LETTER TO AUGUSTUS F. HAWKINS RE THIS LETTER IS TO SUBMIT DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY VIEWS REGARDING H.R. 1524

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87B00858R000500800049-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 18, 2011
• Sequence Number: 49
• Content Type: LETTER

Approved For Release 2011/08/18: CIA-RDP87B00858R000500800049-0
Department of Energy
w"htnpton, DC 20566
Honorable Augustus F. Hawkins
Chairman
CoTanittee on Education and Labor
O.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The purpose of this letter is to submit Department of
? Energy views regarding B.R. 1524, cited as the Employee
Polygraph Protection Act of l65", as ordered reported by
the Committee on Education and Labor.
The Act prohibits the use of polygraph tests for
hiring, discharging or disciplining employees in the private
sector. The prohibitions in the bill do not apply to
Federal, State or local governments. The bill also exempts
consultants and contractors employed to perform intelligence
or counterintelligence functions by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation of the Department of Justice, Department of
Defense, Central Intelligence Agency and National Security
Agency.
The Department of Energy would oppose S.R. 1524 unless
it were amended to exempt Department of Energy contractor
employees engaged in work related to the national defense or
national security. National security activities of the
department include the research, development, testing, and
manufacture of all U.S. nuclear weapons; the verification of
international arms control agreements; the control of
sensitive technology transfers, and the dissemination of
classified information. In cooperation with the Department
of Navy, DOE also develops nuclear ship-propulsion systems.
A large percentage of our work relating to national defense
and national security is performed by' employees of
contractors to the Department of Energy. Because DOE
contractor employees are not covered by any of the
exemptions in the bill, the would not be subject to any
polygraph tests under this legislation. Because of the
importance to national defense of the work performed by DOE
national security contractors, we believe that it would be
most unwise to preclude their use of polygraph tests...-'To
avoid that result, the following amendment is suggested:
insert the following new subsection on page 6,
between lines 7 and S.
Approved For Release 2011/08/18: CIA-RDP87B00858R000500800049-0