDS REMEMBRANCE DAY 2013