Heritage Foundation scholars regularly testify before Congress on important issues facing the United States and the world.  

Dean Cheng, a senior research fellow at Heritage’s Asian Studies Center, spoke to lawmakers on Oct. 21 about the nuclear legacy of the Marshall Islands.  
 
Cheng testified before the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. He discussed the importance of the Marshall Islands when it comes to defending America, especially in the nuclear realm.  
 
Cheng explained how the Marshall Islands are home to an array of U.S. nuclear tests, including Castle Bravo, the largest American nuclear test involving a 15-megaton device. 

“In the intensifying competition between the United States and other great powers, Washington can no longer afford a policy of ‘benign neglect’ towards the Republic of the Marshall Islands and its neighbors,” said Cheng. “Instead, it must undertake a deliberate policy to strengthen ties with these small states with their outsize territorial expanse and strategic location.”

Cheng’s full testimony, delivered during the subcommittee hearing, “Nuclear Legacy of the Marshall Islands, can be found here.