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“WE MUST TAKE ACTION TO ENSURE THE SAFETY AND SECURITY OF ALL AMERICANS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H6848 on Aug. 3, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
WE MUST TAKE ACTION TO ENSURE THE SAFETY AND SECURITY OF ALL AMERICANS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 19, 1999, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, 3 weeks ago I first learned the story of a lieutenant colonel working for the Department of Energy whose job had been threatened. Colonel Ed McCallum was the director of the Office of Safeguards and Security for the Department of Energy. He and his staff were responsible for the policy that governs the protection of the Energy Department's national security assets. This includes nuclear weapons, nuclear materials, highly classified information, and personnel clearances.
In his position within the Department, Colonel McCallum was responsible for evaluating and working to prevent security challenges with regard to our Nation's most sensitive technology. In his 9 years as director, Colonel McCallum worked under Clinton appointee Secretary Hazel O'Leary and then under current Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. Under both, he worked to highlight security lapses within the Department. Unfortunately, he faced a steep uphill battle getting anyone in the department to listen to his concerns.
Instead, his reports and memos were ultimately carelessly set aside. Even after gaining the attention of the Secretary, little or no action was taken. Time after time, his efforts were stonewalled.
Now Colonel McCallum is speaking out about the Department's efforts to ignore the great breaches of national security at our weapons laboratories. Since coming forward with the truth, Colonel McCallum was placed on administrative leave and his career was threatened. Now with the help of Bill O'Reilly and Fox News, I have been working to draw attention to the subject of China and other nations' efforts to steal American military secrets, as well as the administration's treatment of the men and women who are coming forward with the truth.
Colonel McCallum and members of his staff are working to protect the security of each and every American citizen. Rather than being rewarded for their patriotism, they are being punished by this administration.
After appearing on the O'Reilly Factor last month, my office has received numerous calls and letters from concerned citizens asking that we continue working to address this issue.
Mr. Speaker, the American people care that our national security has been compromised. The American people care about what other sensitive U.S. information China and rogue nations have been able to access. Our potential adversaries may have been able to steal information on our most advanced stealth technology. Our military space research or information on our most advanced communications equipment.
Each of these technologies by themselves pose real risks to the security of the American people. For that reason, I am concerned not only for the safety of our generation but also that of the future generations. My friend and colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Weldon), and I have asked the Committee on Armed Services chairman, the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spence), to hold a hearing allowing members of Colonel McCallum's staff to testify. The information they can provide will be critical in assessing Congress' effort to halt the leakage of sensitive military secrets.
Mr. Speaker, we must take action to protect those individuals who are willing to come forward with the information that will keep our sensitive national security information protected and secret. We must take actions to ensure the safety and security of all Americans.
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