News Release
Committee on Energy and Commerce
John D. Dingell, Chairman

Dingell, Stupak Comment on Resignation of NNSA Administrator

Washington, DC - Today Reps. John D. Dingell (D-MI), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Bart Stupak (D-MI), who is expected to be named chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, commented on Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman's decision to remove Linton Brooks as the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration:

"I applaud Secretary Bodman's decision to ask for the resignation of Linton Brooks," said Dingell. "Ambassador Brooks's removal was frankly the first real accountability we have seen in some time involving yet another security breach at Los Alamos National Laboratories. Unfortunately, we have seen repeated security failures at this facility over the past 10 years, many of which have been under Brooks's leadership."

"Linton Brooks's termination is long overdue," said Stupak. "Ambassador Brooks's departure was necessary to send a strong signal of accountability. I look forward to working with Mr. Dingell and other Members of the Committee to further secure our national labs in the 110th Congress."

Most recently, classified documents were discovered at an off-site trailer that was being used as a meth lab, which Dingell found particularly disturbing. "One wonders, had the meth lab not been raided by the local police, whether Los Alamos lab officials would have ever discovered that the documents were even missing. This raises great concern over other possible security lapses particularly in light of the DOE Inspector General's ongoing findings that the lab is lacking adequate safeguards for handling classified materials."

"What is most troubling is that a major weapons lab as strategically important to this country's national security as Los Alamos continues to find itself in the public spotlight over sloppy security measures," Dingell continued.

A bipartisan investigation was launched into this matter and is ongoing. Dingell plans to hold hearings on why these problems continue to occur at this facility and hearings on the latest episode can be expected in the subcommittee within the month.

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