Walter B. Jones: “3 weeks ago I first learned the story of a lieutenant colonel working for the Department of Energy whose job had been…”

“3 weeks ago I first learned the story of a lieutenant colonel working for the Department of Energy whose job had been threatened. Colonel Ed McCallum was the director of the Office of Safeguards and Security for the Department of Energy. He and his staff were responsible for the policy that governs the protection of the Energy Department's national security assets. This includes nuclear weapons, nuclear materials, highly classified information, and personnel clearances. In his position within the Department, Colonel McCallum was responsible for evaluating and working to prevent security challenges with regard to our Nation's most sensitive technology. In his 9 years as director, Colonel McCallum worked under Clinton appointee Secretary Hazel O'Leary and then under current Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. Under both, he worked to highlight security lapses within the Department. Unfortunately, he faced a steep uphill battle getting anyone in the department to listen to his concerns. Instead, his reports and memos were ultimately carelessly set aside. Even after gaining the attention of the Secretary, little or no action was taken. Time after time, his efforts were stonewalled. Now Colonel McCallum is speaking out about the Department's efforts to ignore the great breaches of national security at our weapons laboratories. Since coming forward with the truth, Colonel McCallum was placed on administrative leave and his career was threatened.”