Hirono: President’s Decision To Visit Hiroshima Memorial Shows Commitment To Nuclear-Free Future

Senator Mazie K. Hirono released the following statement after President Obama announced that he will visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial later this month, becoming the first sitting United States President to visit:

"I commend President Obama's decision to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, which serves as a poignant reminder of the devastating cost of nuclear warfare, especially on civilian communities. When I last visited the memorial, students from a Hawaii elementary school asked me to present 1,000 paper cranes they folded as a tribute to Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who was stricken with cancer caused by the nuclear blast and who is depicted at the Children’s Peace Monument. The students had just read her story in class and were very moved by it. I know the President, too, will be moved by his visit to the Peace Memorial, a reminder to the world of the dangers of nuclear proliferation.”