[Congressional Record: July 12, 2007 (Senate)]
[Page S9155-S9184]
TEXT OF AMENDMENTS
SA 2177. Mr. BINGAMAN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill H.R. 1585, to authorize appropriations for fiscal
year 2008 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for
military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of
Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year,
and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as
follows:
At the end of subtitle E of title X, add the following:
SEC. 1070. RELIEF OF RICHARD M. BARLOW OF SANTA FE, NEW
MEXICO.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Richard Barlow was a counter-proliferation intelligence
officer with expertise in Pakistan nuclear issues.
(2) From 1980-82, Mr. Barlow served as the action officer
for Pakistan proliferation matters at the Arms Control and
Disarmament Agency.
(3) In 1985, Mr. Barlow joined the Central Intelligence
Agency, becoming a recognized issue expert on Pakistan's
clandestine nuclear purchasing networks and its weapons
programs.
(4) After serving as a Special Agent with the Customs
Service, Mr. Barlow then joined the Office of the Secretary
of Defense starting in 1989, where he continued to
investigate Pakistan's nuclear weapons network headed by A.
Q. Khan.
(5) Mr. Barlow was instrumental in the 1987 arrest and
later conviction of 2 agents in Pakistan's nuclear weapons
development program headed by A. Q. Khan, for which he
received an award for exceptional accomplishment from the
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and numerous
commendations from senior State Department and law
enforcement officials.
(6) In addition, Mr. Barlow received a prestigious
commendation from the State Department's Legal Advisor for
assistance to President Ronald Reagan and Secretary of State
George P. Schultz for triggering the Solarz Amendment
relating to termination of military and economic aid to
Pakistan for exporting nuclear weapons technology.
(7) In a classified hearing following the arrests of the
Pakistani agents, Mr. Barlow, as the Central Intelligence
Agency's top expert, testified truthfully to the Subcommittee
on Asian Pacific Affairs of the Committee on International
Relations of the House of Representatives, then known as the
House Foreign Affairs Committee, that the arrested Pakistanis
were agents of the Pakistani government, and revealed that
Pakistan had continued to regularly violate United States
nuclear export laws.
(8) Mr. Barlow's actions revealed that certain Executive
Branch officials had been withholding this information from
the Congressional committees.
(9) In 1989, Mr. Barlow joined the Office of the Secretary
of Defense in the Office of Non-proliferation where he
continued to investigate Pakistani proliferation networks.
(10) In April 1989, Mr. Barlow received an outstanding
performance review from his Department of Defense
supervisors, and in June 1989 he was promoted.
(11) During the spring and early summer of 1989, Mr. Barlow
told his supervisors on a number of occasions that he had
serious concerns that Executive Branch officials were
concealing intelligence about Pakistan's nuclear program from
Congress and were obstructing pending criminal investigations
into Pakistan's procurement efforts in order to avoid
triggering the Pressler and Solarz Amendments and to obtain
approval for a proposed $1,400,000,000 sale of F-16 jets to
Pakistan.
(12) On August 2, 1989, Mr. Barlow raised concerns about
false testimony given by senior officials to the Congress on
Pakistan's nuclear capabilities to the Subcommittee on Asian
Pacific Affairs of the Committee on International Relations
of the House.
(13) On August 4, 1989, several weeks after being promoted,
Richard Barlow was handed a notice of pending termination.
(14) On August 8, 1989, Mr. Barlow's security clearances
were suspended for reasons that were classified and not
revealed to him.
(15) On August 26, 1989, Mr. Barlow, under threat of
firing, was offered a series of menial, temporary assignments
by Department of Defense personnel and security officials
concerned about possible retaliation against him as a
Congressional whistleblower by senior officials in the Office
of the Secretary of Defense.
(16) Mr. Barlow then underwent a 9-month long security
investigation involving numerous allegations levied against
him by his superiors in the Office of Secretary of Defense,
all of which were found to be false.
(17) In March of 1990, Mr. Barlow then had his security
clearance restored and remained in a series of temporary
assignments until February 1992, when he then resigned under
duress.
(18) At the time of his separation from government service,
Mr. Barlow had completed 8 years of government service.
(19) Mr. Barlow's temporary loss of his security clearance
and personnel actions against him damaged his reputation and
left him unable to find suitable employment inside the
Government.
(20) For the next 15 years, Mr. Barlow continued to serve
his country as a consultant to the intelligence and law
enforcement communities working on complex
counterintelligence and counter-proliferation operations
without the benefits he would have had if he had continued as
a Federal employee.
(21) In 1998, the Senate approved a private relief
resolution, Senate Resolution 253 (105th Congress) to provide
compensation for Richard Barlow's losses on ``the nature,
extent, and character of the claim for compensation referred
to in such bill as a legal or equitable claim against the
United States or a gratuity''.
