Home | Issue Briefs | Events | Reports | Links | About | Action

COMMITTEE OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS

March 23, 2000

The Honorable Bill Richardson
Secretary of Energy Department of Energy
Foriestar Building
1000 Independence Ave., SW Washington, DC 20585

Dear Mr. Secretary:

We write to you on behalf of the Committee of Concerned Scientists regarding the case of Dr. Wen Ho Lee, formerly of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The Committee, established 28 years ago, has worked to protect the human rights of scientists, physicians and engineers around the world.

We recognize that Dr. Lee has been charged with serious crimes, and trust that he will be given a fair trial to determine the validity of these charges. In this letter we wish to express our concerns about the possible consequences of his arrest and urge upon you ways of addressing those concerns.

A number of observers, particularly in the Asian-American community, including scientists, are concerned that ethnic prejudice has played a role in the Wen Ho Lee case. Such prejudice is, of course, profoundly unacceptable, and it is crucial that you make clear, in word as well as deed, that it is utterly impermissible both in this case and in any of the operations of the national laboratories. This is not only the right thing to do; it is also crucial in the service of assuring that all scientists, of whatever ethnic background, will wish to contribute to the work of the national laboratories.

A statement by you stressing your Department's commitment to treating foreign-born scientists in ways that are no different from other scientists, and to providing them with working conditions and opportunities no different from those of other scientists, would be important and reassuring.

Sincerely yours,