[House Report 106-730]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Report
2d Session 106-730
____________________________________________________________________
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THAT THE RECENT
NUCLEAR WEAPONS SECURITY FAILURES AT LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY
DEMONSTRATE THAT SECURITY POLICY AND SECURITY PROCEDURES WITHIN THE
NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION REMAIN INADEQUATE, THAT THE
INDIVIDUALS RESPONSIBLE FOR SUCH POLICY AND PROCEDURES MUST BE HELD
ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR PERFORMANCE, AND THAT IMMEDIATE ACTION MUST BE
TAKEN TO CORRECT SECURITY DEFICIENCIES
----------
R E P O R T
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ON
H. Res. 534
July 12, 2000.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
One Hundred Sixth Congress
FLOYD D. SPENCE, South Carolina, Chairman
BOB STUMP, Arizona IKE SKELTON, Missouri
DUNCAN HUNTER, California NORMAN SISISKY, Virginia
JOHN R. KASICH, Ohio JOHN M. SPRATT, Jr., South
HERBERT H. BATEMAN, Virginia Carolina
JAMES V. HANSEN, Utah SOLOMON P. ORTIZ, Texas
CURT WELDON, Pennsylvania OWEN PICKETT, Virginia
JOEL HEFLEY, Colorado LANE EVANS, Illinois
JIM SAXTON, New Jersey GENE TAYLOR, Mississippi
STEVE BUYER, Indiana NEIL ABERCROMBIE, Hawaii
TILLIE K. FOWLER, Florida MARTIN T. MEEHAN, Massachusetts
JOHN M. McHUGH, New York ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD, Guam
JAMES TALENT, Missouri PATRICK J. KENNEDY, Rhode Island
TERRY EVERETT, Alabama ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, Illinois
ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland SILVESTRE REYES, Texas
HOWARD ``BUCK'' McKEON, California TOM ALLEN, Maine
J.C. WATTS, Jr., Oklahoma VIC SNYDER, Arkansas
MAC THORNBERRY, Texas JIM TURNER, Texas
JOHN N. HOSTETTLER, Indiana ADAM SMITH, Washington
SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia LORETTA SANCHEZ, California
VAN HILLEARY, Tennessee JAMES H. MALONEY, Connecticut
JOE SCARBOROUGH, Florida MIKE McINTYRE, North Carolina
WALTER B. JONES, Jr., North CIRO D. RODRIGUEZ, Texas
Carolina CYNTHIA A. McKINNEY, Georgia
LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina ELLEN O. TAUSCHER, California
JIM RYUN, Kansas ROBERT BRADY, Pennsylvania
BOB RILEY, Alabama ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey
JIM GIBBONS, Nevada BARON P. HILL, Indiana
MARY BONO, California MIKE THOMPSON, California
JOSEPH PITTS, Pennsylvania JOHN B. LARSON, Connecticut
ROBIN HAYES, North Carolina
STEVEN KUYKENDALL, California
DONALD SHERWOOD, Pennsylvania
Robert S. Rangel, Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Purpose and Background........................................... 1
Legislative History.............................................. 3
Committee Position............................................... 3
Oversight Findings............................................... 3
Record Vote...................................................... 3
106th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 106-730
======================================================================
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THAT THE RECENT
NUCLEAR WEAPONS SECURITY FAILURES AT LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY
DEMONSTRATE THAT SECURITY POLICY AND SECURITY PROCEDURES WITHIN THE
NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION REMAIN INADEQUATE, THAT THE
INDIVIDUALS RESPONSIBLE FOR SUCH POLICY AND PROCEDURES MUST BE HELD
ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR PERFORMANCE, AND THAT IMMEDIATE ACTION MUST BE
TAKEN TO CORRECT SECURITY DEFICIENCIES
_______
July 12, 2000.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Spence, from the Committee on Armed Services, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H. Res. 534]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Armed Services, to whom was referred the
resolution (H. Res. 534) expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives that the recent nuclear weapons security
failures at Los Alamos National Laboratory demonstrate that
security policy and security procedures within the National
Nuclear Security Administration remain inadequate, that the
individuals responsible for such policy and procedures must be
held accountable for their performance, and that immediate
action must be taken to correct security deficiencies, having
considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment
and recommend that the resolution do pass.
purpose and background
The purpose of H. Res. 534 is to express the sense of the
House of Representatives that the security policies and
procedures within the National Nuclear Security Administration
(NNSA) remain inadequate, that the individuals responsible for
these policies and procedures must be held accountable for
their performance, and that immediate action must be taken to
correct security deficiencies affecting the safeguarding of
classified nuclear weapons information.
