Rep. Wolf Claims China-related Security Lapses at LaRC and KSC
USW Condemns Chinese Spying; Urges U.S. Government to Thoroughly Review Security Procedures and Protocols at NASA
“Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW) issued the following statement today after House Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-VA) identified alleged security lapses at the National Aeronautics & Space Administration’s (NASA) Langley Research Center at a press conference. “Space may be the final frontier, but it is apparently already a target for espionage by the People’s Republic of China.”
Wolf says NASA prompted hiring of person linked to Chinese espionage; may be dozens more in agency, Washington Examiner
“Wolf said during a Capitol Hill news conference today that “at least several dozen other Chinese nationals,” are employed at Langley, and he charged that they are employed in a manner to “circumvent” congressional bans on Chinese involvement at NASA facilities.”
Lawmaker: NASA broke law with visits by China officials, USA Today
“A congressman says NASA broke a national security law last year by failing to notify Congress about two visits Chinese officials made to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., said the visits — one in June and one in December — were barred by a measure he authored in 2011 requiring NASA facilities such as Kennedy to give lawmakers at least 14 days notice before hosting “official Chinese visitors.”
Wolf: More On Potential Security Violations At NASA Centers
“Even more troubling is that this Chinese national was allegedly employed by a Langley contractor allegedly at the direction of NASA officials in an apparent attempt to circumvent appropriations restrictions the Congress has in place to prevent the hiring of certain foreign nationals of concern. Additionally, it is my understanding that NASA spent several hundred thousand dollars to pay for this individual’s contract.”
Looks like Wolf has stolen a page from the playbook of Sen. Joe McCarthy.
Beware all you China huggers in NASA!
I have no knowledge one way or the other about these particular accusations, but beware basing your defense on analogies to McCarthy. Remember that history (i.e. declassified cold war records) has shown his accusations to have generally been accurate (e.g. long but typical of quick Google search: http://www.nytimes.com/book….
There are also first-hand accounts exonerating a significant number of his targets, but either way, personally I think that whether the accusations were right or wrong, the methods employed by McMarthy, and by Wolf, were/are inappropriate and skirting the boundaries of legal process. No one person should be able to exercise that much power over others, effectively with impunity, and no one in authority willing to stand up to them. This is not consistent with the ideals of a democratic republic.
I’m not offering an opinion about whether McCarthy was good or bad – I don’t care. I’m only pointing out that history has shown that when the State Dept., Army, etc. claimed they had found his accusations to be in error, they were essentially wrong and McCarthy’s accusations were essentially correct. That being the case, it is not wise to use the ghost of McCarthy as a defensive analogy to the present situation.
I very much hope these accusations are proven to be unfounded, because if they do turn out to be true I fear there will be a drastic overreaction that causes serious inconvenience for everyone not involved. I do not agree with the tactic of making attacks against the accusers as a means of defense as that is likely to just backfire.
If Rep. Wolf thinks the law has been broken why doesn’t he just notify the authorities? That’s what you’re supposed to do isn’t it?
The Department of Justice and the NASA Office of Inspector General have told Rep. Wolf that there is nothing to substantiate his claims about problems at NASA Ames.
1) The Executive branch does can not tell the Legislative branch that they can not investigate something just because the Executive branch things there is nothing to investigate.
2) From the news reports I have seen, the Executive branch determinations of no wrong doing were in regard to ARC, but these new reports are claimed to be in regard to LaRC and KSC. At least for the moment, that seems like two different things.
He is “the authorities”, or at least one of them. Hence his title “Representative”, in case you hadn’t noticed…
Congress obviously has the power to investigate the agencies that it creates and funds.
Like everyone I hope there turns out to be nothing wrong here, but mocking the investigation of these accusations without actual evidence contradicting them is not likely to be beneficial.
Excuse me but the Department of Justice and the NASA Office of Inspector General have told Rep. Wolf that there is nothing to substantiate his claims about problems at NASA Ames. So …. if the relevant law enforcement and oversight authorities say there is nothing to this, what is it that Wolf has that trumps the pros?
“He is “the authorities”, or at least one of them.“
Congress enacts the laws, but I can’t find anything that suggests that they are thereby exempt from the laws. The fact that the Justice Department is an executive department would appear to be irrelevant.
The Justice Department is responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice for ALL Americans, including the President and Congress members — all American citizens. At least, the Justice Department seem to believe this.
Rep. Wolf is abusing the system for his own agenda, and seemingly getting away with it. What would happen if 20 or 30 other members of Congress did the same thing, each with their own goals?
If Wolf is continuing to get away with this, then I have to wonder if he’s got some sort of hole card, a closet skeleton that he’s holding over the head(s) of one or more senior or powerful politician(s).
If a new or junior Congress person tried something like this then the rest of Congress, the Justice Department, and the media would probably be all over him. Why does Wolf the Paranoid continue to get away with it?
