reoccurrence of this type of event. It appears that the successful handling of events such as the "Freeman" standoff in Montana and the Viper Militia arrests in Arizona are testament to the determination of these agencies to learn from previous mistakes. CARDISS COLLINS. KAREN L. THURMAN. ROBERT E. WISE, JR. LOUISE M. SLAUGHTER. PAUL E. KANJORSKI. THOMAS M. BARRETT. JAMES P. MORAN. CARRIE P. MEEK. CHAKA FATTAH. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS. ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF HON. TOM LANTOS I welcome the dissenting views on the majority report, which I have signed with a large number of my colleagues. That statement points out clearly the many serious deficiencies of the majority report. One issue, which is completely ignored in the majority report but which was raised at the time of the original hearings and which is raised in the dissenting views which I have signed, is the issue of the highly questionable involvement of an outside interest group the National Rifle Association-in the investigation which preceded the hearing. It is my view that this issue deserves greater attention and investigation. The active involvement of an outside organization in a subcommittee investigation raises the most fundamental questions about the integrity of the entire investigation, and the failure to address this important matter is a fundamental flaw of the majority report. The outside organization-the National Rifle Association (NRA) is not a disinterested third party. That organization and its leaders have made it clear that they had a particular point of view on the matters being considered by the subcommittee. Members of the subcommittee repeatedly urged the chairman of the subcommittee to investigate these matters, and the chairman has repeatedly refused to do so. In the interest of fairness and integrity, it is important that these issues be made part of this report. The first matter is the subcommittee majority's use of outside "experts" to test firearms. These "experts" were contracted for and paid for (at a cost of some $25,000) by the National Rifle Association. Furthermore, the chairman of the subcommittee and members of the majority staff initially tried to cover up the involvement of the National Rifle Association, and majority staff even refused to identify to officials of the U.S. Department of Justice the name of the outside advocacy group which selected and paid for the outside experts. Furthermore, in conversation with Justice Department officials, majority staff admitted that the so-called "experts" in fact had no expertise whatsoever in firearms testing. Later, during the course of the hearings the involvement of the National Rifle Association in this case did become public. The second issue is the matter of an employee of the National Rifle Association identifying herself as a member of the subcommittee staff to at least one individual who was called to testify before the subcommittee. Furthermore, two witnesses testified under oath during the hearings that they were contacted by an employee of the National Rifle Association prior to testifying at the hearing. This raises serious questions about witness tampering. Again this issue was not investigated by the subcommittee chairman and is not dealt with in the majority report. Both of these instances regarding the involvement of the National Rifle Association in the congressional hearing and investigative process not only raise questions about the ethical behavior of the majority staff, but also may be a violation of the law. This issue was raised in a July 17, 1995, letter from Congressman John Conyers, Jr., and Congressman Charles E. Schumer to the chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the chairman of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee. The instances of the National Rifle Association providing valuable services to the subcommittee may have violated the law and the Rules of the House. This issue should have been investigated and resolved. It was not. The refusal of the subcommittee chairman and the majority to investigate these issues fully and openly-despite repeated requests by me and other Members who participated in the hearings-raises the most fundamental questions about the integrity of the majority report as well as the hearing and investigation conducted by the subcommittee. TOM LANTOS. PART 2.