More HSPD-12 Abuses at JPL
A Question of Loyalty, Pasadena Weekly
“Over the past eight months, Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer Cate Heneghan said she has been dealing with what she considers to be an abuse of authority by NASA, which has been trying to force her to sign what amounts to a loyalty oath — asking intrusive questions about her allegiance to the United States. Heneghan, who was born and raised in Bethesda, Md., studied at New Mexico State and USC and has dual citizenship with Ireland, argues that the questions do not conform to NASA guidelines. “How is it JPL is implementing these questions beyond the adjudicative standard, which is required in HSPD-12?” asked Heneghan, who does concept development design for NASA missions and has been at JPL for 26 years. “No one can answer that question.”
Earlier HSPD-12 postings
This is legally interesting. National Origin and citizenship are “protected classes” with respect to employment discrimination. Obviously, security clearance jobs must be excepted somehow, and those exceptions don’t apply to regular jobs, so where and how is the line drawn?
On a related note, I’m waiting for the lawsuit pitting employment discrimination laws against ITAR. The former prohibits discrimination on the basis national origin or citizenship. The later regulation, by some interpretations and in some cases, requires discrimination on the basis of nationality.
As it should!
I wish it were that obvious. I’ve heard very extreme interpretations of ITAR. For example, that, even if information is in the published, publicly available literature, giving a foreign national the journal citations or references may be an ITAR violation. By that interpretation, I don’t see how a professor of aerospace engineering can teach a class with foreign nationals enrolled. If such a person refused, for fear of inadvertently violating ITAR statutes, would he be immune from charges of discrimination? This sort of thing really needs some case law and precedent to sort out.
It is that obvious, you’re just making more difficult that it is.
In over 20yrs of aerospace work and ITAR regulations, not one single time EVER has the word discrimination ever been part of the conversation.
Apparently, wherever the JPL security office wants to draw them…. until an elected representative makes a phone call.
The questions included: “Do you have 100 percent allegiance to the United States?” “If needed, would you renounce your citizenship with Ireland?” “Do you carry an Irish passport? What’s the number?” “Do you travel on this passport?” “Do you plan on renewing this passport?” and “Do you have financial interests or property in Ireland?” Heneghan says that other federal employees who are also dual citizens, including those working for NASA, are not subject to the same questions.
Wow. It’s hard to believe that it is NASA wanting to know the answers to these questions and not the NSA.
If Ms. Heneghan is working on a program related to national security the questions are completely appropriate. If she is not? then I would agree they are not appropriate.
As for her assertion that “other dual citizens” are not subject to the same questions–that would depend on what programs they are working on.
If she was born and raised in the U.S., its strange she would have dual citizenship and an Irish passport.
“Why?” is an obvious question, though apparently not to the author of the news story.
The JPL questions seem to address this peculiarity. Not sure why anyone would even think twice about answering such questions.
She probably has a cell-phone routinely reporting her location, movements, and making even more personal data available to every government agency out there.
But openly addressing her employers stewardship concerns over her odd multi-national behavior before giving her access to the computer network is just too much to stomache … seems pretty self-centered and arrogant.
No not at all
Ireland gives citizenship based on ancestry and being an Irish citizen means you could work on ESA projects.Several astronauts hold dual citizenship . My brothers and myself became Canadian citizens in July due to a change in that country’s citizenship laws.This is a good thing since my Brothers laboratory has received NASA grants in the past he could now also do ESA science work since Canada belongs to the ESA.
Dual citizenship is a valued thing to have in the science and business world
so if you have an Irish parent or grand parent you want to hop on board
http://www.citizensinformat…
That was an immediate red flag for me as well in reading the article. I’d guess the others with dual citizenship were born elsewhere and became naturalized citizens. Not excusing it, just pointing out that this could have been a discriminator.
Was it an immediate red flag when Republican Senator Ted “texas two step” Cruz ran for the Senate and was elected holding dual citizenship?
No, it isn’t strange at all that she would have dual citizenship. It is a very normal thing if you marry someone from another country, as long as the two countries in question allow it (which the US and Ireland do). It gives a married couple the ability to easily move if needed for family reasons, such as long-term care of a parent, without having to worry about immigration issues at an already stressful time. The US does not track the number of dual nationals, but the best estimates seem to be 1-5 million Americans, and that number will likely increase as more people live overseas temporarily for business assignments.
“If she was born and raised in the U.S., its strange she would have dual citizenship and an Irish passport.”
I have no idea if Irish laws are similar, or if it applies to this case, however… A person born and raised in Ireland is automatically a United States citizen, if one or both of that person’s parents are US citizens.
“”Why?” is an obvious question, though apparently not to the author of the news story.”
No, “Why?” is a question her employer is not allowed to ask, since it is legal and does not affect her ability to do her job.
