Rodney Frelinghuysen: “Mr. Speaker, our committee, under the leadership of the gentleman from California (Chairman Packard), rightly has…”

“Mr. Speaker, our committee, under the leadership of the gentleman from California (Chairman Packard), rightly has addressed the critical issues of security at our Nation's nuclear labs by providing an additional $331 million for the National Nuclear Security Administration, for a total of over $6 billion. Mr. Speaker, the problem of security at our national labs is one of leadership, not of resources. The security at our national labs, or at least some of our labs, has not just been compromised, it has been violated. It is time for Secretary Richardson to accept the responsibility for the ongoing security violations and to take whatever actions are necessary to restore the faith of the American people in their ability to secure our Nation's nuclear secrets. Furthermore, even with the strong congressional support from our committee, the leadership of the Department of Energy has been lacking, particularly in regard to developing a comprehensive energy strategy. Getting as much oil as we can for as little as we can is not energy policy. Recent oil prices clearly show that the Secretary has once again been negligent.”