—APPENDIX TO HOUSE REPORT 104-749 SELECTED DOCUMENTS PROVIDED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY AT THE REQUEST OF THE SUBCOMMITTEES -1 meeting was held regarding the Howell investigation at the SAC/Houston office. In attendance are LTC Walker, SAC Phillip J. Chojnacki, SAC Ted Royster, Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) James Cavanaugh, Resident Agent in Charge (RAC) Earl K. Dunagan, Special Agents Aguilera, Lewis, Petrilli, Buford, Lattimer, Williams, Carter, and John Henry. -LTC Walker provided the ATF representatives with information about the military support available and suggested that an aerial reconnaissance overflight utilizing thermal imaging photography be conducted. -LTC Walker maintained that he informed ATF that without a drug connection, military support provided would be on a reimbursable basis. -Specifics regarding a drug connection were not discussed. December 11, 1992 - Sepcial Agent Jose 6. Viegra, RAC/Austin, Texas met with William 2. Edney, Texas State Interagency Coordinator and his assistant, Lieutenant Susan X. Justice, Assistant Interagency Coordinator; National Guard, Counterdrug Support Program, Camp Mabry, Austin, Texas. Mr. Enney is designated by Texas Governor Ann W. Richards as the Texas State representative for DoD coordination of the Texas National Guard Counterdrug Support Program. -Agent Viegra asked general questions of Lieutenant Justice about the aerial reconnaissance photography capabilities of the Texas National Guard and provided her with a brief synopsis of the Howell investigation. -Lieutenant Justice informed Agent Viegra of the various available surveillance assets and asked him if the Howell investigation was drug related. -Agent Viegra responded that he can not provide Lieutenant Justice with information about any narcotics related violations. She then tells Agent Viegra that non-reimbursable military support of the investigation, without a drug nexus, is not possible. -Mr. Enney also stressed the need for a drug nerus and told Viegra to return to his office for a determination as to whether or not such a nexus existed. Mr. Enney added that, if a drug case did exist within the Howell investigation, ATF should then prepare an official, written request for support to be forwarded to the Counterdrug Support Office. -Essentially, Mr. Enney had simply provided Agent Viegra with a verbal interpretation of NGR 500-2. ber 14, 1992 Enney and Lieutenant Justice received a facsimile of a SAC/Houston letter, dated December 14, 1993, which requested military support for aerial reconnaissance photography of the Branch Davidian compound, McLennan County, Texas. The signature of RAC Earl K. Dunagan, RAC/Austin is on the SAC/Houston request. The request cited violations of the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Title XI, specifically the alleged manufacture of machine guns and explosive devices. -The above memorandum also included a request for the transport of ATF agents aboard the aircraft during reconnaissance missions, as well as the interpretation and evaluation of the photographs. The request, which did not include any information about suspected drug violations, identified Agents Viegra and Jeffrey Brzozowski as contacts. -Lieutenant Justice shoved the request to LTC Pettit, who initialed his approval on the acaorandum. December 16, 1992 -Group Supervisor (G/S) Curtis D. Williams, SAC/Houston; USCS criminal Investigator Gary Prior, Houston Aviation Branch; USCS Pilot Glen Goodwin, Houston Aviation Branch; and USCS Pilot Thomas Tait, Houston Aviation Branch flew a USCS Citation fixed wing aircraft over the Branch Davidian compound. -The overflight mission included the use of an infra red sensor camera for the purpose of detecting "hot spots". The goal of the mission was to identify concentrations of individuals congregated within the compound, not to locate a methamphetamine laboratory. -The mission, which was flown at a high altitude to evade detection, was not successful. ▲ 35mm camera is also utilised, but the resulting photographs were of no investigative value. December 17, 1992 -sac Phillip J. Chojnacki held a meeting about the Howell investigation in his office. In attendance vere SAC Chojnacki, Special Agent Ivan Kallister, Special Agent Davy Aguilera, and LTC David Lon Walker. -LTC Walker told SAC Chojnacki that DoD could provide non-reimbursable military support of the investigation if there is a suspicion of drug activity. This meeting generated the AF7 interest in obtaining information about any drug activity at the Branch Davidian compound. -Consequently, agent aguilera was told to actively pursue information from his informants about a drug nexus. -On December 17, 1992, LTC Walker received a telephone call from Agent Aguilera, who informed him of a facsimile transmission from Marc Breault in Australia that suggested the existence of an illicit methamphetamine laboratory at the Branch Davidian compound. -Additionally, Intelligence Research specialist Sandy Betterton queried the criminal records of Branch Davidians and identified "some" prior drug records. December 18, 1992 -Kr. Enney and Lieutenant Justice received a facsimile copy of a SAC/Houston letter, dated December 18, 1993, which requested military support for aerial reconnaissance photography of the Mag Bag, Limestone County, Texas. The signature of RAC Dunagan was on the request. The request cited suspected violations of the Federal Firearms Laws, specifically the alleged illegal possession of firearms and "possibly |