SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT OF WILLIAM E. COLBY DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 07101930
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: April 26, 2024
• Document Release Date: March 1, 2024
• Case Number: F-2021-02293
• Publication Date: August 1, 1974

Approved for Release: 2024/02/29 C07101930
Supplementary Statement of
WILLIAM E. COLBY
Director of Central Intelligence
1 August 1974
A brief description of some of the specifics of CIA implementation of
Executive Order 11652 might be useful to the Committee.
One of the major requirements under the Executive Order, and one which
has attracted some interest, is the establishment of a data index system. The
implementing NSC Directive calls for such a system for classified information in
categories approved by the Interagency Classification Review Committee "as having
sufficient historical or other value appropriate for preservation." Happily the CIA
was in a relatively good position when this requirement was established. For some
time the Agency has had a sophisticated, computerized data index system, improved
and refined through the years, by which it has indexed, among other documents,
finished intelligence reports. Such reports have been approved by the Interagency
Classification Review Committee as a category of information appropriate for
preservation. Only a few relatively minor adjustments in the system were necessary
to completely conform it to the requirements of the NSC Directive.
The principal purpose of the index system was to retrieve information and
it is highly efficient for this purpose. As modified, it also can be useful in the
review and declassification process. It is anticipated that usefulness in these areas
will increase as the years go by and as the data base of an ever-increasing proportion
of the indexed documents includes the now required classification data elements.
The data index system, on the other hand, can be of little or no value in guarding
against or tracing leaks of classified information, and this is especially true in this
day of the copying machine.
In concert with other departments, CIA has experienced a significant reduction
in the numbers of authorized classifiers in each of the three classification levels.
The initial reduction was in excess of 40 percent and there has been an additional
small reduction. One factor which limits the Agency's ability to reduce these
numbers is that its people are located in so many places abroad. In all such
installations, even if there is only a one-man component, that individual must have
authority to classify information. Nevertheless, it may be possible to make further
reductions in the future.
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Under the Executive Order, any person may request a review for
declassification purposes of any sufficiently identified document which is at least '
10 years old. CIA has had a number of requests for review and declassification.
In 1973, 110 declassification requests were received, 50 of which were granted
in full, 19 granted in part, 18 were denied, and action on 23 was pending at
the end of that year.
A number of requests have originated with other government departments
in connection with their consideration of declassification requests to those
departments. Requests have come in from the press, from current and former
employees, from professors, graduate students, high school and college students,
and from individuals who have not revealed their occupation or position. Perhaps
the greatest number of requests originated with other departments, with the press
and scholars constituting the second and third largest categories.
Requests revealed an interest in World War II and OSS activities, in CIA
involvement in Guatemala and Cuba, and � probably the greatest number � in
Agency involvement in Vietnam. Denial of requests is based on the nature of the
information as measured against the standards of the Executive Order. Documents
have been denied which reveal a confidential intelligence source or agent.
Information received from a foreign government with the understanding that it
be kept in confidence has been denied. Documents have been denied which would
disclose that an individual whose duties and career require that his CIA employment
not be revealed, in fact is a CIA employee.
It has been possible to approve the request for over 200 OSS documents
made by a historical researcher who was writing a book on his experience as head
of the OSS mission to Hanoi. A number of requests for documents concerning
certain Indonesian matters from a Vassar professor doing research on US/Indonesia
relations during the early 1960s have been approved. The French Broadcasting
System requested the OSS film "Mission to Yenan." This was made available to
them, and to the public, by declassifying it and transferring it to the National
Archives.
In the area of training, security briefings are given new employees covering
the standards and procedures established by the Executive Order. A series of
meetings were held in 1.973 for 160 key personnel for the purpose of briefing
these supervisory personnel on the requirements of the Order. Overseas assignments
and job requirements would preclude training for all employees, but the CIA
regulation contains the requirements of the Executive Order and is readily available
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throughout the Agency. The security and records management features of the
Executive Order are treated in various Agency lectures and seminars, including the
regular Mid-Career Executive Development Course and the Management and Services
Reviews. Basic information pertaining to E.O. 11652, including the criteria for
classifying information, is included in required reading which is circulated
periodically to all personnel.
We have conducted a number of seminars and briefings to familiarize
employees with the Order. The Order, the Agency implementing regulation, and
other written materials are readily available within the Agency and some of this
is circulated periodically as required reading.
As a final point, Mr. Chairman, it is my understanding that the principal
purpose of H.R. 12004 is to replace the existing executive order system for
classification with a statutory system. It is my belief that a statutory basis for
classification by CIA already exists. Congress has declared in the National Security
Act of 1947 that the Director of Central Intelligence must protect foreign
intelligence sources and methods from unauthorized disclosure. Later it declared
in the CIA Act of 1949 that information relating to such Agency areas as
organization, functions, and identities of personnel is protected information. In
general, then, H.R. 12004 as it applies to such areas in CIA is in conflict with
existing statutes relating to the Central Intelligence Agency, and would dilute my
responsibility and ability to protect intelligence sources and methods from
unauthorized disclosure.
To summarize, Mr. Chairman, my particular concern with respect to
H.R. 12004 arises from my statutory charge to protect intelligence sources and
methods. We are working to carry out the requirements and objectives of
E.O. 11652 but its full implementation will take time and it is too soon to conclude
that it is entirely satisfactory. And finally, Mr. Chairman, I am committed to the
view that the intelligence investment is to be fully returned to the taxpayer in
the form of quality intelligence for the government's policymakers and for the
public, to the extent possible while protecting intelligence sources and methods,
the duty charged to me by the National Security Act of 1947.
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