(22) With Senate Resolution 253, the Senate recognized the
importance of protecting Federal employees who inform
Congress of Executive Branch distortions of the truth and
other wrongdoing.
(23) On March 6, 2000, the Government filed a protective
order under the state secrets privilege for documents
requested under discovery by Mr. Barlow relating to the
Pakistan nuclear program.
(24) The documents denied under the state secret privilege
were documents that Mr. Barlow had official access to prior
to the loss of clearance.
(25) The documents denied under the state secrets privilege
were subpoenaed by Mr. Barlow to substantiate the allegations
he originally made regarding his claim of false testimony of
Government officials to Congress on the Pakistan nuclear
weapons program and the actions taken against him.
(26) The evidence withheld from the Court as a result of
the state secrets privilege included significant, sworn
statements from a number of senior intelligence, Department
of State, and Department of Defense officials corroborating
Mr. Barlow's charges of Executive Branch wrongdoing.
(27) As a result of the use of the state secrets privilege,
Mr. Barlow and the United States Court of Federal Claims did
not have access to evidence and information necessary to
evaluate the key information relating to the merits of Mr.
Barlow's case and accurately report its findings to the
Senate.
(28) Since Mr. Barlow's separation from government service
in 1992, five Senate and five House committees have
intervened in support of Mr. Barlow's case on a bipartisan
basis, and investigations by the Central Intelligence Agency,
State Department Inspectors General, and the Government
Accountability Office have corroborated Mr. Barlow's findings
or found that personnel actions were taken against him in
reprisal.
(29) Richard Barlow is recognized for his patriotism and
service to his country.
(b) Compensation of Certain Losses.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall pay,
out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,
to Richard M. Barlow of Santa Fe, New Mexico, the sum of
$1,800,000 for compensation for losses incurred by Richard M.
Barlow relating to and a direct consequence of--
(A) personnel actions taken by the Department of Defense
affecting Richard Barlow's employment at the Department
(including Richard Barlow's top secret security clearance)
during the period beginning on August 4, 1989, and ending on
February 27, 1992; and
(B) Richard Barlow's separation from service with the
Department of Defense on February 27, 1992.
(2) No inference of liability.--Nothing in this section
shall be construed as an inference of liability on the part
of the United States.
(3) No agents and attorneys fees.--None of the payment
authorized by this section may be paid to or received by any
agent or attorney for any services rendered in connection
with obtaining such payment. Any person who violates this
subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be
subject to a fine in the amount provided in title 18, United
States Code.
(4) Non-taxability of payment.--The payment authorized by
this section is in partial reimbursement for losses incurred
by Richard Barlow as a result of the personnel actions taken
by the Department of Defense and is not subject to Federal,
State, or local income taxes.
____
[Congressional Record: September 27, 2007 (Senate)]
[Page S12295-S12312]
TEXT OF AMENDMENTS
SA 3079. Mr. BINGAMAN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
to amendment SA 2011 proposed by Mr. Nelson of Nebraska (for Mr. Levin)
to the bill H.R. 1585, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2008
for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle E of title X, add the following:
SEC. 1070. ASSESSMENT OF TERMINATION OF RICHARD M. BARLOW
FROM DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE EMPLOYMENT.
(a) Assessment.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
appoint an independent expert with appropriate clearances not
currently affiliated with the Department of Defense to assess
whether Richard Barlow was wrongfully terminated for his
actions while employed by the Department of Defense.
(b) Review of Materials.--The independent expert is deemed
to have a need to know of all materials, classified and
unclassified, necessary to make an informed judgment of
Richard Barlow's termination. The Secretary of Defense shall
supply materials requested by the independent expert on an
expedited basis.
(c) Recommendations.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after appointment
of the independent expert, the independent expert shall
submit to the Secretary of Defense a report on the assessment
conducted under subsection (a).
(2) Content.--The report submitted under paragraph (1)
shall include--
(A) a recommendation as to whether Richard Barlow was
wrongfully terminated; and
(B) if the recommendation is that Richard Barlow was
wrongfully terminated, a recommendation as to the amount of
compensation he is entitled to for such wrongful termination.
(3) Form.--The report submitted under subsection (a) shall
be submitted in classified and unclassified forms.
(d) Authorization.--The Secretary of Defense is authorized
to pay out of available funds such amount as is recommended
by the independent expert in (c)(2)(B).
(e) No Inference of Liability.--Nothing in this section
shall be construed as an inference of liability on the part
of the United States.
(f) No Agents and Attorneys Fees.--None of the payment
authorized by this section may be paid to or received by any
agent or attorney for any services rendered in connection
with obtaining such payment. Any person who violates this
subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be
subject to a fine in the amount provided in title 18, United
States Code.
(g) Non-Taxability of Payment.--The payment authorized by
this section is in partial reimbursement for losses incurred
by Richard Barlow as a result of the personnel actions taken
by the Department of Defense and is not subject to Federal,
State, or local income taxes.
______
