MEETING WITH THE STAFF DIRECTOR OF THE JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP70B00338R000200160021-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 19, 2004
• Sequence Number: 21
• Publication Date: June 16, 1966
• Content Type: MFR

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16 June 1966
SUBJECT: Meeting with the Staff Director of the Joint
Economic Committee
REFERENCE: Memo from D/ORR to DD/I, dtd 16 June 1966, subject:
"Issues Relating to the Contributions of ORR to a Report
of the Joint Economic Committee of the Congress."
1. On this date, I met with Mr. James Knowles, Staff Director
of the Joint Economic Committee, to discuss further the matter of the
contributions of various Agency employees to the study to be published
by the Joint Economic Committee on the Soviet economy.
2. The Agency had agreed to submit these papers in response to
a request from the Committee last Fall. Our response to the Committee's
request asked that the Committee follow the recent practice of not
attributing these articles or the authors of the articles to CIA. Recently,
however, the wisdom of the continuation of this procedure had come into
question as a result of the publicity attached to the Gecr ge Carver article
in the FOREIGN AFFAIRS magazine and several congressional comments
pertaining to it. In addition, the Committee had expressed some concern
over the possibility that knowledge of the Agency's participation in this
series might become an issue with several members of the Committee
(particularly Senator Fulbright who has publicly stated that Carver's
affiliation with CIA should have been mentioned in his magazine article)
and with the press. The staff was concerned that a blow up of this issue
could completely overshadow the professionalism of the entire study.
The Deputy Staff Director, F_ I had suggested that we might 25X1
want to take a second look, particularly at article 25X1
which he had described as "colorful. "
3. I indicated to Mr. Knowles that this subject had been a matter
of review and concern at the highest Agency levels and it had been con-
cluded that, all things being taken into consideration, it would be better
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in the future if the Agency and its employees were treated the same
as other agencies and their employees who have rendered assistance
in these studies. It is the staff's plan to identify the authors of
individual papers as they appear in the publication but not to make a
specific link of each Government employee and his agency. The studies
will contain a Foreword which will express the Committee's appreciation
to the departments and agencies who have cooperated in the preparation
of these studies, specifically identifying each Agency involved. Mr.
Knowles was extremely pleased with our position and indicated that it
would make matters much easier for them. In addition, it will obviously
relieve his concern over the possibility that a member of the Committee,
such as Senator Fulbright, might become upset if he should learn that the
Committee's study includes articles written by employees of CIA whose
affiliation with CIA has not been disclosed.
4. This then brought us to the next point, i. e. , the matter of
identifying specific authors as employees of the A enc . I told Mr. Knowles
that in most instances, such as the case of specific 25X1
acknowledgement of their association with t e Agency posed no problem
and, in any event, each Agency author could be identified to any member
of the Committee. It was suggested, however, that the Agency might
like him to "drag his feet" in associating several of the contributors
w
I I ith the Agency to the press. (I had in mind, in particular, the case of
whose situation is described in the referent memorandum.
was subsequently advised by Mr. Morell, however, that identification of
I Iwould pose no individual problem and all authors could be
identified as CIA employees.) Since there is sufficient time before actual
publication, it was agreed that we would get together later to discuss these
cases on an individual basis.
5. I then advised Mr. Knowles that we wished it to be clear in
the study that these papers represented the individual views of the various
authors and did not necessarily represent the opinion or position of the Agency
to which he was associated or the U.S. Government. Mr. Knowles
responded, as I had hoped, by recommending what I had been prepared
to suggest, that is that the Foreword to the study contain a general statement
along these lines. I told Mr. Knowles that I thought his suggestion was a
very good one and one with which we would wholeheartedly agree. All of
the above has been passed on to the Director of Research and Reports.
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6. Later in the day, in the DD/I's office, 25X1
informed me that at this morning's USIB meeting, General Carroll
mentioned that DLA had been asked by the Joint Economic Committee to
prepare a paper on Chinese Communist military expenditures for the
Committee's upcoming series on the Chinese Communist economy.
General Carroll added that DIA was not in the best position to submit a
paper and asked for the views of the other Board members. It is my
understanding that it was subsequently decided that the Agency might be
in a position to respond to this request and CIA would so inform the Com-
mittee. I am also informed that Mr. Morell has been consulted on this
and has agreed that ORR will prepare this report, in addition to the three
others which the Agency had originally been requested to provide.
7. In a subsequent conversation with Mr. Knowles, I advised him
that he would be receiving a letter from DIA suggesting that the Agency be
contacted concerning the military expenditures report. I told him if he
wished to send us a written request it was perfectly agreeable with us but
correspondence was not necessary since we were planning to go ahead
with the additional article. Mr. Knowles was most appreciative of this
and, in response to my request, said he would be happy to provide us with
a galley proof of the Foreword to the Committee's study on the Soviet
Union.
25X1
Distribution:
Original - Subject
1 - Ex/Dir-Compt
1-DDCI
1-DD/I
1 - D/ORR
1 -. Cmdr. Moran
1 - Chrono
OGC /LC /GLC: jmd
Assistant Legislative Counsel
``SECRET
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