Idaho Delegation Questions Ridge on National Lab Access - Seeks Equal Opportunity for INEEL

Idaho Delegation Questions Ridge on National Lab Access - Seeks Equal Opportunity for INEEL

Washington, D.C. - The Idaho Congressional delegation sent a letter today to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Tom Ridge, asking him to investigate recent guidelines issued by DHS controlling the ability of U.S. Department of Energy national labs, such as the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), to compete for homeland security research missions. The DHS guidelines, issued last month, would exclude INEEL from the bulk of Homeland Security research. The delegation wrote:

"We represent the employees of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. These researchers and the programs on which they work (many of them classified) have been contributing to the defense of the homeland long before the creation of your Department. Institutions such as the INEEL, and the other DOE national labs that were left off the list, are world class research centers that can provide a tremendous return on the investment of DHS research dollars. These researchers ask only for the opportunity - the real opportunity - to compete for this research."

The text of the letter is attached.

January 30, 2004

The Honorable Tom Ridge
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528

Dear Secretary Ridge,

We are writing to object, in the strongest possible terms, to guidelines issued by the Office of Research and Development, Department of Homeland Security, in December of last year regarding, "Utilization of National Laboratories to Support Homeland Security S&T." Section 309, of Public Law 107-296, which created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) directed DHS to utilize U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories to carry out its research agenda. In developing the legislation, proposals for having certain national laboratories dedicated to the Department of Homeland Security were considered (in fact, such a proposal was in the original Administration draft legislation) but this approach was expressly rejected by Congress - the desire being that national laboratories would compete freely for this work.

Having raised the issue of national lab utilization with you as far back as March of 2003, having met and discussed it with Undersecretary Charles McQueary, and having corresponded further about it in September of 2003, we are profoundly disappointed that DHS issued the guidelines it did, in December. These guidelines are highly exclusionary and are in direct contrast to the principles of a level playing field and equal access to opportunity that DHS had committed to adopt.

Much more disturbing, however, is the strong appearance of conflict of interest inherent in these guidelines. In staffing the new Science and Technology Directorate, DHS, of necessity, had a strong reliance on detailees and loaned personnel from the U.S. Department of Energy and its national laboratories. These personnel, some of whom have subsequently become DHS employees, were involved in the development and issuance of these guidelines. It is possible to draw a troubling correlation between former and family organizational ties, and the list of national labs that are "in" or "out" - or to use DHS terminology, "intramural" and "extramural".

We represent the employees of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. These researchers and the programs on which they work (many of them classified) have been contributing to the defense of the homeland long before the creation of your Department.
Institutions such as the INEEL, and the other DOE national labs that were left off the list, are world class research centers that can provide a tremendous return on the investment of DHS research dollars. These researchers ask only for the opportunity - the real opportunity - to compete for this research. We ask you to remedy the error in judgment displayed by the Office of Research and Development in this case, and to investigate any potential conflict of interest at play here. We stand with other members of Congress who have already written to you on this matter. We are eager to hear from you the results of your investigation and are ready to meet with you at your convenience, if necessary.

Sincerely,

Larry E. Craig Mike Crapo
United States Senator United States Senator

Mike Simpson C. L. "Butch" Otter
Member of Congress Member of Congress