-Caveat Lector- Tuesday June 22 3:53 PM ET Senators Discuss Action On Nuclear Labs By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican senators and the energy secretary Tuesday agreed the structure of the Energy Department must change to better guard secrets at U.S. nuclear weapons labs but there was no consensus on what should be done. In an unusual meeting of four senate committees, there was general agreement that a quick legislative solution would be best, to strike while public furor was hot over allegations that China's spies got some top U.S. nuclear weapons secrets in the past 20 years. China has denied it stole U.S. nuclear secrets. But disagreements quickly emerged over how best to improve security. While key Republican senators seemed ready to agree on a plan, to become law both the Senate and House must approve the same bill and the president must sign it. Three key Republican senators said they were drafting a plan that would consolidate the nuclear weapons programs in one area of the Energy Department's bureaucracy. The plan was based on recommendations by a presidential advisory board that suggested creating a semi-autonomous agency within the Energy Department to oversee nuclear weapons programs. It would be headed by an under-secretary. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said he agreed with most of the report from the board chaired by former Sen. Warren Rudman, but disliked the notion of a ``semi-autonomous agency'' within the Energy Department because it would undermine his authority. The comments came at a joint hearing by an unprecedented four committees whose membership comprised more than half the 100-member Senate. About 30 senators actually showed up. Republican Sens. Frank Murkowski of Alaska, Pete Domenici of New Mexico and Jon Kyl of Arizona planned to offer jointly an amendment to restructure the nuclear weapons programs. It would be attached to a funding bill for U.S. intelligence programs that may be considered by the Senate this week. ``What has happened is a disaster of major proportion for the national security of our nation,'' said Murkowski, who chaired the hearing. The full ``geopolitical'' impact of the security lapses would probably not be known for another decade or two, he added. Over the past 20 years more than 100 reports by various government entities have been issued criticizing security at the labs and recommending changes, Rudman said. Among the people interviewed by the advisory board, ``one employee said the (Energy Department) was about as organized as the Titanic in the 11th hour,'' Rudman said. Every time a president or energy secretary has tried to institute changes, ``the bureaucrats have won,'' he said. Richardson said he was prepared to accept the creation of an under-secretary post to head the nuclear weapons programs but opposed establishing a separate agency within the department. He warned against creating an ``empire'' through a separate structure that a future energy secretary would not be able to control. Richardson agreed on the need for oversight and said he would like to have ``junkyard dog types'' who would point out failings in the way the labs were managing security. A culture of ``arrogance'' at the labs was also cited as an impediment to security because of scientists' disdain for edicts from bureaucrats whom they consider less intelligent than they are. But some senators said that that scientific culture would be difficult to change and the answer was a structural change in the bureaucracy that would ensure security lapses were caught. When one Republican senator tried to place the blame for lab security lapses on the Democratic Clinton administration, Rudman, a Republican, responded: ``I think you all deserve some blame,'' noting that Congress had taken no action despite the many reports issued over the years. -- The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them. - Henry David Thoreau DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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