Having read some of the reader comments on the Washington Times website, I am astounded by the level of national/racial/cultural hostility expressed by many of its readers toward China, Mr. Obama, and much of the civilized world. It may be that Wolf has found a constituency that shares his xenophobia. I am sad to report that the number of people making such comments outnumbers those on this site by a factor of roughly 100.
http://washingtonexaminer.c…
Nevertheless I would like to suggest a few issues. One issue is whether Wolf, as a Congressman, has the authority to personally enforce laws. If so, why him? Wouldn’t any other Congressman have the right to issue a different edict? Congress has the power to pass laws as representatives of individual districts. Can a member of Congress, representing only one district, legally threaten an executive agency head? This doesn’t seem to be in the Constitution. There has been no vote in Congress autorizing an investigation of NASA policy toward China.
Second, are Wolf’s statements about China accurate? Although he begins with a legitimate issue, the rights of Tibetans to preservation of their cultural icons and some degree of self-determination, it is inconceivable that Wolf’s inappropriate NASA policies will affect this situation in any positive way. Moreover, Wolf’s rhetoric rapidly spreads to bizarre statements about all Chinese that have been recounted in the press.
Finally, is the policy Wolf advocates in the national interest? He has repeatedly inserted language into legislation on NASA that hurls empty insults at China, and the lock-step GOP majority in the House invariably supports him. Given that we must cooperate with China for any effective action on matters ranging from control of CO2 emissions to policies regarding North Korea, Wolf’s actions are contrary to the national interest.
Communications between NASA and Chinese officials and citizens are largely symbolic. NASA manages programs that are neither military nor classified, and are in the general interest of the world’s people. Closer ties between our space programs would help to build understanding and trust, reducing the level of tension and in some small way reducing the risk of armed conflict between the superpowers. For anyone who remembers the Cold War, this is no small reward.
Excellent, vulture4. Very well said.
I must warn you, though; if you’re going to make sensible, well thought out statements like this, you’re liable to bring all the crazies and bigots out of the woodwork to argue with you.
On a serious note, what concerns me greatly is that I suspect that many, maybe even most, of the people who behave as you’ve indicated are not claiming what they believe because they’ve thought it out properly, but rather they are mindlessly parroting things that they’ve heard others (often older, permanently set in their ways people) say, based on sentiments from events of many decades old. We have to battle hard to promote sanity and social maturity, but stupidity and prejudices still seem to flourish all by themselves. This is an area where the education systems has failed us big time, but is it because the necessary knowledge is simply not being taught, or is it that many teachers have been infected by the same poison as the people commenting on the Washington Times web site and others? Sometimes a mindless comment can do as much damage as a deliberate insult.
As curious as Wolf’s cries about the Chinese are, I can’t help but recall two memories:
One was that story of the Boy Who Cried “Wolf” (kinda appropriate here)…. He kept yowling for attention and kept being proven wrong, and eventually everyone learned to just ignore his hollering… even when eventually there really were wolves (who promptly ate him in some versions).
My second recollection is a bit of personal memory. Not Space-related but bear with me (and apologies to all for length)
— It was as an eyewitness at an AFB open house air show about 20-odd years ago, when the F-117 had aleady been Outed and the Air Force decided to start showing it off publically — to be fair-minded, open and free to an extent. In this air show, an F-117 was on display – cordoned-off and with a pair of uniformed SPs inside, allowing photos only from outside the line (apparently, the AF must had thought this was sufficient for “non-sensitive” viewing). Yeah, right! The poor young Airmen soon found themselves with a pair of “tourists” (of the Chinese persuasion) who ducked under the ropes and started shooting photos all over the plane, up its wheel wells, into its cockpit, close to intakes, etc… As these SPs tried shoo/coax these “tourists” back outside the line another pair on the other side of the plane rolled under the rope and continued photo-shoot. The poor airmen were clearly having a bad day. Did they get in trouble for this? Dunno, maybe.
(BTW, as an epilogue, there’s some publically available photos on-line of a Chinese base with a 117 “mock-up” — I have no idea if this was made with any assistance from “tourists”, but still…)
I’m just saying, that as much as we want to be free and openminded, and with open-arms, not everyone on the other side of the line, is as so-inclined. The Chinese is definitely our trading partner, yes; but they are also still a major adversary — politically, militarily, industrial and yes, even in trade. And Space Sci & Tech is a major treasure to seek for several of those aspects.
Actually, this is to be expected with ANY country, not just China, wanting to look out for itself and looking to surpasse what may be their major competition. And while I wouldn’t be thrilled of compromising our competitiveness even if these were French, Indians, Japanese… at least their respective track records o fair-play are much better then the PRC’s; plus the Chinese haven’t exactly mellowed out that tolitarian mindset.