John Spratt: “I strongly support the vast majority of this bill, particularly the pay and retirement provisions. But this good bill is…”

“I strongly support the vast majority of this bill, particularly the pay and retirement provisions. But this good bill is marred by some of the text, some of the provisions that set up the National Nuclear Security Administration as a semi-autonomous agency within the Department of Energy. I have reservations about the way in which these provisions were inserted in the bill, a little discussion among members of the conference committee, consultation with the energy committee, and I have reservations about the substance of the provisions themselves and that is where I want to direct my attention. I have heard people say that the existing Department is complicated, but what we have created is a bit of a complication, too. In the title that we have added, 3216, section title 32, there are 18 different functions over which this new semi-autonomous agency, on page 458 and 457, will have virtually exclusive authority. Let me show some of the problems that are created by this. This bill set up two different offices for counterintelligence, one of the places where we have really had a problem, two different offices, one under the Secretary and one under the Administrator. They have overlapping jurisdiction. The bill does not clearly define how they interface, who has authority over the other. If we do not like the way counterintelligence is being conducted in the new administration, what do we do about it? Well, read on.…”