If you read the story, you will see that NASA has, finally, agreed that these questions were inappropriate and should never have been asked. The law suit is over how NASA will make sure this sort of thing does not happen in the future. Specifically, they claim this was due to some low-level person who didn’t know what he (or she) was doing. Apparently, Heneghan repeatedly protested these questions, including contacting the NASA Inspector General. She eventually had to get her congresswoman to complain to NASA. Based on this, she feels the problem is not a low-level, poorly informed employee, and that NASA is failing to address the real problem and prevent future problems of this sort.
There are a number of perfectly legitimate reasons a person might have dual citizenship despite being born and raised in the US, and in 1967 the Supreme Court struck down most laws forbidding it. Presumably she’s already passed a background check at some point in her 26-year career at JPL; there’s little cause to literally question her loyalty now.
The problem isn’t her dual citizenship, it’s the poorly designed and implemented blanket standards for all federal employees that came about with HSPD-12, which itself if part of the broader knee-jerk reaction to the September 11 attacks and the War on Terror.
If one chooses to hold dual citizenship, one should expect there to be consequences and questions and complications. I would. Why doesn’t she?
To then publicly smear NASA and JPL as much as possible when the inevitable does in fact pop up is selfish narcissim.
Her reaction to the question most wouldn’t even notice is good illustration why it should be asked. One point of questioning allegiance is that it forces people to actually think about it. She may not have liked what it exposed about herself.
She’s another little “avenger” out trying to create what she thinks is a “just” world, which she defines to be one where other people are forced to support whatever she wants to do whenever she wants to do it, even when she is hostile to their interests, if she chooses to be.
Is that JBisch, or a typo for JBirch?
Why is it odd to have dual citizenship? Of course it’s not the norm, but “odd” and “strange” have somewhat different meaning.
This is like telling people that like their privacy that they have nothing to worry about giving away their privacy if they haven’t done anything wrong. Wanting some privacy doesn’t mean you’ve done something wrong.
If her parents were Irish, she has a right to Irish citizenship.
Well, “Spacecraft Systems and Associated Equipment” is on the US Munitions list as article 15, just between Biological Weapons (article 14) and Nuclear Arms (article 16), so perhaps it shouldn’t be so surprising. Probably not JPL’s (or NASA’s) call as to how to interpret that list.
I think you mean the Gestapo, not the NSA.
Ummm…is it possible, behind closed doors, that as sensitive JPL projects sell themselves, they brag about thier security checks going above and beyond whats basic? A selling point? Who would know…
I lived in the USSR for awhile back in the day. This just wreaks of the KGB, to be direct. We should all be ashamed that this sort of nonsense is being perpetrated in our names.
Lady Liberty weeps.
KGB? Really?
Lady Liberty weeps? Really?
How dramatic!
If you had lived there, you would understand.
A 26-year veteran of NASA is forced to sign a loyalty oath? You find this normal and appropriate? Really?
Are we afraid of Ireland now?
That anyone at NASA should spend half a penny or half a second on this is a waste of our tax money.
Are we somehow magically safer if she signs? Will the quality of her work improve? I should think it would be the opposite.
How is this different than a President [or many elected and unelected officials] taking an oath of loyalty to the Constitution.
Or say you wanted to be citizen of the US, and one required to give your alligence to United State, is that deal breaker to become a US citizen?
Ireland is not a member of NATO. That causes many security problems.
Even though this person is probably no risk, what is the policy? A foreign passport can be problematic. You can travel and the US government would have no way of tracking where you are going. Also, there is a question of loyalty. Granted that probably wont come up in this case. But, I have a hard believing, as the article claims, Irish people are being singled out. Again, what is the overall policy?
You obviously have zero concept of operational security relating to working on government projects.
Ireland is irrelevant, but a duel citizenship with ANY country raise eyebrows.
As I stated before, if she is not working on a secure program, then yes this type of questioning is out of line.
There are 10’s of millions of people in this country who have been indoctrinated (through the school systems) to hate both it and freedom because it can lead to unequal results. This can include your next door neighbor and even Presidents the population elects without knowing anything about.
The fact the employee was offended by the question of where her “allegiance” lies, posed due to her desire even as a native born citizen to hold dual citizenship with another country, is itself a red flag. Many people wouldn’t have even noticed the query, agreeing that half a penny or half a second is wasted on the matter.
But it was a major major “problem” for her, and she is indeed wasting many pennies on it and doing what she can to publicly smear NASA and JPL.
This is easily seen as her way to strike back against an “unjust” system she is so offended by, mostly because that’s what she says, as if the population being forced to fund her has no interests in who she is.
I would say her reaction to the question exposes why it is being asked.
Yeah… “they hate us for our freedoms.”
tens of millions of people in this country who have been indoctrinated through the school system to hate freedom.
Pardon me if I take your opinions with a mine of salt.
