Senator BENNETT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I will be brief, as I, too, want to hear from the witnesses. But I want to underline several themes that have been made here.

First, with respect to the responsibility of the Government not to lie to its citizens.

I come from a State where we have a group of people called the Downwinders, people who lived in the 1950's downwind from the atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons that took place in Nevada. The Downwinders were told that they should go out and look at the clouds as they went by because it would be a great experience that they could describe to their children. Then they were told that the cancer rates that occurred in southern Utah as a result of people who were exposed to that radiation and fallout were somehow just coincidental. The Government clearly lied to its citizens in that circumstance.

So it goes back, as you say, through a lot of Presidents and a lot of Administrations and a lot of parties. One of my heroes, Dwight Eisenhower, was President when that was being done. In the name of national security, we lied to our citizens. We exposed them to health risks and then we tried to cover up after the fact.

More to the point, recently, I toured the military installation at Dougway, Utah. Some people may not know about Dougway, Utah. It is the prime storage facility for nerve gas and other chemical and biological weapons in the United States, and for many years Dougway was the place where the testing of the efficacy of these weapons went on.

Dougway is now entirely defensive, appropriately. We do not do any production or testing of potential American weapons in this regard, but we do a great deal of testing of ways to prevent and defend ourselves against attacks from other countries.

The military is cutting back on its activities in Dougway, saying that these defensive kinds of tests are not needed anymore. I'm not here to debate the military budget on that issue. But I think as we raise these questions, we should very carefully revisit the decision to cut back on America's capability to develop defenses against this kind of thing. Having been so recently at the site where this capability is going on, I think it-well, it comes very firmly to my own approach to this to say, maybe we're too hasty in cutting back some of that defensive activity.

But, ultimately, the thing that will bring the greatest anger as far as the Junior Senator from Utah is concerned is the issue that the Chairman has raised, in another context, the Senator from North Carolina has raised, and that is the issue of lying to Congress. I think it's indefensible to consider that any member of any Administration, in an attempt to cover up an agency position-and by agency, I include Cabinet-level officers-would come before the Congress and attempt to mislead the Congress.

I associate myself entirely with the Chairman's promise-and I think it is a promise, not a threat-to pursue any witness who attempts to mislead the Congress in an effort to protect the reputation of his or her agency. I think that applies to the issues raised, as I say, by the Senator from North Carolina. But it certainly applies to the issues here.

If, as a result of activity on the part of our enemies in the Gulf War, we are sustaining belated casualties, we need to know about it, and we need to know as quickly and as openly and as completely as we can about it. And there is no better constitutional vehicle to find out this truth than the Congress of the United States.

I hope those who represent the Executive Branch understand their constitutional responsibility, taken at the time they raised their hands and took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution,, that that includes being honest and open and straightforward with the Congress and its constitutionally elected officers.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator Bennett. I appreciate your comments very much.

Let me indicate our first panel of witnesses today includes Edwin Dorn, who is the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. He is accompanied by Dr. Theodore Prociv-am I pronouncing that correctly?

Dr. PROCIV. It's "pro-siv," Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Prociv-the Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Chemical and Biological Weapons; and by Dr. John Kriese, who is the Chief Officer for Ground Forces at the Defense Intelligence Agency.

I want to welcome you all. Let me ask you to please stand and raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you’re about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Mr. DORN. I do.

Dr. PROCIV. I do.

Dr. KRIESE. I do.

The CHAIRMAN. Very good. Thank you.

We have your prepared statement, Mr. Dorn, and I'd like you to take whatever time you need to set forth your understanding of this situation and the statement that you want to make to us this morning.

| First Page | Prev Page | Next Page |