Jim Ryun: “Mr. Chairman, the National Nuclear Secret Administration was put in place by this Congress to be an independent agency…”

“Mr. Chairman, the National Nuclear Secret Administration was put in place by this Congress to be an independent agency within the Department of Energy; their sole purpose was to secure our most vital national nuclear secrets. My amendment does one simple thing, it requires the Secretary of the Energy to properly implement the National Nuclear Security Administration. It does so by prohibiting the practice of dual hatting that the Secretary of Energy engaged in to circumvent the law that this Congress passed and that the President signed last year. Dual hatting involves the giving of titles and responsibility for the National Nuclear Security Administration to current employees of the Department of Energy, thereby removing the independent status of the agency. Removing dual hatting is an idea that the Committee on Appropriations was leading toward in its own report. The report says that the committee encourages the new administrator and deputy administrator for defense programs to review the urgency for organization and management changes in the NNSA headquarters and field structure.”