In response to a long history of security and management
problems, Congress established the National Nuclear Security
Administration by title 32 of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Public Law 106-65).
That Act established the NNSA as a semi-autonomous
administration within the Department of Energy (DOE) with
responsibility for the management of the Nation's nuclear
security programs. The NNSA was formally established on March
1, 2000. In advance of the confirmation by the Senate of an
Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration,
the Secretary of Energy opted to fulfill the additional
functions and duties of the NNSA Administrator. The Secretary
also appointed the Director of the Office of Security and
Emergency Operations of the Department of Energy, who is
charged with the responsibility to establish security policy
for DOE generally, to serve simultaneously as the Chief of
Defense Nuclear Security of the National Nuclear Security
Administration, who is charged with responsibility for
executing security policy for the NNSA specifically.
The committee notes that over the course of the past year,
the management of the Department of Energy has repeatedly
asserted that security throughout the Department and the
national laboratory system had been greatly improved. In May
1999, the Secretary of Energy stated that the ``safeguards of
national secrets have been dramatically strengthened and
improved.'' On March 2, 2000, the Secretary told the committee
in a public hearing that ``we've reached a point where we have
very strong security procedures,'' and ``[t]here's no longer a
culture of lax security. That has ended.''
With regard to security at Los Alamos National Laboratory,
the committee notes that the Office of Independent Oversight
and Performance Assurance of the Department of Energy reviewed
security practices at that laboratory in September 1999. That
review awarded the laboratory an overall rating of
``satisfactory,'' the highest rating possible, and commended
the laboratory's security operations as ``first class.''
In light of the repeated assurances by the management of
the Department of Energy and the Department's assessment of the
security procedures at Los Alamos National Laboratory for the
safeguarding of classified nuclear weapons information, the
committee was deeply troubled to learn on June 9, 2000, that
two computer hard drives containing a large quantity of
classified nuclear weapons information were missing from the
vault in which they were stored at a secure facility at the
laboratory.
In response to that breach of security, the committee held
an open hearing and a classified briefing on June 14, 2000, and
June 22, 2000, respectively, to assess the policies and
procedures for the protection of classified nuclear weapons
information within the national laboratory system. The
committee notes with concern that no inventory of secret
restricted data was maintained at Los Alamos National
Laboratory; that the Department of Energy was unaware of how
many NNSA personnel have uncontrolled access to classified
nuclear weapons material in the vaults at Los Alamos National
Laboratory and that no logs were maintained to account for
access to such information; and that routine security
procedures to change combinations to, or access lists for, the
vaults were not updated as required by established DOE security
procedures.
The committee notes again the June 1999 conclusion of the
President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board that DOE
suffers from a culture of low regard for security and the
conclusion of the Special Oversight Panel on Department of
Energy Reorganization of the Committee on Armed Services in
February 2000 that the implementation plan prepared by the
Department to establish the NNSA was inadequate.
The committee believes that the protection of nuclear
weapons information is a critical responsibility for all those
with access to that information, and that the compromise of the
data on the hard drives, if confirmed, would constitute a clear
and present danger to the United States and its allies.
legislative history
H. Res. 534 was introduced on June 27, 2000 and referred to
the Committee on Armed Services.
On June 28, 2000, the Committee on Armed Services held a
markup session to consider H. Res. 534. The committee adopted
the resolution by a voice vote. The resolution was reported
favorably by a voice vote.
committee position
On June 28, 2000, the Committee on Armed Services, a quorum
being present, approved H. Res. 534 by a voice vote.
oversight findings
With respect to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, this legislation results from
hearings and other oversight activities conducted by the
committee pursuant to clause 2(b)(1) of rule X.
With respect to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives and section 308(a)(1) of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this legislation does not
include any new spending or credit authority, nor does it
provide for any increase or decrease in tax revenues or
expenditures.
With respect to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the committee has not received a
report from the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
pertaining to the subject matter of H. Res. 534.
record vote
In accordance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the committee notes that no roll
call votes were taken with respect to H. Res. 534.
The committee ordered H. Res. 534 reported to the House
with a favorable recommendation by a voice vote, a quorum being
present.