[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 56 (Monday, May 5, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E822-E823]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         MR. HUANG'S BRIEFINGS

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. GERALD B. H. SOLOMON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 1, 1997

  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, if you and other Members are like me, you 
like to keep a number of files handy for quick reference. And if any of 
you are keeping such a file on the administration scandals, here is one 
piece I'd like to recommend for it.
  It is a recent editorial from the Washington Times, which has done an 
outstanding job of recording history as it happens. The editorial 
features 1 particular week in May 1995, which symbolizes the depth and 
magnitude of the scandal and its ramifications for our national and 
economic security.
  I proudly place the editorial in today's Congressional Record, and 
strongly recommend that you both read it and file it.

                         Mr. Huang's Briefings

       It now develops that John Huang, the highly controversial 
     former Commerce official and Democratic Party fund-raiser who 
     has recently been asserting his Fifth Amendment rights 
     against self-incrimination, used his top secret security 
     clearance far more often than Commerce officials previously 
     acknowledged. As The Washington Times' Jerry Seper reported 
     this week, Mr. Huang received well over 100 classified 
     intelligence briefings during his 18-month tenure at 
     Commerce, nearly triple the 37 briefings that had been 
     earlier reported by department officials.
       At these briefings, Mr. Huang had access to ``top secret'' 
     documents and classified information about China and Vietnam, 
     where his former employer has substantial business interests. 
     As previously reported by Mr. Seper, five months before he 
     left Lippo, from which he received a nearly $1 million 
     severance package, Mr. Huang obtained his security clearance, 
     which he could have used to gain access to classified 
     intelligence documents. Mr. Huang retained a security 
     clearance for a year after he left Commerce. Lippo Group is a 
     multi-billion-dollar Indonesia-based conglomerate whose 
     associates have helped to bankroll both of Bill Clinton's 
     presidential campaigns and whose owners, the Riady family, 
     have bragged about placing their man at Commerce.
       From the moment John Huang surfaced in October as a central 
     player in the Democratic Party's unfolding fund-raising 
     scandal, the Democratic party line had been that

[[Page E823]]

     during his 18 months at Commerce he had no role in Asian 
     policy. Indeed, the Clinton administration initially asserted 
     that the duties of the former principal deputy assistant 
     secretary of Commerce focused on administrative and personnel 
     matters. Assurances were given that Mr. Huang recused himself 
     from any and all matters that could conceivably involve his 
     former employer. Considering his background as a longtime 
     Lippo executive, it was vitally important before the 
     presidential election to keep the lid on any influence Mr. 
     Huang may have exerted at Commerce that could have benefitted 
     Lippo or, worse, raised the specter of economic espionage.
       Lippo, after all, is a banking partner of the Communist 
     Chinese government. By selling a 15 percent share in the Hong 
     Kong Chinese Bank four days after Mr. Clinton won the 1992 
     election, Lippo joined forces with China Resources Company 
     Ltd., which Communist China's Ministry of Foreign Trade uses 
     in its trade and foreign investment operations. The next year 
     China Resources raised its stake to 50 percent, paying such a 
     premium above net asset value that Mochtar Riady, chairman of 
     Lippo Group, earned a $165 million profit. According to 
     ``Chinese Intelligence Operations,'' a book written by 
     Nicolas Eftimiades, who serves as an analyst for the 
     Defense Intelligence Agency, a military case officer from 
     Guangzhou traditionally serves as a vice president of 
     China Resources Company, where he ``coordinates the 
     collection activities of other intelligence personnel.''
       Imagine how such details would have been received in 
     November had voters known then what was revealed this week. 
     During one nine-day period in May 1995, according to 
     information gathered by House Rules Committee Chairman Gerald 
     Solomon:
       On May 4, 1995, four hours after an aide delivered to Mr. 
     Huang a document classified as ``secret,'' Mr. Huang engaged 
     in a 10-minute telephone conversation with Lippo's Los 
     Angeles office.
       On May 9, following a scheduled morning meeting at Commerce 
     to discuss the status of a multibillion-dollar power plant in 
     Taiwan, Mr. Huang called Lippo twice.
       The next day Mr. Huang again telephoned Lippo's Los Angeles 
     office after receiving ``secret'' documents. That night, 
     according to his calendar, Mr. Huang met with China's 
     ambassador.
       On May 12, Mr. Huang called Lippo in Los Angeles once 
     again, this time after a scheduled briefing by the Commerce 
     Department's intelligence officer.
       Altogether, Mr. Huang called Lippo more than 70 times from 
     his Commerce office. He received at least nine calls from the 
     Chinese embassy, met with Chinese government officials at 
     least three times and attended breakfast at the Chinese 
     embassy once.
       In addition to participating in more than 100 classified 
     briefings over an 18-month period, Mr. Huang somehow managed 
     to visit the White House nearly 80 times, including one visit 
     attended by the president, presidential fixer Bruce Lindsey, 
     Lippo scion James Riady and Lippo Joint Venture partner and 
     former Rose Law Firm partner Joseph Giroir in which it was 
     decided that Mr. Huang would leave Commerce to become vice 
     chairman of finance for the DNC.
       Clearly, in its zeal to keep a lid on the exploding fund-
     raising scandal until after the the elections last year, the 
     administration lied through its collective teeth about Mr. 
     Huang's role as a Commerce official and the nature of the 
     contributions he raised for the DNC.

     

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