[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 41 (Monday, March 9, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E591-E592]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   FREEMAN IS NOT THE MAN FOR THE JOB

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 9, 2009

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I would like to bring to my colleagues' 
attention the following letter I recently sent to President Obama 
regarding the appointment of former Ambassador Charles W. Freeman to 
serve as chair of the National Intelligence council.

                                    Congress of the United States,


                                     House of Representatives,

                                                    March 6, 2009.
     Hon. Barack H. Obama,
     The President, The White House,
     Washington DC.
       Dear Mr. President: I write today to share my deep concern 
     regarding the appointment of Chas W. Freeman Jr. as chairman 
     of the National Intelligence Council.
       Particularly disturbing is Mr. Freeman's position on the 
     international advisory board of the China National Offshore 
     Oil Corp. (CNOOC), which he has held since March 2004. The 
     communist government of China,

[[Page E592]]

     along with other state-owned companies, are majority 
     stakeholders in CNOOC. This connection would require Mr. 
     Freeman to recuse himself from certain matters involving 
     China.
       The 2007 United States-China Economic and Security Review 
     Commission's Classified Report to the Congress addresses 
     Chinese activities in the areas of espionage, cyber warfare, 
     and arms proliferation. In 2006 four of the computers in my 
     Capitol Hill office were hacked. It was confirmed by the FBI 
     that these attacks originated in the People's Republic of 
     China. The economic stimulus plan recently rolled out by 
     Chinese Premier Wen Jiaobao includes a 14.9 percent increase 
     in military spending. It is evident that China poses an 
     increasing national, security threat to the United States. 
     How is national security policy enhanced by having a chairman 
     of the NIC who must recuse himself from matters involving a 
     regime which poses one of the most serious national security 
     risks to the United States?
       In an April 25 speech given by Mr. Freeman at the National 
     War College Alumni Association, he described the March 2008 
     protests in Tibet as ``a race riot.'' The Tibetan people have 
     suffered for decades at the hands of the authoritarian 
     Chinese government, and such a characterization of the March 
     uprising is deeply insulting. I traveled to Tibet in 1997 
     where I heard endless accounts of violent oppression by the 
     Chinese government. I spoke to Buddhist monks and nuns who 
     recounted their experiences of torture and imprisonment in 
     Tibet's notorious Drapchi Prison. Just last week, the 
     Associated Press reported that a Tibetan monk was shot three 
     times by Chinese security forces after he set himself on 
     fire.
       Additionally, CNOOC's substantial investment in Sudan's oil 
     sector has served as the lifeline to the regime of President 
     Omar al Bashir, recently indicted by the International 
     Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity. 
     Senator Sam Brownback and I traveled to Darfur in 2004, where 
     we saw first hand the suffering and destruction that has 
     taken place under the Bashir regime. We heard first hand 
     accounts of women who were brutally abused at the hands of 
     the janjaweed forces. During our visit we captured the 
     haunting images of the terror and destruction, and we will 
     share those photographs with your administration at your 
     request. Mr. Freeman's appointment to this high level post 
     undermines the policy of U.S. divestment from the genocidal 
     regime of Sudan.
       Most recently, Mr. Freeman served as president of the 
     Middle East Policy Council, a think-tank funded by the 
     Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On September 20, 2006, in an 
     interview with the Saudi-US Relations Information Service, 
     Mr. Freeman said that ``thanks to the generosity of King 
     Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia we have managed to 
     accumulate an endowment'' for the Middle East Policy Council. 
     According to filings with the Internal Revenue Service, Mr. 
     Freeman drew an annual salary from the Middle East Policy 
     Council. However, the foundation has never publicly released 
     its list of contributors.
       In his Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Looming Tower, 
     Lawrence Wright states on page 170 that ``Saudi Arabia, which 
     constitutes only 1 percent of the world's Muslim population . 
     . . supports 90 percent of the expenses of the entire 
     faith,'' including ``thousands of religious schools around 
     the globe, staffed with Wahhabi imams and teachers.'' I have 
     enclosed a copy of this book and strongly encourage you to 
     read it. Wahhabi teachings exported by the Saudis have 
     inspired a generation of young radicals that have proven 
     themselves ready to take up arms in the name of faith. Many 
     experts believe that the notorious Taliban leader Mullah Omar 
     was educated in a Saudi-funded radical madrassah. How can Mr. 
     Freeman possibly be expected to confront this challenge head 
     on after taking home years of paychecks from the Saudis?
       The reprehensible regimes with which CNOOC does business 
     does not end there. The company rebuffed public calls to 
     withdraw from Burma in October 2007 after the ruling military 
     junta opened fire on peaceful protestors in a movement known 
     as the Saffron Revolution. CNOOC also has invested in Iran, a 
     country which is actively seeking to build nuclear weapons 
     and has vowed to ``wipe Israel off the map.'' Such activities 
     starkly contrast with the national security interests of the 
     United States.
       The evidence strongly suggests that Mr. Freeman is not the 
     right person for this job and for the good of our country I 
     urge you to reconsider your choice.
       Best wishes.
           Sincerely,
                                                    Frank R. Wolf,
     Member of Congress.

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