The following is from backhoe's listing today of previous FR postings re Berger:
Washington Weekly
Monday, March 29, 1999 Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)
Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), House of Representatives, 3/23/99
Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to bring you news from home. In my case home is the Sixth Congressional District of Arizona, a district in square mileage almost the size of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and now with the explosive growth in the Grand Canyon State a district that is home to well nigh one million Americans.
From the pages of the Holbrook Tribune-News, indeed from the editorial page of March 19, the headline reads, 'This Story Needs More Attention.' Paul Barger, the publisher of the Holbrook Tribune-News, writes, and I quote, 'For some time there have been reports circulating regarding the possible theft of highly classified missile secrets from Los Alamos since the 1980s. The thefts were apparently discovered in 1995, and the person allegedly involved was allowed to resign recently. The matter has been kept quiet for what seem to be political reasons.'
Paul Barger concludes, 'It is sad that so much attention is given to issues of no real import while serious matters of our national security and America's future are glossed over.' Thus, the headline from the editorial, 'This Story Needs More Attention.'
Among those who curiously seem to want to adopt a public posture of glossing over or indeed gloating in a sophomoric way about this troublesome, threatening and dangerous story, among those sadly includes the person who is the President of the United States.
At a radio and TV correspondents' dinner the other night, our own President joked that one of his favorite movies this year was, quote, Leaving Los Alamos; humor as it is defined in the last days of the 20th century. It boggles the mind.
Other matters glossed over, the past associations of the President's national security advisor. From yesterday's Washington Times on the op-ed page, Edward Timperlake and William C. Triplett, II, who coauthored the book the 'Year of the Rat,' setting forth the ample evidence of Chinese involvement in the Clinton-Gore reelection campaign in 1996, I read from their op-ed piece, headlined 'Leaks on Berger's Watch,' quoting now: 'We believe that, for the national interest, President Clinton's national security advisor Samuel Sandy Berger should resign immediately.
'For the past 6 years, Mr. Berger has presided over a failed and ultimately corrupt policy toward the Chinese military that betrays both the democratic standards of the American people and the national security of the United States. He is the classic example of the wrong person in the wrong job at the wrong time.
'Right out of the starting gate, Mr. Berger was an unfortunate choice for a national security position with the government because of his prior role as the chief Washington lobbyist for the Chinese Government's trade office.'
Let me repeat that. 'Mr. Berger was an unfortunate choice for a national security position with the government because of his prior role as the chief Washington lobbyist for the Chinese Government's trade office.
'Having once had a personal financial stake in the promotion of pro-Beijing policies raises an immediate question of his present judgment and decision-making. If only for appearances, let alone personal ethics, he should have recused himself from anything connected to Beijing and its military ambitions.
'Instead, Mr. Berger seems to be around whenever, in our opinion, Clinton administration decisions are made that favor People's Republic of China trade ties over American national security interests.'
Mr. Speaker, perhaps the most compelling indictment comes from one Dick Morris, the President's one-time top political advisor, and curiously a man whom the wire services often referred to as the disgraced Dick Morris back in the old days of 1996, when an illicit affair that violated one's marriage vows was something that brought disgrace on a person rather than added to their public opinion polls.
Here is what Dick Morris writes in his column last week in The Hill. Quoting now, 'Sandy Berger is about as qualified to be national security advisor as I am. He's a political operative who had virtually no foreign policy experience before he became Tony Lake's deputy.'
Mr. Speaker, this story need not be glossed over. The first constructive step is that Sandy Berger must go, and we must release the Cox Select Committee Report.
Published in the Mar. 29, 1999 issue of The Washington Weekly. Copyright © 1999 The Washington Weekly (
http://www.federal.com). Reposting permitted with this message intact.
Posted by: JeanS (
dsbuilders@globaldialog.com) *
03/28/99 11:13:05 PST
