美国中央情报局探员揭露哈金先生。主席女士,昨天我站在参议院前并指出，自从专栏作家罗伯特·诺瓦克（Robert Novak）在报纸上披露一名中情局秘密特工的身份以来，已经将近整整一年了。已经360天了，而且还在继续。下周三将是一整年。是时候问一问了，为什么白宫还没有澄清此事？总统女士，自从白宫高级官员透露一名中情局特工的姓名以来，360天已经过去了。我们知道瓦莱丽·普莱姆探员的报道是如何被曝光的。早在9月，《华盛顿邮报》报道说，两名白宫高级官员致电至少六名华盛顿记者，披露了一名中情局秘密特工的身份。这名特工的掩护被揭穿的原因也相当清楚。这是对批评本届政府的人进行诋毁和报复的持续努力的一部分，特别是那些揭露用来为伊拉克战争辩护的情报有缺陷或捏造的人。我们现在知道，普拉姆女士嫁给了前大使约瑟夫·威尔逊。威尔逊大使被派往尼日尔进行实况调查，调查萨达姆·侯赛因试图从该国购买铀的说法。他找不到支持这一主张的证据。然而，布什总统在国情咨文中提出了这一主张。总统向听众宣读的关于萨达姆·侯赛因从尼日尔购买铀的著名16个字是如何进入国情咨文的，这仍然是一个巨大的文学迷。谁在布什总统的国情咨文中撒了谎？我们还不知道。我们确实知道，威尔逊大使在《纽约时报》上发表了一篇文章，对铀主张提出质疑。显然是为了诋毁和惩罚威尔逊先生，白宫高级官员泄露了威尔逊妻子的身份以及她是中情局特工的事实。有一天，普莱姆女士成了人类宝贵的智力财富；第二天，她成了政治炮灰。近一年后，我们仍然不知道谁是这次破坏性泄密事件的白宫高级官员。我们仍然不知道是谁把这些机密信息给了白宫，给了泄密者。是NSC的人吗？是中情局的人吗？是同一个人决定将来自尼日尔的关于铀的[[第S7780页]]虚假声明纳入国情咨文的吗？主席女士，20年的培训和经验以及数百万美元投资于该代理。泄露她的身份违反了法律，构成了对这个国家的背叛。然而，据我们所知，这次背叛的责任人此时此刻仍可能在本届政府中担任高级决策角色。显然，这是一个责任永不止息的政府，一个滥用权力的政府，但高层从未被迫承担责任。在她20年的职业生涯中，瓦莱丽·普莱姆以非官方身份运作，这意味着她没有外交豁免权。实际上，她唯一的防御是精心设计和维护的掩护。她与秘密特工和一个联络网密切合作。由于她的身份被披露，所有人都可能处于危险之中并面临危险。去年11月，我们听取了三名前中情局专家的证词。他们都同意这一披露对普莱姆更广泛的联系网络和整个情报界造成的深远损害。毕竟，任何情报人员现在都有什么保证，保证他们不会成为某届政府诽谤运动的下一个受害者？Vincent Cannistraro，前中央情报局反恐中心行动和分析主管，谈到普莱姆的披露，他说：其后果远大于瓦莱丽·普莱姆作为中情局秘密雇员的工作——包括对许多与她有联系的外国人的生命和生计的损害，并破坏了一个可能被用来保护中情局其他非官方掩护的秘密掩护机制警官。前中情局行动官员詹姆斯·马钦科夫斯基对此表示赞同，他说：我国政府蓄意揭露和指认威尔逊大使的妻子是前所未有的、不必要的、有害的和危险的。美国中央情报局前分析师、国务院雇员拉里·约翰逊（Larry Johnson）表示：本届政府在一个安全平台上运行，允许政府中的人危害情报资产的安全，我认为这是不合理的。在听了这三个人的发言后，本会议厅里没有人会对该法案对情报界和政府之间的关系造成的损害有任何怀疑。根据所有报告，在新年前一天最终任命的特别检察官菲茨杰拉德先生一直在进行非常积极的调查。他已经发出传票，在大陪审团前传唤证人，并采访了总统和副总统。我询问总统是否ReportsReportsent or Vice President were put under oath. I am informed they were not. Now I find this more than passing strange that the previous President of the United States, President Clinton, when he was being questioned about his relationship with a White House intern, was put under oath and filmed, and yet this President and this Vice President, the head of an administration where people leaked the identity in clear violation of the law of a CIA operative, are interviewed; they are not put under oath; they are not filmed. Would someone please explain the priorities? In fact, the President has been kind of cavalier and dismissive of this entire situation. In his only public statement about the leak, he told reporters, and this is a direct quote from President Bush: . . . I don't know if we are going to find out the senior administration official. Now, this is a large administration, and there's a lot of senior officials. I don't have any idea. That is what George Bush said on October 7, 2003. What I would like to know is, where is the President's outrage? Where is the recognition that this is not the same as leaking promising numbers on the economy? Where is the President's fury that one of his own valuable intelligence assets has been destroyed? And what about the Vice President? We know he can be relentless when he is on a quest for information to justify the case for the war in Iraq. Where is his determination to find the people who have destroyed the confidence of the intelligence community in this administration? All we hear from the President and the Vice President is silence on this issue, as if they do not want to know who leaked this information, or they know and they do not want to be held accountable. In either case, it is inexcusable for the President or Vice President. The disclosure of Ms. Plame's identity represents an extremely damaging breach of national security. She worked gathering human intelligence, exactly the type of intelligence we have heard over and over again since September 11, 2001 that is so critical to our fighting terrorism. Only 2 days ago, National Public Radio reported on the fact that there is a growing consensus on the need to improve our human intelligence capacity. There is a recognition that after years of increasing reliance on intercepts and satellite imagery, only solid human intelligence can help us deal with the type of insurgency we face in Iraq in effectively fighting al-Qaida. The other critical point that was made is that sending troops to a training course on intelligence gathering is not enough. According to one CIA agent, he said it takes 10 years to season somebody as a case officer in order to judge the information and the people they are dealing with, check on bona fides. That is the kind of asset Valerie Plame used to be, and, as Mr. Cannistraro pointed out, the damage that was done was not only to her but to her network and potentially to all CIA human intelligence operatives. One publication reported after reading of her own blown cover, Ms. Plame immediately sat down to make a list of all of her contacts and associates who could be in jeopardy. I can only hope when we find out the identity of this leaker or leakers, that person is forced to see this list and be confronted with the full extent of their betrayal of this country and our citizens. Usually when the cover of agents like Valerie Plame is blown and their contacts placed in jeopardy, it is a result of espionage. The perpetrators, when convicted, face life in prison or even death. In many ways, it is almost worse that this was done as an act of political revenge. The disclosure of Ms. Plame's identity was unquestionably a vicious act of political intimidation and retribution, but it is much more than that. It is part of a clear pattern of coverup, concealment, and contempt for the truth. That is why so much rests on the outcome of Mr. Fitzgerald's investigation. We need to identify and prosecute those responsible for this damaging episode, and in so doing we need to send a clear message to the President and the Vice President that sacrificing intelligence assets and breaching national security is too high a price to pay for maintaining the issue of deceit that was used to justify the war in Iraq to the American people. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington. ____________________