[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13017]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         BENEDICT ARNOLD PRESS?

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, we are fighting a war on terror, and now we are 
being told we are battling the press as well. The United States has 
rooted out terror on a global scale. They have also gotten 
unprecedented help from other countries and international banking 
institutions to seek out accounts used for al Qaeda money laundering, 
because without a supply of money, the terrorists have no fuse to 
light.
  Now the New York Times has apparently detailed that security program 
to the entire world, and we find ourselves pondering what to do when 
the press willingly reveals national security secrets to terrorists.
  Prior to World War II, the United States had broken the Japanese 
military communications codes. A journalist published a book revealing 
this classified information, so right before the surprise attack on 
Pearl Harbor, the Japanese changed their codes so the United States was 
unaware of this invasion.
  In 1950, a law was passed making releasing such classified 
information a crime. If the New York Times has violated this law by 
becoming the Benedict Arnold press, they need to be held accountable. 
Not even a journalist from the Times has the right to violate the law 
just to get a byline.
  And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________