22 April 1999
TEXT: RICHARDSON ON INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY DAMAGE ASSESSMENT
(Assessment confirms Chinese acquisition of information) (260)
Washington -- A recent Intelligence Community Damage Assessment has confirmed that China obtained by espionage classified U.S. nuclear weapons information and has underscored the importance of U.S. efforts to strengthen counterintelligence and security at weapons laboratories, Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson said in an April 21 statement.
Following is the text of Richardson's statement:
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April 21, 1999
The damage assessment team has produced important findings that help clarify what we know and what we don't know about China's acquisition of nuclear weapons information. The assessment confirms that China obtained by espionage classified U.S. nuclear weapons information and further underscores the importance of the very aggressive actions we have taken to strengthen counterintelligence and security at our weapons laboratories.
Since becoming Secretary of Energy, I have made a number of changes to help ensure that our secrets are safely guarded. We've imposed a stand-down of classified computers at the weapons labs, to better protect classified and sensitive information and implement a state-of-the-art cyber-security program across the complex. We're instituting polygraphs for employees with access to the most sensitive DOE programs, doing background checks on visitors from sensitive countries, and we have more than doubled the counterintelligence budget to $39.2 million in 2000.
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