Federation of American Scientists Senator James M. Inhofe
307 Massachusetts Avenue N.E.
Washington, DC 20002June 22, 2000
SR-453 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-3603
by fax: (202)228-0380Dear Senator Inhofe:
I am writing to call your attention to a serious error in your statement at the June 21 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Security Failures at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
You accused former Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary of leaking classified information about the W87 nuclear warhead to U.S. News and World Report, which appeared in the July 31, 1995 issue of that magazine. Last year, Congressman Curt Weldon repeatedly made a similar charge on the House floor.
That accusation is demonstrably false. Consider the following:
Obviously, your charge against Secretary O’Leary is false.
- U.S. News published an artist’s concept of the W87 warhead based on information in the public domain. The artist’s concept is inaccurate. Do you believe that Hazel O’Leary leaked false information? To what end?
- U.S. News sourced its information to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Are you suggesting that U.S. News lied about its sourcing?
- An official of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) confirmed to me recently that he provided the W87 information to U.S. News based on information in the public domain, and that he now had second thoughts about its accuracy. Could he be lying as well?
In the interests of common decency, I urge you to publicly retract your accusation and apologize to Secretary O’Leary.
I am also writing to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Warner to ask that your accusation against Secretary O’Leary be stricken from the record of the hearing, or that it be annotated as a false charge.
* * * Like most of your Committee colleagues, you seem to be unaware that Secretary O’Leary’s classification reform program encompassed something called the “Higher Fences Initiative.” This would have entailed upgrading the classification of some of the most sensitive nuclear weapons secrets from the Secret RD-level to the Top Secret RD-level.If Secretary O’Leary’s Higher Fences Initiative had been implemented, the disappearance of the Los Alamos hard drives might never have occurred, since stricter accountability measures are required for Top Secret RD.
But after several years of advocacy by the Department of Energy, the Higher Fences Initiative was finally blocked by the Department of Defense. I attach for your information a December 17, 1999 letter to General Habiger rejecting DOE’s Higher Fences Initiative.
Yours sincerely,
Steven Aftergood
Director
FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists Senator John Warner, Chairman
307 Massachusetts Avenue N.E.
Washington, DC 20002June 22, 2000
Senate Armed Services Committee
SR-228 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-6050Dear Chairman Warner:
I am writing to call your attention to a serious error in the record of the June 21 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Security Failures at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Senator Inhofe accused former Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary of leaking classified information about the W87 nuclear warhead to U.S. News and World Report, which appeared in the July 31, 1995 issue of that magazine.
That disturbing accusation is demonstrably false. Consider the following:
Obviously, Senator Inhofe’s charge against Secretary O’Leary is false.
- U.S. News published an artist’s concept of the W87 warhead (not a “design”) based on information in the public domain. The artist’s concept is inaccurate. It is not credible to claim that Hazel O’Leary leaked false information. Furthermore, there is no evidence to support the claim, which seems to have been invented from whole cloth by Congressman Curt Weldon.
- U.S. News clearly and explicitly sourced its information to the Natural Resources Defense Council. There is no evidence that U.S. News lied about its sourcing.
- An official of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) confirmed to me recently that he provided the W87 information to U.S. News based on information in the public domain, and that he now had second thoughts about its accuracy. There is no reason to believe that he is lying as well.
In the interests of common decency, I urge you to strike this false accusation from the record of the June 21 hearing. Alternatively, I would ask you to include this letter in the record to indicate that Senator Inhofe’s charge is contested and is, in fact, false.
* * * Secretary O’Leary’s classification reform program has been widely misunderstood and misconstrued in Congress and the media. The Committee seems to be unaware that her efforts encompassed something called the “Higher Fences Initiative.” This would have entailed upgrading the classification of some of the most sensitive nuclear weapons secrets from the Secret RD-level to the Top Secret RD-level.If Secretary O’Leary’s Higher Fences Initiative had been implemented, the disappearance of the Los Alamos hard drives might never have occurred, since stricter accountability measures are required for Top Secret RD.
But after several years of advocacy by the Department of Energy, the Higher Fences Initiative was finally blocked by the Department of Defense.
I attach for your information a December 17, 1999 letter to General Habiger rejecting DOE’s Higher Fences Initiative.
Yours sincerely,
Steven Aftergood
Director
FAS Project on Government Secrecy