WASHINGTON, May 23 (UPI) -- Sen. Richard Shelby says it's ``long past time'' that Attorney General Janet Reno resigned because of her handling of the Chinese espionage scandal. Shelby, the Alabama Republican who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said today on the CBS talk show ``Face the Nation'' that Reno must be held responsible for the botched investigation of China's spying on U.S. weapons laboratories. Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., said on the same program that ``something is very wrong'' when a bipartisan congressional committee ``has so little confidence'' in Reno's abilities. ``We know this espionage has probably gone on for 20 years, through the Reagan and Bush administrations,'' Torricelli said. ``China now has. ..a variety of warheads based on American design, which can reach the United States.'' Shelby called the spying ``the worst in the history of this country,'' adding that the Chinese government ``got just about everything we had.'' On Tuesday, a congressional report on the spying scandal will be published -- against strong objections from the White House, which is expected to be savaged by the report's authors. The report from Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., is the result of a year's investigation by a bipartisan nine-member committee. The investigation started its life as a pet project of former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who wanted to investigate the Clinton administration's sale of technology to China. Cox and his staff discovered a pattern of Chinese spying spanning three decades -- and while Cox says he was assisted by the Central Intelligence Agency, he was strongly rebuffed by the Justice Department when he sought answers there. Also on ``Face the Nation,'' Secretary of State Madeline Albright said she should've been told about the espionage before this year. ``I was not briefed, that was wrong, and I've made that clear,'' Albright said. ``The Department of Energy should have briefed me. This has been rectified.'' The nuclear-weapons laboratories are getting better security systems, she said, adding that the Chinese information theft was very serious. ``We know this is serious, and we have no illusions about dealing with the Chinese.'' On the same program, Senate majority leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., had harsh words for Clinton's administration, the Department of Energy and especially the Justice Department. ``Somebody dropped the ball,'' Lott said. ``I think it's shocking... Some heads should roll. Somebody made some major mistakes and somebody needs to be accountable.'' Lott said Reno didn't allow the FBI to investigate claims that China was stealing technology from the Department of Energy's research labs, and that she specifically denied a wiretap of suspected spies' telephone lines when DOE intelligence officials asked for one. On NBC's ``Meet the Press,'' former DOE intelligence director Notra Trulock -- now the acting deputy director of that department -- said his attempts to stop the spying met high-level resistance. ``I was too unwilling to back off this issue and let it die,'' said Trulock, who was a star witness in the Cox committee's investigation. ``It should not be this difficult for an official in my capacity to bring these issues to the attention of the national leadership, the White House, and so forth.'' Trulock called the scandal ``on a magnitude equal to the Rosenbergs'' -- referring to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were sentenced to death after being found guilty of giving U.S. nuclear secrets from the Los Alamos laboratory to the Russians in the 1940s. Cox, also appearing on ``Meet the Press,'' said, ``Notra Trulock knew about these things inside the government. But he represented that there were forces (keeping) him from testifying.'' The Department of Energy won't meet even ``minimal security standards'' until next year, Cox said. ``And when it comes to our national security, a day late and a dollar short is not good enough,'' he said. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, appearing today on ABC's ``This Week,'' said the committee's findings ``are not conclusive yet'' and that the problems are being corrected. ``There was lax security in the labs in the 70s, the 80s and the 90s, '' Richardson said. ``But we cannot politicize this issue. We cannot over-dramatize conclusions that are not conclusive yet.'' Richardson acknowledged that the Chinese stole nuclear secrets that ``probably accelerated their design'' of nuclear weapons. ``But we have to put this issue in perspective,'' he said. ``We have. ..6,000 warheads. The Chinese have 23.'' ====== Regional-news-2 update at May 23 9:53 PDT ====== (WASHINGTON) -- Sen. Richard Shelby says it's ``long past time'' that Attorney General Janet Reno resigned because of her handling of the Chinese espionage scandal. Shelby, the Alabama Republican who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said today on the CBS talk show ``Face the Nation'' that Reno must be held responsible for the botched investigation of China's spying on U.S. weapons laboratories. Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., said on the same program that ``something is very wrong'' when a bipartisan congressional committee ``has so little confidence'' in Reno's abilities. ====== Regional-news-3 update at May 23 15:56 PDT ====== (NEW YORK) -- Police in New York City say they have arrested the person who gunned down two teenagers in Brooklyn this morning. Seventeen-year-old Belano Byars has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Police say he shot and killed 19-year- old Kevin Davis and wounded 18-year-old Gene Washington during a dispute in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of the borough shortly before 1 a.m. -- Mom, kids hurt by falling tree (NEW YORK) -- A woman and her two children are recovering from injuries they sustained when a tree fell on them in Inwood's Indian Road Park Saturday. The family was treated for cuts and bruises and one child stayed in the hospital overnight for observation. The Parks Department has closed the part of the park where the tree fell until trees in the area can be inspected for decay. -- NYC has enough lifeguards to open beaches (NEW YORK) -- The New York Times is reporting that there will be enough lifeguards to staff all of the beaches in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island by the Fourth of July weekend. Thanks to successful recruitment efforts on the part of the Parks Department, there won't be a repeat of the lifeguard shortage that left four miles of Big Apple beaches unprotected last summer. The city reportedly will have 500 lifeguards on duty by Memorial Day weekend, with another 100 ready to work by July 4th. -- 'Star Wars' dominates US box office (HOLLYWOOD) -- As expected, ``Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace'' dominated the nation's box office taking in with an estimated $61.8 million during Friday-Sunday period, studio sources said Sunday. Finishing a distant but still-solid second was Universal's ``The Mummy'' with $13.1 million, to push its 17-day total to $99.5 million. Fox's ``Entrapment'' came in third with $5.8 million, followed by Warner's ``The Matrix'' with $2.9 million, to pull its overall total past $149 million. DreamWorks' opening of romantic comedy ``The Love Letter'' finished fifth with a moderate $2.6 million. -- Rangers to re-sign Leetch (NEW YORK) -- The New York Rangers will hold a news conference Monday, only three days after published reports they have agreed to a deal with Brian Leetch that will make him the NHL's highest-paid defenseman. The New York Daily News reported Friday that Leetch, a two-time Norris Trophy winner, agreed to a four-year deal to stay with the Rangers that will pay him $35 million. New York allowed former captain Mark Messier to test the free agent market following the 1996-97 season, but apparently were not willing to let the 31-year-old Leetch -- the team's current captain -- do the same. -- Knicks 90, Hawks 78 (NEW YORK) -- Chris Dudley made up for an ineffective Patrick Ewing Sunday by scoring 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter and the New York Knicks used another strong effort by their bench for a 90-78 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. The Knicks, with a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series, are one win away from a date in the conference finals with Indiana.  