WOW .. you must have been all over Ted Cruz then for holding dual citizenship WHILE campaigning and being elected to the Senate.
The other day I had a flat tire. I decided to go to Walmart to put a new on the rim. While they installed my tire, which took way to long, the attendance wanted all my person information to put into their data base. This is to better serve me I’m told? It’s a little to much. Big Brother is here we are not safe from unknown people that can gain access to our information. I gave the attentent my info, but I wanted to say, who I am is non of your business, take my dam cash and fix my f$%& tire!
Just try buying a 9 volt battery with cash at Radio Shack…
…um, you need my name and address for that WHY?
It’s your own fault if you’ve given away your personal information to places where you don’t have to give any information. I decline EVERY SINGLE time I am asked for information when making a purchase–it’s NONE of their business!
Guess what. If you used your credit card, they have it anyway.
Must times I do, not sure if there is a way to get a warranty without it. Most times I skip the road hazard and warranty. And eat the nail.
I agree–it is hard concerning the warranties–I have had success by arguing the point that I should require no more than the paper receipt.
Blame yourself for giving your info away. No one made you do it, and there was no requirement to do so.
I agree Mr. Squared
That was part of my point.
“26 year veteran” is not relevant – many security incidents (including intentional treason) have been committed by veteran employees. “Of NASA” is a tiny bit of a stretch, as JPL is at root a NASA contractor that also does extensive work for DARPA and other U.S. defense organizations.
The specific questions asked here seem more like a clumsy CYA, but that’s DHS for you. Bottom line, it’s entirely appropriate to understand the background, including citizenship, of employees who have access to national security information.
I think there is a major misunderstanding here. The issue is not access to national security information. The issue is a ID/key card that lets a JPL employee get through the front gate and into the lab.
Work requiring more strict security is conducted in buildings with separate access control (This applies to buildings where they do sensitive work. I personally don’t even know if they do any classified work at all, but if they do, I assume it is similar.)
So we are not talking about people “who have access to national security information.” We are talking about someone who wants to get in the front door, to continue doing an non-classified job she’s been doing for over two decades.
Yes, reeks. No right to appeal, nor even a response from the IG’s office. A “security” “requirement” that could cost someone their job that had never been defined either at the time of employment nor in the promulgation of HSPD-12, nor any other Presidential directive. The term “Star Chamber” is not far off. If you think that’s cool, you’ve allied yourself with Charles II of England (divine right of kings), Joe Stalin (state terror as a means of government), and yes, the KGB (“We never make mistakes.”).
Blah blah blah “Star chamber” blah blah blah “Stalen” blah blah blah “KGB”
Give it a rest!
The only people I know or who have ever known that are against U.S. security clearances and their intrusive questions are those who can’t pass the requirements or have something to hide.
Now take your tin hat off and go finish your morning coffee with Edward Snowden!
Sorry, pal, but I have nothing to hide. I’ve just never wanted to have a clearance, because that’s not the kind of work I want to do. If I ever perceived this country to be under serious, active threat, I would make different career decisions. Not saying I have anything other than respect for people who do that kind of thing, and clearly security clearances are necessary for them, but I enjoy being able to talk about my work and get ideas from people beyond those with whom I work. In my humble opinion, one of the best moves by the Reagan administration was reducing the number of clearances by a third or so. I reckon we could do that now with no loss of national security.
If we don’t stand up for the principles in the Constitution – many of which are there because of the authors’ familiarity with 17th century English history, we don’t have anything to defend except real estate.
Sun,
My apologies I did not mean to insinuate that you personally have anything to hide.
“I’ve just never wanted to have a clearance, because that’s not the kind of work I want to do.”
And I completely respect your reasoning for not wanting a security clearance job–I guess the point I am trying to make is that those that work within that system (clearance) mostly do not see it as an intrusion as do those on the outside. Those on the inside say it is easier to understand the layers of intrusion.
Understood. That’s why it’s hard for the people working on non-classified stuff at JPL have found this whole HSP-12 thing so hard to take – their choice of work wasn’t supposed to require that kind of burden.
Perhaps the entity presenting itself as SpaceTech could identify him/herself with his/her real name? Or perhaps SpaceTech has something to hide?
Yawn!
Divine right of Kings – you are thinking of his father Charles I of England. At the end of the English Civil War Charles I was cut down to size, literately.
I stand corrected, which Charles II never did. It was his brother James II who took one step too far and found out, again, how outmoded the principle had become. Their sisters were wiser in that regard.
I’m sure that Ireland poses no threat to the USA (I’m less sure about France.)
However, if you substitute the name of a country like “Syria” into the questions that were asked, suddenly they look a lot more legitimate from a national security standpoint:
“If needed, would you renounce your citizenship with Syria? Do you carry a Syrian passport? Do you travel on this passport?”
Yeah, suddenly those questions look a lot more valid.