CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP77M00144R000400020024-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 19, 2005
• Sequence Number: 24
• Publication Date: July 23, 1975
• Content Type: OPEN

117358 Approved For Re16QW 9 QIV: IA R
lied the scent by now, and it soon came out
that Nedzi, as chairman of that Armed Serv-
ices subcommittee, had been briefed on CIA
assassination plots more than a year before
and, once again, had done nothing. With
.this news in hand, the select committee
Democrats rebelled, demanding a different
chairman. But "Speaker Albert balked at
dealing with the controversy, advising pa-
tience, and the full House later gave Nedzi
a resounding vote of confidence by refusing
to accept his resignation. This left Nedzi in
committee with. which he re-
tused to and the investigation came to
A major reason-for that vote and the sub-
Sequent select committee stalemate is what
was happening back at Armed Services.
Gurtously tila$ o r? 3 .te's leaderghtp_ija
np~t}~~_[1.ueatinn nP ml~ accEe?-
tided to take
tcr"its--tla sifecl files--stemmlr from tt,e
C;fl-Xe--contraver;yiiina _ mnntha-Zie?o=mat
ti[e-very'moment when Mr. Nedzl's failure as
an overseer of intelligence operations had
come to national attention. On June 10. five
clays after The New Yorlc.Times broke the
story of Nedzi's inaction on assassination
schemes and at the height of the controversy
over his remaining as Seleot Committee
chairman, House Armed Services met in an
Improperly announced closed session and,
'without a quorum present, voted unani-
mously to bar me from further access to its
files. No notice had been given me that this
action was being considered-in, fact I didn't
find out about it until two days later.
I won't dwell on the several ways in which
this action, rearmed at a later date by a
narrow majority of the total committee, was
itself a violation of House rules, except to
say that a committee cannot take away the
privileges a congressman holds under. the
rules of the House as a-whole-one such
privilege being access to all committee
records, regardless of committee member-
fillip. A mom telling point is the action's
glaring hypocrisy.
Columnist Jack Anderson, for example; was
iluick to say that he has received leaks
of classified information from many mem-
bers of House Armed Services on many oc-
There are only two ways to avoid that posi-
tion. You can stick your head in the sand
and ? let the administration handle such
things, or you can challenge the terms of the
game Itself, for the game is basically a fraud.
Certainly the United States heeds a first-rate
intelligence gathering system, and maintain-
ing that system will require that -we keep
some secrets. But the acceptance of a clas-
sificatlon system gone wild-the mindless
rubber-stamping of every conceivable piece
of information with the national security
label-has obscured the distinction between
legitimate intelligence gathering and manlp-
ulation of people and institutions. It has
provided the cover for almost every-kind of -
crime and impropriety at home, and it has
sanctioned covert adventures overseas that
have done tremendous damage to our inter-
national standing.
After 10 years of Vietnam and the Water-
gate affair, the American people understand
this, They know that their leaders have lied
routinely, cloaking arrogance and bullying
and greed in terms of the national interest.
They know that a secret agency that. ,can
overthrow a foreign government is a threat
to democracy here. They know that a Con-
gress that will turn away or masquerade to
hide those kinds of actions can, also dis-
semble in its handling of just about any-
thing else. The Congress knows this, too, but
refuses to admit it. And that is why the
House Investigation of US intelligence oper-
ations will remain a touchy undertaking no
matter who is diong the Investigating. In the
- back of every member's mind is the uncom-
fortable sense that the biggest scandal in the
sordid story of CIA wrongdoing is the failure
of effective oversight-the cover-tip by the
. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a
previous order of the House, the gentle-
man from New York (Mr. BrNCNAM) is
recognized for 10 minutes.
[Mr. GINGHAM addressed the House.
His remarks will appear hereafter in the
Extensions of Remarks.]
casions---"X have no difficulty getting secrets.
out of that committee when I want them,"he said. There are tolerable leaks and in-
tolerable leaks, apparently, and- the chair-
acterizatton depends not on the strict
dictates of the rules but-on the current in-
terests of the committee leadership or the
Executive branch. --
The Armed Services action was perfectly
timed to- shift the focus of debate on the
handling of classified material from Lucien
Nedzi to Michael Harrington. And at least
over the short term, the tactic seems to have
worked. Certainly it contributed to the out-
pouring of affection for the harried select
committee chairman who just happened to
have his resignation considered by the House
on .the day of the second Armed Services
vote against me. From the swirl of pub-
liclty over another member's endangering of
the nation's defenses, Mr. Nedzi was borne
up on wings of 'angels. The vote was 290
to 64.
