The legislators are here as part of an investigation by a House subcommittee responsible for embassy security.

Admiral Turner said the problem of embassy security was of long standing.

"I don't know what it is going to take to fix that building," he said, and complained of Soviet efforts to penetrate embassy security.

IN seeking to improve embassy security, the department's biggest problem is, as always, money.

This year, a State Department panel recommended a $14 billion budget to improve embassy security over the next decade.

"As the chief of embassy security, of course you're on the list, but we do have to follow security procedures."

If he called embassy security and reported the tail, it would look like he had something to hide.

"Once upon a time, you wouldn't worry so much about embassy security in a nation like Kenya, which has no history of terrorism," an official said.

Moreover, one said, the spending plan reflected an estimate of how much could be reasonably spent for embassy security in the coming years.

They found that Washington has neglected embassy security for decades.