For 20 years, while four American presidents slept, China snuck in and stole this country’s most valuable nuclear, missile and high-tech secrets. The reaction by national leaders to the thievery described in the Cox report has been swift and strong.

Republicans in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail say their guys, Ronald Reagan and George Bush, were too busy winning the Cold War to be checking every door and window. Besides, it was Jimmy Carter who left things unlocked in the first place and Bill Clinton was the cop on the beat — and on the take — when the break-in was discovered.

Democrats, including those who served on the bipartisan committee led by Republican Rep. Christopher Cox, say there’s probably no cause for alarm. The damage may be serious, but probably not too. We probably still have lots more and lots better missiles than the Chinese. Anyway, the Chinese would have developed this stuff eventually; the heist merely saved them a decade or so in time and a measly billion or so in money. Besides, the big-ticket items, the W-88 warhead, the supercomputers and the Trident sub technology, were lifted during the Republican years. Clinton’s cleaning up their mess; he’s on the case.

How comforting for Americans to know that no matter how close they are to the nuclear abyss, mindless partisanship stands tall. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are no match for the two party system. Americans would be even more comfortable had Grandpa finished that bomb shelter he started back in the 50s.

Nothing can put these secrets back in the safe. The damage is done and no amount of finger pointing can undo it. There may be a time and place for political games. This isn’t it.

The reality is this: China, for two decades and four presidents, played the United States for suckers. When the Soviet Union was the threat, China was the moderating force, the counterbalance that would only be effective if kept strong through an open (as in open nuclear labs) relationship with the United States. When the Soviet Union was no longer a threat, China was the world’s largest consumer market, a powerful economic engine that can only be fueled by an open (ditto) relationship with the United States. The most powerful nation on Earth got taken like a rube at a country fair.

Now it appears Congress may fixate upon the question of whether Attorney General Janet Reno and Energy Secretary Bill Richardson should be fired for not pursuing these security breaches more vigorously. Certainly, Ms. Reno’s failure to investigate the blatant comings and goings of Chinese scientist Wen Ho Lee demonstrates a stunning lack of judgment, but in an administration with barely 18 months to live, her resignation would make little difference. For Congress, it’s worth a day’s debate at best. The important question is what Congress will do to plug this security sieve.

The Cox report includes, in its 800-plus scathing pages, 38 recommendations to tighten security at nuclear labs and to regain control of technology transfer in computers and missile systems. Although the scientific community and the commercial satellite industry already are protesting, the recommendations must be implemented. The free flow of knowledge must stop where basic research turns into specific applications for national defense. Satellite entrepreneurs looking for a cheap ride into space cannot be permitted to decide what missile technology belongs in the hands of a hostile nation; the Clinton administration’s most unwise decision to transfer the licensing of commercial satellite launches on foreign rockets from the State Department to Commerce must be reversed. An ancillary recommendation, that the most sensitive areas of the Energy Department’s nuclear labs be placed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense, may be inconvenient for scientists, but it is necessary.

Some members of Congress sincerely want to preserve national security without killing scientific inquiry and commerce. Add to that the urgent need to work with China to gain assurances that the powerful knowledge they now possess will not fall into even worse hands — North Korea comes immediately to mind — and they have plenty to keep themselves busy.

Some would prefer to carp, bicker and cast blame. That’s fine, just so they stay out of the way of those trying to get some real work done. As they stand on the sidelines, they can marvel at China’s response to the Cox report: We didn’t steal anything and, besides, everyone does it. Now that’s some world-class spin.