DOE chief says he won't take over nuke security agency

Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson said Tuesday that he does not intend to circumvent the intent of a recently passed law by taking take over as head of the new National Nuclear Security Administration.

At a joint hearing of the Senate Governmental Affairs and Energy and Natural Resources committees, Richardson denied allegations that he was dodging the law that created the new agency. The two committees held the hearing to investigate a recent directive from President Clinton appointing Richardson to lead the new agency, which, according to the law, is to be headed by an undersecretary of energy.

"First, I want to appoint an undersecretary, and I want to do it soon," Richardson said, "The President has designated me to perform the duties of the undersecretary. He has not appointed me the undersecretary."

Congress recently passed legislation creating the semi-autonomous nuclear security agency within DOE to address concerns about espionage at nuclear weapons labs. The director of the new agency was given broad authority to create counterintelligence and security programs, and was to report directly to the Secretary of Energy. President Clinton signed the new reorganization plan into law on Oct. 5.

But the President then directed that Richardson head up the new agency, and indicated he would not nominate a new undersecretary for nuclear security until Congress changed parts of the law he did not agree with.

Clinton's action caused an uproar among the legislators who had pushed the bill. "It's as if the President has exercised a line-item veto, signing the bill but denying the effect of certain provisions. That approach is unconstitutional," Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., said.

"The President seems to have directed the Secretary of Energy to ignore the intent of the law," and "in effect, to report back to himself," Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Ark., said.

Richardson continued to argue Tuesday that the law creating the nuclear security agency was flawed because it removes the Secretary of Energy's authority over sensitive classified programs and isolates the new agency from outside direction.

While he agreed to follow the law, Richardson continued to lobby for "some very modest modifications that put things right and bring stability back to the department."

In response to a question on whether he will name an undersecretary if the administration doesn't get the changes it wants, Richardson said, "That's going to be a decision the President makes. I want to do it."