TAKING AIM

June 16, 1998
		The House took the first steps towards investigating the Clinton Administration over the possible transfer of missile technology to China . Following this background report, the chairs of the special committee-- Congressmen Chris Cox (R-CA) and Norman Dicks (D-WA)-- discuss the allegations and the planned investigation.

April 9, 1999: Prime Minister Zhu Rongji March 9, 1999: A U.S. scientist is fired for allegeldly passing nuclear information to China Feb. 26, 1999: The State Department criticizes China's crackdown on dissidents. Dec. 30, 1998: China cracksdown on political opponents. July 7, 1998: The Tibetan question. June 29, 1998: President Clinton challenges China on human rights issues. June 24, 1998: Three dissidents discuss Clinton's visit to China. June 15, 1998: The Chinese ambassador on Clinton's trip April 27, 1998: An interview with Chinese dissident Wang Dan Dec. 10, 1997: An interview with Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng Asia Index   The State Department's report on Human Rights abuses for 1998. Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China Human Rights Watch	OLMAN:The House Rules Committee today took the first steps toward a full-fledged congressional investigation of the transfer of U.S. missile technology to the People's Republic of China. It's expected to approve a plan to create a special committee to be chaired by California Republican Chris Cox. Norm Dicks of Washington State would be the committee's top Democrat. REP. CHRIS COX (R-CA): The select committee will make every effort to find the truth. I am heartened by the initial pledge of the administration to cooperate in our efforts to find the truth. Where the national security of the United States is at stake, withholding information from the congress under the guise of preserving what the White House has already decided will be a compromise prosecution is not justified. REP. NORM DICKS (D-WA): I think this is a very serious matter. I think that it warrants this select committee, and I pledge to all of you that I will do everything I can to cooperate with Mr. Cox and that our side will do everything we can to get to the truth and let the facts be the determinant. KWAME HOLMAN: If approved by the full House on Thursday,the new select committee will hold hearings looking into how and why the Clinton Administration granted a waiver to a top U.S. satellite-maker, allowing it to launch a commercial satellite aboard a Chinese rocket.
	Loral Space Communications.
	The company is Loral Space and Communications. Its chairman--Bernard Schwartz--was the largest individual contributor to the Democratic Party during the 1996 elections. That same year a satellite--built jointly by Loral and Hughes Electronics--was atop a Chinese missile that exploded shortly after takeoff. Following the accident, Loral and Hughes shared technical information with the Chinese about what may have gone wrong with the rocket, but did so without getting the required prior approval of the State Department. That triggered an investigation by the Justice Department. Then in February-- facing conflicting recommendations within his administration, President Clinton chose to clear the way for another Loral-Hughes satellite launch aboard a Chinese rocket. Both the President and Loral Chairman Schwartz have denied any connection between campaign contributions and the waiver given Loral. And a parallel development involves Johnny Chung--who is cooperating with the Justice Department's on-going campaign fund-raising investigation. Chung reportedly admitted last month he funneled $100,000 to the Democratic Party in 1996, money that was given the money by a Liu Chao-Ying, a Chinese military officer who also is an executive in a Chinese state-run aerospace company. This afternoon Rules Committee Chairman Gerald Solomon said those recent revelations necessitate the creation of the select investigative committee. REP. GERALD SOLOMON (R-NY): What we don't know is whether and how all of this is connected. We also don't know the full extent of the national security damage done to the United States. Questions abound, serious questions that threaten the very security of this nation and certainly threaten the safety of our citizens. KWAME HOLMAN: Joe Moakley, the ranking Democrat on the Rules Committee, agreed about the need for the new committee but said its mission should be narrowly focused. REP. JOE MOAKLEY (D-MA): Given the millions and millions of taxpayer's dollars trying to make Democrats look bad and given the rampant abuse of power, I think it's time we made absolutely sure that we establish a select committee that will investigate the allegations it's created to look into, no more, no less. I think it's time we create an investigative committee that will seek the truth, not waste taxpayer's dollars seeking partisan advantages. KWAME HOLMAN: It's expected much of the committee's work will involve sensitive subject matter and, therefore, will be carried out in sessions closed to the press and public. Still to be decided are the number of House members the select committee will have and how many will be Republicans and how many Democrats.

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