North Korea’s most recent and virtually daily provocation, blocking South Korean guest workers from entering its borders, summons all of our fears of nuclear proliferation and the ongoing threats to our nuclear security.
Since September 11. 2001, the national security law enforcement strategy, which works with our intelligence community, is built to confront these kinds of dangers, and has been spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Justice and coordinated by the FBI collaborating with state and local law enforcement agencies. Other partners include our national research institutions, federal, state and local regulatory agencies and emergency services. Federal prosecutors in all federal judicial districts in the nation and National Security Division lawyers in Washington, D.C. are integrated into the these investigations and cases from their beginning stages in order to advise and authorize the panoply of federal investigative techniques
The East Tennessee region presents unique challenges and opportunities in these efforts. Our federal facilities including the national laboratory (ORNL) and the Y-12 National Security Complex places us at the center of nuclear proliferation (and counter-proliferation), global security, anti-terrorism threats and efforts to thwart them. The federal criminal prosecutions of John Reece Roth for violation of the Arms Export Control Act and Roy Lynn Oakley for attempted Disclosure of Restricted Data are the most publicized local examples of national security criminal investigations and prosecutions but the work goes on everyday.