If one talces P. step back from all of this,
what emerges is not a narrow controversy
over a chairmanship and a member's prerog-
atives, but a pattern of congressional acqui
essence in the seductive game of shared
secrets. It starts with. the pleasant feeling
of being privy to things unknown to the
ordinary citizen, but it works very much like
blackmail. The more you know about dublous
secret operations,, the more you are respon-
sible for hiding, and the, more you hide, the
tighter the grip of the State Department or
the CIA or the Pentagon. A large part of
Lucien Nedzi's problem is that' he got to
know so many and such distasteful secrets
HEARING OF SUBCOMMITTEE `ON
MONOPOLIES AND COMMERCIAL'
LAW OF COMMITTEE ON THE JU-
DICIARY ON JULY 30, 1975
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a-
previous order of the House, the gentle-
man .from New Jersey (Mr. Roimlo) is
recognized for 5 minutes. ?-
Mr. RODINO. Mr. Speaker, the Sub-
committee on Monopolies and Com-
mercial Law of the Committee on the
Judiciary, of which I am chairman, an-
nounces- that it will hold a hearing on
present and past energy investigations
by the Department of Justice and the
Federal Trade Commission on Wednes-
day, July 30, 1975, at 9 a.m. in committee
room 2141 of the Rayburn Building.
TIIE WEEK OF WEEKS---CAPTIVE
NATIONS WEEK '75
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a
previous order of the House, the gentle-
man from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fzoon)
is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. FLOOD. Mr. Speaker, the 1975
observance of Captive Nations Week,
was, indeed, a week of. weeks. Sym-
bolically, accidentally, partially con-
trived or otherwise, during ? what week
of the year is there packed in one a
0020Q24=3 July 4J y _..L-975;
captive peoples, the President's sllppoxt,.
of the week, Kissinger's declamation _ of.
the Russian writer as- a threat to peace,:':`.
ciom fighter, the orbital detente
Apollo-Soyuz, and the culmination of'the
hers are interested in many examples
of the observance as compiled by ' the
;Fist, proclamations by Mayor Vincerit'v
A. Cianci, Jr., of Providence, Rx,; Mayor
Bartholomew F. Guida of New 73aven,'.''
Conn.; Mayor Robert 13. Doyle, Jr.' oP
Mobile, Ala.; Mayor Jack C. Hunter; of.?
Youngstown, Ohio; and Mayor Tliolnas-
G. Dunn of -Elizabeth, N.J.;
Second, an editorial on "The~Spec'ter,
At The Feast" in the New York Sunday
News;. and
Third, an essay by Dr. Lev E3.
Dobrian-
sky of Georgetown University on !,'The
Illusions of Detente" circulated by .:the
Americanism Educational League- In Cal.
ifornia. ' - - - -
The articles follow:
PROCLAMATION FOR THE Crr-r OF PROv'mmF:NCE.
nY His HONOR MAYOR VINCENT A. C:IANCI,
JR.
munists have led, through direct and-in
direct aggression, to the subjugation and en-.
slavoment of the peoples of Poland, Hungary,'
Lithuania, Ukraine, Czeehoslovia, Latvia;
Estonia, Byelorussia, Rumania, East. Gee-
many, Bulgaria, Mainland China, Armenia.,
Azerbaijan, Georgia. North Korea, Albania,
Idel-Ural, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia,. Tibet,
Cossackia, Turkestan,. North Vietnam, Cuba,
Cambodia, South Vietnam and others; and
Whereas, the desire for liberty and inde-
pendence by the, overwhelming majority of
peoples in these conquered nations. coasti-
tutes a powerful deterrent to any ambitions
of Communist leaders to initiate a. major
war; and
Whereas, the freedom loving peoples of
the captive nations look to the United States
as the citadel of human freedom and to
the people of the United States. as the lead-
ers in bringing about their freedom and in-?-
.
dependence; and
Whereas, the Congress of the United States
by unanimous vote passed Public Law F18-90:-
establishing the third week in July each'
year as Captive Nations Week and inviting
the people of the United States to observe,
such week with appropriate prayer, cere-
monies and activities expressing their.sym-
pathy with. and support for the just aspira-
tions of captive peoples;
Now, therefore, do I, Vincent A. Clanci,
Jr., Mayor of the City of Providence, hereby
proclaim the week of July 13-19, 1975, as
Captive, Nations Week in Providence and
call upon the citizens to join with others in
observing this week by offering prayers and
dedicating their efforts for the peaceful lib-
oration of oppressed and subjugated peoples -
alLover the world,
PROCLAMATION OP THE Crrv or New IIAVt:v.
Come.
