[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 67 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H3759]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY HARMED

  (Mr. TIAHRT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, according to press accounts, the Pentagon 
issued a classified report in May of 1997 about the Loral-led review 
commission's unauthorized release to China of its report on Communist 
China's latest rocket crash.
  The report concluded that the United States national security has 
been harmed. Let me repeat that. The report concluded that the United 
States national security has been harmed. The White House claims 
otherwise but offers no explanation, nothing at all.
  In February of this year, despite intense opposition from his own 
Justice Department, President Clinton gave permission to Loral to 
transfer highly sensitive missile information, particularly with 
respect to encryption, to the Communist Chinese government. Reportedly, 
the Chinese could use this information to perfect their missile and 
rocket programs. This was allowed despite an ongoing criminal 
investigation of Loral for earlier transfers of missile technology to 
Communist China.
  This leaves many unanswered questions such as, how deeply was U.S. 
national security harmed? Did the campaign contributions to Loral and 
the Chinese government affect the decision? And why does the President 
insist that this decision was in the best interest of the American 
people?

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