[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
[March 18, 1999]
[Pages 403-404]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement Announcing a Review of Security at the Department of Energy 
Weapons Labs
March 18, 1999

    Today I have asked the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory 
Board, chaired by Warren Rudman, to 
undertake a review of the security threat at the Department of Energy's 
weapons labs and the adequacy of the measures that have been taken to 
address it. The Board is a bipartisan, independent advisory body 
responsible, among other things, for assessing the quality and adequacy 
of our counterintelligence efforts.
    I have asked the Board to address the nature of the present 
counterintelligence security threat, the way in which it has evolved 
over the last two decades and the steps we have taken to counter it, as 
well as to recommend any additional steps that may be needed. I have

[[Page 404]]

asked the Board to deliver its completed report to the Congress, and to 
the fullest extent possible consistent with our national security, to 
release an unclassified version to the public.
    I am determined to do all that is necessary to protect our sensitive 
national security I formation and to prevent its diversion to foreign 
countries. Last year I signed Presidential Decision Directive 61 to 
strengthen security and counterintelligence at the labs, and since 1995, 
we have increased the Department of Energy's counterintelligence budget 
fifteenfold, from $2 to $31 million.