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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Selectric II who wrote (2313)	10/13/2000 8:13:19 AM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 10042

& they disregard the law: DATE: October 12, 2000 FOR RELEASE: Immediate Contact: Lester Munson, Communications Director (202)225-5021 GILMAN QUESTIONS NASA’S USE OF LOOPHOLE TO CONTINUE PAYMENTS TO RUSSIA WASHINGTON (October 12) – U.S. Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman (20th-NY), Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, made the following statement today in a hearing in which he questioned a dangerously broad interpretation that NASA and the Clinton administration have made of the Iran Nonproliferation Act. He warned that Congress may have to undertake further legislation and renew its scrutiny of NASA’s practices abroad: “I called this hearing in order for members of Congress to hear first-hand about a remarkable legal interpretation of the Iran Nonproliferation Act that apparently has been adopted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This interpretation threatens to eviscerate this important new law that was enacted with great fanfare just seven months ago. “As everyone knows, the problem of proliferation from Russia to Iran of dangerous weapons technology, especially missile technology, has been with us for many years now. The Clinton Administration tried repeatedly in the past to do something about it, but the results were invariably disappointing. In exasperation, a number of us in Congress felt compelled to act. “Here in the House, I joined with our distinguished Ranking Democratic Member, Mr. Gejdenson, and the distinguished Chairman of our Committee on Science, Mr. Sensenbrenner, to introduce the Iran Nonproliferation Act. The lead Senate sponsors of the measure included not only the distinguished Majority Leader, Mr. Lott, but also the man that Vice President Gore has chosen as his running mate, the junior Senator from Connecticut, Mr. Lieberman. “The Clinton Administration did not like our legislation. In fact, they threatened in writing to veto it. But we were not deterred. The Gilman/Gejdenson/Lott/Lieberman bill passed the House unanimously, and then it passed the Senate unanimously, and in the end President Clinton signed it into law on March 14th of this year. “Since that time, a remarkable thing has happened. The Clinton Administration has gone about its business as if the law did not exist. “In essence, the law only requires two things. First, it requires the President to report periodically to Congress about proliferation to Iran from other countries. Second, it prohibits NASA from buying new goods and services from Russia for the International Space Station until the President determines that all of the approximately 400 entities under the Russian Aviation and Space Agency have gotten out of the business of proliferating to Iran. “The law’s reporting requirement has been utterly disregarded by the Clinton Administration. The first report was required by law to be submitted to Congress no later than three months after the date of enactment, or by June 12th of this year. The second report was required by law to be submitted to Congress no later than six months after the date of enactment, or by September 14th. Neither one of these reports has been submitted. “The State Department has lots of excuses for disregarding these reporting deadlines. They’ve been busy doing other things. They’ve had a hard time figuring out how to write the reports. It’s a lot of work. Most recently they sent us a letter saying that they are going to try hard to finish the first report by December 1st orsix months after it was due - but they’re not making any promises. “Obviously the Administration has not treated compliance with the reporting requirements of the Iran Nonproliferation Act as a priority. In fact, after the bill was enacted they waited for two full months to get around to asking the CIA to collect the information they would need to write the first report. That information apparently was not given to the people who will actually write the report until last month. And when we asked, we were told that not a single person within the Executive branch had been put to work full time on complying with this law. “We have now learned that NASA is considering implementing the law in a way that will make the State Department’s record look like a model of compliance. The law is very clear that NASA cannot make what are called “extraordinary payments in connection with the International Space Station” to Russia until the President gives all entities within the Russian Aviation and Space Agency have a clean bill of health on proliferation to Iran. The President cannot even consider doing that now because the State Department has not written any of the required reports about what these entities are doing. “There is, however, an exception in the law for crew safety. If the President notifies Congress in writing that an otherwise prohibited purchase from Russia is “necessary to prevent the imminent loss of life by or grievous injury to individuals aboard the International Space Station,” that purchase may be made notwithstanding the law’s prohibitions. “This exception was inserted into the legislation by our own Dana Rohrabacher during the Science Committee’s mark-up of the bill. Hopefully in a few minutes Mr. Rohrabacher will be able to describe to us his intentions in writing this exception. My own understanding was always that this was an exception that was to be available to NASA in emergency situations only. “NASA, however, has come up with its own interpretation of what Mr. Rohrabacher intended, which is considerably broader than an exception just for emergency circumstances. NASA apparently believes that the purchase of anything that arguably enhances safety will fit within this exception. “If NASA’s interpretation is allowed to stand, I fear that virtually nothing will be left of the law’s prohibition on extraordinary payments in connection with the International Space Station. I had hoped that we in Congress had concluded our work in this area when we enacted the Iran Nonproliferation Act earlier this year, but, regrettably, NASA’s present course may leave us with no choice but to legislate again on this issue. “If we are forced to do that, we may also have to address some new areas of concern that are now under investigation by the NASA Inspector General, such as NASA’s subsidization of other entities in Russia that have a history of producing and proliferating weapons of mass destruction. “We are fortunate today to have two distinguished witnesses from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Edward A. Frankle is NASA’s General Counsel. He has held that job since 1988, and served previously as NASA’s Deputy General Counsel. A graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, he also has worked as a lawyer at the Selective Service System and the Department of the Navy. Mr. Frankle is joined by W. Michael Hawes, NASA’s Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Flight Development. Mr. Hawes currently is responsible for directing U.S. participation in the International Space Station project. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the George Washington University, he has spent most of his career in a variety of positions with NASA. “Gentlemen, we welcome you and look forward to hearing your explanation of how NASA intends to comply with the Iran Nonproliferation Act.” house.gov