Index

DATE=6/14/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=SENATE-NUCLEAR SECRETS (L-ONLY) NUMBER=2-263488 BYLINE=DAVID SWAN DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: Investigators are to start giving lie-detector tests today (Wednesday) at a U-S nuclear weapons lab at Los Alamos (New Mexico) to find out if missing secrets were simply lost or were stolen. Meanwhile, the Clinton administration faces new political fallout from the affair. V-O-A's David Swan reports. TEXT: The case has given Republicans another chance to attack what they call a shameful record of security breaches. At a Senate hearing, Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Shelby laid the blame on Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, whose department oversees the laboratory. /// Shelby Act /// Perhaps if the secretary would spend more time ensuring the safety of our nation's nuclear treasures and less time trying to get the vice- president elected president, we would not be here today. /// End Act /// Mr. Richardson has been mentioned as one possible running mate for Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore. The secretary declined to appear at the hearing. But other officials admit mistakes were made when two computer hard drives full of secrets turned up missing. The chief of the Los Alamos lab, Dr. John Browne, described how staffers found the devices gone from a secure vault last month. /// Browne Act /// It was at that point that they noticed that these hard drives were missing. Mistake number one: they did not pick up the phone and call me or anybody in my chain of command. /// End Act /// The lab was then threatened by wildfires, which may have caused confusion. Still, it took more than three weeks before senior officials were informed and the investigation began. Six Los Alamos managers have since been suspended. The Senate has confirmed an Air Force general as head of a new organization to run all the nuclear labs. At the White House, spokesman Joe Lockhart urged critics not to jump to conclusions. /// Lockhart Act /// I think that those who want to point the finger of blame should take a deep breath. We should find out the facts here. As I said yesterday, there are some very troubling questions here. But we need to find out whether this is an isolated incident or we need to find out whether it's more broad. /// End Act /// But even members of the president's own party are worried. One Democratic senator (Richard Bryan) says the drives may turn out to be merely misplaced - but that for now, lawmakers must assume and fear the worst. (Signed) NEB/DS/JP 14-Jun-2000 15:10 PM EDT (14-Jun-2000 1910 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .