5234 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE March 23, 1999 COMMITTEE ON FINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS I ask that a portion of his award win- Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. ning article be printed in the RECORD President, the Finance Committee re- President, I ask unanimous consent on and intend to have the remainder of quests unanimous consent to conduct a behalf of the Permanent Subcommittee the article printed in the RECORD over hearing on Tuesday, March 23, 1999 be- on Investigations of the Governmental the next several days. ginning at 10 a.m. in room 215 Dirksen. Affairs Committee to meet on Tuesday, The material follows: The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without March 23, 1999, for a hearing on the SUBMISS: THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF THE objection, it is so ordered. topic of ‘‘Securities Fraud On The U.S.S. ‘‘SCORPION’’ (SSN 589) COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS Internet.’’ (By Mark Bradley) Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without At around midnight on May 16, 1968, U.S.S. President, I ask unanimous consent objection, it is so ordered. Scorpion (SSN 589) slipped quietly through that the Committee on Foreign Rela- SUBCOMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY, TERRORISM, the Straits of Gibraltar and paused just long tions be authorized to meet during the AND GOVERNMENT INFORMATION enough off the choppy breakwaters of Rota, session of the Senate on Tuesday, Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. , to rendezvous with a boat and offload March 23, 1999 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a two crewmen and several messages. A high President, I ask unanimous consent performance nuclear attack with business meeting. that the Subcommittee on Technology, 99 men aboard, the Scorpion was on her way The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without Terrorism, and Government Informa- home to Norfolk, , after completing objection, it is so ordered. tion, of the Senate Judiciary Com- three months of operations in the Mediterra- SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING mittee be authorized to hold a hearing nean with vessels from the Sixth Fleet and Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. during the session of the Senate on NATO. Capable of traveling submerged at President, I ask unanimous consent Tuesday, March 23, 1999 at 10 a.m. in over 30 knots, she expected to reach her that the Special Committee on Aging room 226, Senate Dirksen Office Build- home port within a week. Upon entering the Atlantic, the Scorpion be permitted to meet on March 23, 1999 ing, on ‘‘Internet Gambling.’’ fell under the direct operational control of at 9 a.m.–1 p.m. in Dirksen 106 for the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without Vice Admiral Arnold Schade, the commander purpose of conducting a hearing. objection, it is so ordered. of the U.S. Navy’s Atlantic Submarine Fleet. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without f On May 20, he issued a still-classified oper- objection, it is so ordered. ations order to the submarine that diverted ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICAN AFFAIRS her from her homeward trek and required Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. THE 1999 JAMES MADISON PRIZE her to move toward the and a President, I ask unanimous consent ∑ Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, this small formation of Soviet warships that had past Friday, the Society for History in gathered southwest of the islands. Under that the Subcommittee on African Af- U.S. Naval air surveillance since May 19, this fairs of the Committee on Foreign Re- the Federal Government awarded its flotilla consisted of one Echo-II class nuclear lations be authorized to meet during annual James Madison prize for the submarine, a submarine rescue vessel, and the session of the Senate on Tuesday, most distinguished article on an his- two hydrographic surveys ships. Three days March 23, 1999 at 10 a.m. to hold a hear- torical topic ‘‘reflecting on the func- later, a missile destroyer capable of firing ing. tions of the Federal Government.’’ This nuclear surface-to-surface missiles and an The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without year, the award was presented to a oiler joined the group. objection, it is so ordered. member of my staff, Mark A. Bradley, At approximately 7:54 p.m. Norfolk time on for an article he wrote on the dis- May 21, the Scorpion rose to within a few feet SUBCOMMITTEE ON AGING of the rolling surface, extended her antenna, Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. appearance of the U.S.S. Scorpion (SSN and radioed the U.S. Naval Communication President, I ask unanimous consent 589). Station in . Her radioman reported that the Subcommittee on Aging of the The Scorpion was a Skipjack class nu- that she was 250 miles southwest of the Committee on Health, Education, clear submarine. In 1968, after a Medi- Islands and estimated her time of ar- Labor, and Pensions be authorized to terranean deployment with the 6th rival in Norfolk to be 1 p.m. on May 27. On meet during the session of the Senate Fleet, the Scorpion was lost with all that day, as the families of the crew gath- on Tuesday, March 23, 1999 at 2 p.m. to hands aboard about 400 miles of the ered on Pier 22 in a driving rain and waited Azores. It had been on a secret intel- for their husbands and fathers to surface off receive testimony on the Older Ameri- the Virginia capes, the captain of the U.S.S. cans Act. ligence mission and the exact cir- Orion, who was the acting commander of The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without cumstances of the tragedy continue to Submarine Squadron 6, the Scorpion’s unit, objection, it is so ordered. be debated. Mr. Bradley’s article re- told Schade what the Vice Admiral secretly SUBCOMMITTEE ON EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC counts the events that led to the loss knew: the Scorpion had failed to respond to AFFAIRS of the Scorpion and offers an insightful routine messages about tug services and her Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. explanation of what might have caused berthing location. After an intensive effort President, I ask unanimous consent the accident. to communicate with the submarine failed, Schade declared a SUBMISS at 3:15 p.m. and Our own Senator ROBERT C. BYRD for that the Subcommittee on East Asian launched a massive hunt. and Pacific Affairs of the Committee his masterly work on the Senate, his- Numbering over fifty ships, on Foreign Relations be authorized to torian Ira Berlin for his work on Eman- and planes, the searchers retraced the Scor- meet during the session of the Senate cipation in the American South, and pion’s projected route to Norfolk and found on Tuesday, March 23, 1999 at 12 noon the Manuscript Division of the Library nothing. What most in the Navy, including to hold a hearing. of Congress, for its W. Averell Har- the crew’s families, did not know was that The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without riman project are all past Society for Schade already had organized a secret search objection, it is so ordered. History in the Federal Government for the submarine on May 24 after she had award winners. failed to respond to a series of classified mes- SUBCOMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND sages and, by May 28, he and others in the TRANSPORTATION As a Rhodes scholar, Mr. Bradley is service’s command believed the Scorpion had Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. no stranger to distinguished awards. been destroyed. Highly classified hydrophone President, I ask unanimous consent He is an accomplished historian who, data indicated to them that she had suffered that the Subcommittee on Housing and in his spare time, serves as the Asso- a catastrophic explosion on May 22 and had Transportation of the Committee on ciate Editor of Periodical, the Journal been crushed as she twisted to the ocean’s Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of America’s Military Past, where his floor. be authorized to meet during the ses- award winning article, ‘‘Submiss: The On June 5, the Navy officially declared the Mysterious Death of the USS Scorpion submarine presumed lost and her crew dead. sion of the Senate on Tuesday, March On June 4, the service’s high command had 23, 1999, to conduct a hearing on ‘‘Man- (SSN 589) appeared. We are proud of established a formal court of inquiry chaired agement Challenges at HUD.’’ him and thankful that he has chosen to by Vice Admiral Bernard Austin (Ret), who The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without apply his talents here in the Senate in also had headed the Navy’s investigation objection, it is so ordered. the service of the nation. into the 1963 loss of U.S.S. Thresher which

VerDate jul 14 2003 11:41 Oct 01, 2004 Jkt 069102 PO 00000 Frm 00088 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\BR99\S23MR9.003 S23MR9 March 23, 1999 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE 5235 had cost the lives of 129 men. After evalu- guarded intelligence operations ever mount- twenty-four hours later, SOSUS and civilian ating nearly 50 days of testimony, the Court ed by the . Code named Oper- underwater listening systems ranging from concluded that it could not determine the ation HOLYSTONE, its original purpose was Argentina to Newfoundland picked up the exact cause for the Scorpion’s loss. On Octo- to use specially equipped submarines to pen- shock of an underwater explosion along the ber 28, 1968, the Navy found the Scorpion’s etrate Soviet waters to observe missile Scorpion’s projected route followed by crush- shaattered remains in over 11,000 feet of launches and capture readouts of their com- ing sounds not unlike those recorded during water approximately 400 miles southwest of puter calculations. Later, they also were the Thresher’s destruction in 1963. According the Azores Islands. On November 6 Admiral used to photograph and gather highly sen- to these readouts, the entire episode lasted Austin reconvened his court, which studied sitive configuration and sound data on the slightly over three months. thousands of photographs taken of the Russian navy, particularly its submarines. Applying sophisticated mathematics to wreckage by U.S.N.S. Mizar. After two more This information was then used by intel- these recordings and tracing the Scorpion’s months of investigation, the Court again ligence analysts to track hostile warships by presumed track and speed to Norfolk, the held that it could not determine precisely listening to their noise patterns and sound Navy designated an area of ‘‘special inter- how the submarine had been destroyed. signatures. est’’ for its search some 400 miles southwest Frustrated by their lack of any clear an- While the Scorpion specialized in devel- of the Azores Islands. On May 31, the U.S.S. swers, the Navy’s high command turned to oping undersea nuclear warfare tactics, she Compass Island, a navigational research the II, a specially designed deep water also was used to collect intelligence. For in- ship, was dispatched to conduct an under- submersible capable of plunging down to the stance, in the late winter and early spring of water survey and on October 28, 1968, the gravesite. Between 2 June and 2 August 1969, 1966, and again that fall, she was engaged in U.S.N.S. Mizar, another navigational ship this bathyscape made nine dives to the Scor- what the Navy has called ‘‘special oper- with advanced photographic equipment, fi- pion, photographing and diagramming her ations.’’ Her then-commanding officer re- nally found the wreckage only three miles broken corpse. Although these efforts pro- ceived the Navy’s commendation medal for away from where SOSUS computers had esti- vided a clearer view of where she was and in outstanding service. Although much about mated it to be. Broken into two pieces, the what condition, they again failed to tell her last mission remains a mystery—five out Scorpion’s remains lay in over 11,000 feet of what had happened to one of the service’s of the last nine messages sent to her between water. most elite warships. After thirty years, the May 21 and May 27 from Norfolk are still Deeply shaken and still reeling from the Scorpion’s fate still remains shrouded in mys- classified top secret—it seems likely that loss of the U.S.S. Thresher (SSN 593) five tery, a not so ironic end for a member of the the Scorpion was engaged in or had just com- years earlier, the Navy began its post- silent service that spent her life on the shad- pleted a highly sensitive intelligence oper- morten with only the SOSUS readouts, the owy front lines of the . ation when she was lost. Scorpion’s operational history and the testi- Launched on December 19, 1959, and com- According to the first Court of Inquiry’s mony of her former crew members. The first missioned on July 29, 1960, the Scorpion was sanitized declassified report, the Scorpion Court of Inquiry deliberated from 4 June 1968 built by General Dynamics’ Electric Boat Di- had been diverted to shadow a Soviet flotilla until 25 July 1968 and examined 76 witnesses vision in Groton, Connecticut. One of six engaged in a ‘‘hydroacoustic’’ operation. as it considered a broad array of fatal possi- Skipjack class nuclear attack submarines, This means the Russians were also collecting bilities. First among these was that the So- which combined a tear drop-shaped hull with and analyzing information derived from the viets had intercepted the Scorpion and fin- a S5W reactor, the 252 foot Scorpion was ca- acoustic waves radiated by unfriendly ships ished her in an undersea dogfight. The Court pable of traveling over 20 knots while on the and submarines. The Navy would have been discarded this theory after it examined the surface and over 30 knots while submerged. greatly interested in any activity of this reports the intelligence community provided Her top underwater speed was more than 8 sort, particularly given the Soviets’ location and found no evidence that the Soviet forma- knots faster than that of U.S.S. Nautilus, the off the Canary Islands and near the Straits tion which the Scorpion had been sent to world’s first , launched in of Gibraltar, the gateway to the Mediterra- shadow had launched an attack or fired any 1954, and twice that of the best World War II nean. weapons when SOSUS recorded the explo- German U-boats. While the Nazis’ Type XXI The Soviets also may have been trying to sion. The Court also noted that there were submarine, completed in 1944 could travel at gather intelligence on the Americans’ highly no other Russian or Warsaw Pact vessels a top speed of 16.7 knots for 72 minutes with- secretive Sound Underwater Surveillance within 1,000 miles of the Scorpion’s last re- out resurfacing, the Scorpion could easily System (SOSUS), an elaborate global net- ported position.