House Science Committee Chair Reacts To NASA GAO Report

Following the release of NASA’s Office of Inspector General’s report titled “NASA's Implementation of Export Control and Foreign National Access Management Recommendations”, House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) (pictured) said his committee will continue to monitor the situation.

This report assessed NASA’s implementation of the Office of Inspector General (OIG), Government Accountability Office (GAO), and National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) recommendations and the actions the agency has taken to protect export-controlled information.

“The Science, Space, and Technology Committee continues to monitor NASA’s ability to protect sensitive information," Smith said in a prepared statement posted on the committee website. "The NASA IG’s recent report demonstrates that NASA should be doing more. Following several high profile cases involving inappropriate foreign national access to NASA facilities and technologies, the Committee held a hearing in 2014 to examine the extent of the problem.

“While NASA has taken steps to address many of these issues, it is troubling to hear that NASA still refuses to adopt NASA IG recommendations," Smith said. "The Committee will continue to press NASA to do everything it can to not only protect sensitive technologies, but also hold accountable those who have taken a cavalier, casual and negligent approach to enforcing export controls and foreign national access.”

(Source: House Science Committee news release. Image from file)

FMI: http://science.house.gov