[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 23, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H1479-H1480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CHIEF WASHINGTON LOBBYIST FOR THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT'S TRADE OFFICE, AN 
          UNFORTUNATE CHOICE FOR A NATIONAL SECURITY POSITION

  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to bring you news from 
home. In my case home is the Sixth Congressional District of Arizona, a 
district in square mileage almost the size of the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania, and now with the explosive growth in the Grand Canyon 
State a district that is home to well nigh one million Americans.
  From the pages of the Holbrook Tribune-News, indeed from the 
editorial page of March 19, the headline reads, ``This Story Needs More 
Attention.'' Paul Barger, the publisher of the Holbrook Tribune-News, 
writes, and I quote, ``For some time there have been reports 
circulating regarding the possible theft of highly classified missile 
secrets from Los Alamos since the 1980s. The thefts were apparently 
discovered in 1995, and the person allegedly involved was allowed to 
resign recently. The matter has been kept quiet for what seem to be 
political reasons.''
  Paul Barger concludes, ``It is sad that so much attention is given to 
issues of no real import while serious matters of our national security 
and America's future are glossed over.'' Thus, the headline from the 
editorial, ``This Story Needs More Attention.''
  Among those who curiously seem to want to adopt a public posture of 
glossing over or indeed gloating in a sophomoric way about this 
troublesome, threatening and dangerous story, among those sadly 
includes the person who is the President of the United States.
  At a radio and TV correspondents' dinner the other night, our own 
President joked that one of his favorite movies this year was, quote, 
Leaving Los Alamos; humor as it is defined in the last days of the 20th 
century. It boggles the mind.
  Other matters glossed over, the past associations of the President's 
national security advisor. From yesterday's Washington Times on the op-
ed page, Edward Timperlake and William C. Triplett, II, who coauthored 
the book the ``Year of the Rat,'' setting forth the ample evidence of 
Chinese involvement in the Clinton-Gore reelection campaign in 1996, I 
read from their op-ed piece, headlined ``Leaks on Berger's Watch,'' 
quoting now: ``We believe that, for the national interest, President 
Clinton's national security advisor Samuel Sandy Berger should resign 
immediately.
  ``For the past 6 years, Mr. Berger has presided over a failed and 
ultimately corrupt policy toward the Chinese military that betrays both 
the democratic standards of the American people and the national 
security of the United States. He is the classic example of the wrong 
person in the wrong job at the wrong time.
  ``Right out of the starting gate, Mr. Berger was an unfortunate 
choice for a national security position with the government because of 
his prior role as the chief Washington lobbyist for the Chinese 
Government's trade office.''
  Let me repeat that. ``Mr. Berger was an unfortunate choice for a 
national security position with the government because of his prior 
role as the chief Washington lobbyist for the Chinese Government's 
trade office.
  ``Having once had a personal financial stake in the promotion of pro-
Beijing policies raises an immediate question of his present judgment 
and decision-making. If only for appearances, let alone personal 
ethics, he should have recused himself from anything connected to 
Beijing and its military ambitions.
  ``Instead, Mr. Berger seems to be around whenever, in our opinion, 
Clinton administration decisions are made that favor People's Republic 
of China trade ties over American national security interests.''
  Mr. Speaker, perhaps the most compelling indictment comes from one 
Dick Morris, the President's one-time top political advisor, and 
curiously a man whom the wire services often referred to as the 
disgraced Dick Morris back in the old days of 1996, when an illicit 
affair that violated one's marriage vows was something that brought 
disgrace on a person rather than added to their public opinion polls.
  Here is what Dick Morris writes in his column last week in The Hill.

[[Page H1480]]

 Quoting now, ``Sandy Berger is about as qualified to be national 
security advisor as I am. He's a political operative who had virtually 
no foreign policy experience before he became Tony Lake's deputy.''
  Mr. Speaker, this story need not be glossed over. The first 
constructive step is that Sandy Berger must go, and we must release the 
Cox Select Committee Report.

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