[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 79 (Monday, June 7, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H3743-H3744]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CALLING FOR CREATION OF THE NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Thornberry) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of discussion about 
the loss of sensitive military information to China. We must take steps 
to make sure these losses do not happen again, but that responsibility 
is not just the administration's, it also falls on us in Congress to 
fix what is broken.
  One of the things that is broken is the organizational structure and 
management of the nuclear weapons complex in the Department of Energy. 
Study after study, report after report, commission after commission 
have found that DOE's management of our nuclear weapons program has 
been a mess. In fact, I am personally aware of 18 studies over the past 
10 years, all of which are highly critical of the management and 
organization of the DOE related to nuclear weapons.
  Just in April, Secretary Richardson's own review team reported that 
roles and responsibilities are unclear, lines of authority and 
accountability are not well understood or followed, and this lack of 
clear accountability and lines of authority is a basic systemic problem 
which is partly responsible for the serious security lapses.
  As serious as those lapses are, they are only one detrimental effect 
of the DOE management structure. The challenge of making sure that our 
nuclear weapons remain safe and reliable well beyond their design life 
without nuclear testing is enormously daunting. We simply will not be 
able to do the job, and our national security will not be protected if 
we fail to correct the management problems that have plagued DOE for 20 
years. It is time to act. This is an opportunity we cannot afford to 
miss.
  So, if the problem is so clear and undeniable, even according to 
DOE's own internal findings, why does not DOE fix the problem itself? 
After the most recent DOE internal management review, Secretary 
Richardson announced some reforms which do move in the right direction, 
but they do not move nearly far enough and still retain confusing, 
overlapping bureaucracies without one clear chain of command.
  GAO has written a report devoted just to this question of why the 
DOE, fully knowing what the problem is, cannot fix itself, and the 
bottom line is that for 20 years DOE has not been able to solve the 
problem, and even with the best of intentions it will not be able to 
solve the problem alone. Congress must act, and we must act before it 
is too late.
  I will also say that in my view the administration is more focused on 
containing the political damage arising from the spy scandal than it is 
on solving the underlying problems which allowed the spy scandal to 
take place. We in Congress cannot allow ourselves to just respond to 
today's headlines in a political way, we have to channel all of this 
energy and concern generated by the scandal into constructive solutions 
for a long-term problem.
  Working with Senators and others, I have drafted a proposal which 
cuts to the heart of the problem and would set the nuclear weapons 
complex on the right path to do its job and protect our security. My 
proposal would create a new agency within the Department of

[[Page H3744]]

Energy called the Nuclear Security Administration. That agency would be 
responsible for all aspects of development, testing and maintenance of 
our nuclear weapons and for the facilities which comprise our nuclear 
weapons complex. It would have only one person at the top who would be 
an Under Secretary of Energy, and that person would have the authority 
to do the job with a clear direct chain of command. If something goes 
wrong, the Secretary, the President, the Congress know who to hold 
accountable.
  The essential elements of this proposal have been recommended time 
after time in study after study, and after all this study I think we 
would be negligent in our duties if we do not take advantage of those 
studies and reports and implement their recommendations.
  I think there is one other point that is important. If the last year 
has taught us anything, it should have reminded us of the central role 
that nuclear weapons play in strategic relationships around the world. 
From India and Pakistan to China, we are reminded that nothing alters 
the balance of power faster than a change in nuclear capability. If we 
do not protect our own nuclear deterrent against espionage and against 
aging, the security of our Nation and ideals will be threatened. We 
should act today when the path is clear and the time is right.

                          ____________________