Pentagon Adviser Says Clinton Administration Lax On Technology Exports
Claims 'shortsighted business interests' overrode national security
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, June 25) -- A veteran Pentagon adviser is expected to tell a Senate committee Thursday that oversight of exports of U.S. technology to China and other nations has grown lax on the Clinton administration's watch.
Peter Leitner, an adviser to the Defense Technology Security Administration for the past 12 years, has told Senate investigators that the administration has allowed "shortsighted business interests" to override national security concerns, according to material obtained by the Associated Press.
He is scheduled to testify Thursday before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which has been investigating whether the administration helped China gain military capability that should have been restricted.
The Pentagon-based DTSA is charged with reviewing proposed exports to China and other countries. Leitner told investigators that the agency's traditionally strict scrutiny of exports with possible military uses quietly changed under the Clinton administration, as primary responsibility for reviewing commercial satellite exports was shifted from the Pentagon to the Commerce Department.
Leitner also told investigators that senior defense officials glossed over concerns from lower-ranking military officials that U.S. businesses were being allowed to sell technology that could be converted for military uses by China and other nations.
Leitner: Fewer cases sent for further review under Clinton
To buttress his claims, Leitner submitted statistics showing a decline during the Clinton administration of export cases that were referred by the DTSA for further review by the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. He also gave investigators a DTSA interagency routing sheet in which various officials jot their recommendations on a proposed export. The only two choices printed on the memo are "No objection" and "No objection subject to..."
A Pentagon spokeswoman, Air Force Lt. Col. Queenie Byars, said Leitner was speaking "as a private citizen," not a Pentagon official, in his testimony before the Senate.
David Tarbell, director of the DTSA, denied in recent congressional testimony that he pressured subordinates to toe a pro-export line.
Sen. Fred Thompson, chairman of the Government Affairs Committee, said Wednesday that the DTSA "is supposed to bring to the licensing process the views of our fighting forces, who at the end of the day have to live with any military benefits other countries might obtain [from technology transfers.]"
Clinton-China links under scrutiny
Veteran executive branch officials rarely criticize a sitting administration on policy matters before Congress. However, Leitner has done so before. Last year, he surprised a congressional hearing by questioning the administration's commitment to protecting sensitive technology.
His appearance Thursday, however, comes at a time when the administration's handling of exports to China is under great scrutiny.
Several congressional committees and the Justice Department are investigating whether Clinton waived restrictions on satellite technology exports to China as a favor to Bernard Schwartz, a major Democratic donor who is chief executive officer of a company that benefited from the transfer, Loral Space and Communications Co.
Both Clinton and Schwartz have denied any link between the waiver and campaign contributions.
In addition, Johnny Chung, a friend of the president's from Little Rock, has told Justice Department investigators that some of the money he raised for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) during the 1996 presidential campaign came from a lieutenant colonel in the Chinese army, Liu Chao-ying, who was also an executive with China Aerospace.
That state-run company reportedly benefited from a shift in approving launches of American satellites atop Chinese rockets from the State Department, which wanted to limit them, to the Commerce Department, which favored permitting them. At the time, the Commerce Department was headed by the late Ron Brown, former chairman of the DNC.
Liu has denied giving money to the DNC through Chung.
In recent congressional testimony, Commerce Department officials have vigorously denied charges that they supported exports with potentially adverse national security consequences.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
|
News
Justice