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Assembly Member Chu Statement on GOP Objection to Wen Ho Lee
Ceremony
Release by Assemblymember for California 49th Assembly
District
June 5, 2004 - I regretfully cancelled the Assembly Floor ceremony
honoring Dr. Wen Ho Lee in order to spare him from an awkward situation
arising from the Assembly Republican Caucus' objection to the
presentation. The Assembly GOP Caucus informed our office of their
objection to honoring Dr. Lee late Friday afternoon.
I am outraged by the Republican Caucus objection to the ceremony and
Howard Kaloogian's inflammatory remarks in Friday's Oakland Tribune.
Dr. Lee has already been victimized by an overzealous prosecution by the
government and I do not want him to be brutally victimized again by
unwarranted, racially-charged, inaccurate and irresponsible accusations.
It is my great honor to honor Dr. Lee with an award that celebrates and
recognizes an Asian Pacific Islander American individual who has shown
tremendous courage in the face of overwhelming odds and inconceivable
injustice. Dr. Wen Ho Lee, survived nothing less than a racially charged
inquisition by runaway government officials and a justice system that
was asleep at the wheel.
Dr. Lee is a 60-year-old Taiwanese American scientist who was unfairly
singled out and charged with mishandling restricted nuclear data at the
Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he had been an employee for over
20 years. Contrary to erroneous press accounts and the inflammatory
rhetoric, Dr. Lee was never charged with "spying". Despite a lengthy
investigation involving over 1,000 interviews and review of over one
million files, the FBI did not uncover any evidence that Dr. Lee passed
on classified or restricted information to any foreign agents.
The conditions of Dr. Lee's confinement were severe for a 60-year old
scientist. He was placed in solitary confinement, shackled with leg
irons and chains every time he left his solitary cell, he was denied
access to daily exercise and showers, and had very limited access to
phone calls, visitors, or outside information. Nevertheless, Dr. Lee
persevered and justice was eventually served.
Dr. Lee walked out of court a free man on September 13, 2000 after a
federal judge repeatedly apologized for incarcerating him for nine
months without trial and angrily rebuked the federal government for its
handling of a case that "embarrassed this entire nation." The government
dismissed 58 counts against Dr. Lee. In a sworn statement provided as
part of the deal, Dr. Lee said that he did not intend to harm the United
States and that he had not passed the tapes or their contents to anyone.
In the end, the FBI admitted that it had no evidence that Lee was a spy
and he was not charged with espionage.
Dr. Wen Ho Lee's courage in the face of such overwhelming persecution
inspired Asian and Pacific Islander Americans all over the country. His
perseverance and dignity during this horrendous ordeal is a beacon for
all of us to follow and for that I am proud to honor him with the
inaugural API Legislative Caucus "Profile In Courage" Award.
Release Contact: Bill Wong
Phone: (916) 319-2224
State Capitol P.O. Box 94289
Sacramento, CA 94249-0049
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/scripts/a49press.idq
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