∑ travel submerged at top speed for 70 days. work of fixed sea bottom hydrophones that f These capabilities for high underwater speed listened for submarines. First developed in and unlimited endurance gave the Navy new 1950 and installed in 1954, SOSUS formed the AVIATION SAFETY PROTECTION tactical abilities undreamed of in 1941–1945. backbone of the United States’ anti-sub- ACT Although World War II had witnessed two marine detection capability. This system be- ∑ Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am great submarine campaigns, the first in the came even more crucial in the late 1960s as Atlantic where the Germans tried to sever the Soviet Navy began shifting its focus pleased to join Senator KERRY in intro- England’s supply lines and the second in the away from protecting Russia’s coastal wa- ducing the ‘‘Aviation Safety Protec- Pacific where the Americans assaulted the ters to building a blue water fleet spear- tion Act of 1999.’’ This legislation will Japanese merchant fleet, the submarines of headed by advanced hunter-killer and bal- grant whistleblower protection to avia- that period were strikingly similar to their listic missile nuclear submarines. This tion workers, thus helping to increase counterparts in submerged forced to place a premium on the safety of the aviation industry and speed and endurance. Dependent upon diesel intelligence about the Kremlin’s undersea the traveling public. oil while traveling on the surface and bat- operations. I have long been a supporter of whis- teries while underneath, these submarines By 1968, the Americans had deployed a were forced to spend the bulk of their time SOSUS network off the Canary Islands and tleblower protection for government above water recharging, only submerging were laying another off the Azores Islands. workers. This act will extend that pro- once they had spotted a target. Their reli- Both were aimed at tracking Soviet sub- tection to aviation workers. Airline ance on two propulsion systems made them marines nearing the Straits of Gibraltar and employees play a vital role in the pro- easy prey for air and surface attacks. Only approaching the Cape of Good Hope. Any So- tection of the traveling public. They near the war’s end did Hitler’s U-boats exper- viet attempt to disrupt or penetrate SOSUS are the first line of defense when it iment with snorkels and more powerful bat- would have aroused a great deal of interest comes to recognizing hazards and other teries, and American submarines regularly in Norfolk and may explain the Navy’s deci- violations which can threaten airline employ and radar. Even with these in- sion to send the Scorpion toward the Canary novations, the still lost Islands. safety. These dedicated employees nearly one-fifth of its submarine force while Whatever he last mission was, it appears should not have to choose between sav- fighting in both theaters. The dropping of likely that the Scorpion had completed her ing the public or saving their own jobs. the atomic bomb changed all this and made operational phase by 7:54 p.m. on May 21, The extension of whistleblower protec- possible not only one fuel system but also when she broadcast her last position and es- tion will eliminate that unfair choice much greater underwater speed and endur- timated time of arrival in Norfolk. Oper- and will allow them to do what is ance. ating under strict orders to maintain elec- right. What is right is to be able to tell The Navy quickly seized upon these new tronic silence ‘‘except when necessary’’, the airline management of aviation safety capabilities and deployed its nuclear sub- Scorpion sent only this message after she left marines in a variety of missions, particu- Rota. At the time of her last communica- problems without fear of retaliation or larly in gathering intelligence about the So- tion, she was approximately two hundred losing their job. viet fleet. In 1959, President Dwight Eisen- miles or six hours away from the Soviet for- I have been working with Senator hower approved one of the most closely mation she had been sent to monitor. Nearly KERRY and flight attendants on this

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