Chuck Grassley: “I am here on the floor at this particular time to ask the President of the United States who ``they'' are, and I hope…”

“I am here on the floor at this particular time to ask the President of the United States who ``they'' are, and I hope the word ``they'' includes the President of the United States. I hope the President of the United States is the chief ``they.'' I hope we don't get into a position of debating what the definition of the word ``they'' is. The Constitution is pretty clear-- the President of the United States has all the executive power that exists in our Government. That is the background for my visiting with you about the Wen Ho Lee case, the President's comments last week in regard to the release of Wen Ho Lee, and how the executive branch treated this Chinese American. This is the latest instance of President Clinton failing to take responsibility and refusing to hold himself accountable for the actions of his administration. The background of Wen Ho Lee--for those who may not have been following this over the last year--is that the Government has recently agreed to let this former nuclear scientist at Los Alamos Laboratories plead guilty to a relatively minor charge and go home with a slap on the wrist. I think we all agree that his release is the justifiable thing to do. But it was only a short time ago that the executive branch was claiming that Wen Ho Lee was such a serious threat to American national security that he belonged in solitary confinement and in shackles with practically no ability for Mr. Lee to even contact his family.”