In a July 26 letter to Armed Services Committee Chairman Floyd Spence (R-SC), Congressman Jones and fellow Committee Member, Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) asked for the hearing in a continued effort to prevent further espionage.  A full text of the Congressmen’s letter is available upon request.

As the Energy Department’s director of safeguards and security for nine years, Lt. Colonel Edward McCallum has been speaking out about the Department’s mismanagement of sensitive national security information.

 “Col. McCallum and his staff identified numerous security problems and sought to address these issues.  Yet, rather than being rewarded for his team’s efforts to protect U.S. national security, he was placed on administrative leave and his career was threatened,” the Congressmen wrote.

“Although efforts are currently underway to address the injustices levied against Col. McCallum and others like him, we strongly believe he has important information useful to our committee as we attempt to address DOE security problems,” they wrote. 

“The information Col. McCallum and his staff can provide will be critical in assisting Congress halt the leakage of sensitive military secrets,” Jones said.  “Congressman Weldon and I are committed to aggressively pursuing this issue and working to protect brave men and women like Col. McCallum who are willing to come forward with the information that will help us keep our sensitive national security information a secret.”

The office of Safeguards and Security governs protection of the Department of Energy’s national security assets, including nuclear weapons, nuclear materials, highly classified information, and personnel clearances. It also investigates security incidents involving the loss of nuclear materials and the unauthorized disclosure of classified information.