Whereas; The quest for general relaxation
of tension and world peace, is the key object
tive of all freedom-loving peoples and oar
Approved For Release 2005/11/21 : CIA-RDP77M00144R000400020024-3
 Jul f 23, 1975 - _ .
not have jobs; they ApOrmlli
Consumer prices this June were more
than 9 percent above the same prices
in June 1974. And another serious aspect
of the price increase is that it is across
the board. Almost nothing went down-
This can only mean more hardship for
the consumer, especially the unemployed
worker and his family. It undermines
economic stability, and it is another blow
to economic recovery.
It is further proof of the
REPRESENTATIVE /' HARRINGTON
AND THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON
INTELLIGENCE
The SPEAKER pro tempore.. Under a
previous order of the House, the gentle-
woman from New York. (Ms- ABZVO) is
recp9 ' 30 minutes.
Nis. 'ABZ Mr- Speaker, last week,
lect Committee on Intelligence. This ac-
tion was taken largely to remove Reprg-
sentative Mlcii3t HARRINGTON from the
committee. I opposed. the removal of Rep-
resentative HARRINGTON, since it was done
in response to a courageous act he took
after learning of improper conduct by
the administration and others.
Mr_ HARRINGTON has outlined the
events involved in that episode in a, re-
cent article in the New Republic titled
"Congress' CIA Coverup-Getting Out the
Truth." I would recommend this article
to all those interested in an- accurate
chronicle o, the events involved in this
congressional action:
CONGRESS' CIA COVFTtuir. GETTING Osrr
TIIE TRUTH ..
GRESSIONAL RECORD - HOti SE
make special arrangements to view the about the context in which those letters had
classified transcript in the committee been written, saying that he had a copy of
offices-the privilege of any House member-- one of-them. I told him I didn't want the
and after some lnitlal difficulties with the Issue raised in this manner end, suspecting
staff there, I got my first look at the ma- he may only have heard a rumor. I said I
teriai on- June 4. What it said left me ap- wouldn't comment on the substance of the
palled- letter until I saw his story in print. Ho as-
The authorization of bribery, the funding cured me I could read it In the Times on
of political. factions and propaganda cam- Sunday, two clays later, which I did.
paigo., the fomenting of strikes and Shortly thereafter Mr. Nevi .i asked sae to
ord. Not only does that record Indicate viola- had not gotten the story from me or my of-
tions of standing treaties and other affronts flee. But this was not satisfactory, for the
to Chilean sovereignty; It also shows that point was raised that house flute XI SeQtlots
President Nixon and Secretary Kissinger had 27(o) says that no evidence or testimony
-lied repeatedly to the American people about taken in secret session may he released or
our involvement there and that some ad- used in a "public session" without the con- `
ministration figures bad apparently perjured sent of the committee. A further issue wag-
them-,elves on the matter before certain com- the pledge I had to sign In order to read the' -
mittees of Congress. Chile material, which said that classified
Determined to get some congressional. Information would not be divulger? to any
action that would bring these things to light, unauthorized person. Unauthorized persons,
I approached Mr. Neclzi?and asked him what the ensuing exchange made clear, included
he planned to do with this information. He other members of Congress.
replied with a philosophical shrug. Ile had This meting did not maintain the highest
taken the testimony as I asked-what more level of discourse-one nseinber compared lne
could one do? This information, after all, was to Benedict Arnold--but I tried to make- to
secret ? the subcommittee a. distinction between gen-
Knowing full well from my short-term ex- nine concern for the national security and
perience as a member of the Armed Serv- the facile use of that label to cover Official,
Ices (ending in 1973) that Chairman F. acts or duplicity and illegality. fhiggesttnu
Edward Hebert would be even less inclined , this distinction was Otte of the principal Ter,.-
to pursue the matter than Mr.- Nedzl, I sons of Vietnam and Watergate, I maintained:
spoke with several subcommittee chairmen that the cover-up of US actions in Chile wan
of House Foreign Affairs, of which I am yet another case of national security's frau-
now a member, and then with some of my dulent application- My remars did not' set
staff. I also sought the advice of Larry Stern well with the subcommittee.
of The Washington Post, a personal friend Nevertheless the stormy seemed
to-ss_ The,
who clearly understood that -the story was next day I wrote to Mr. Neds:i asking that, a.
not to be released. But the reactions of the transcript of the session we ?iacl just com--
subcommittee chairmen and other Foreign pleted be made available to me when It was.
Affairs colleagues, though generally sympath- prepared. The letter was. never answered, and
etic in tone were equally lacking In commit- I concluded that Armed Services bad decided
gent. Yes the Chile story sounded pretty to drop'the matter_I went Orr to campaign
bad, but that was. the province of another for reelection. -
committee and besides, the information was Meanwhile Mr. Hersh had turned over an
secret- other rock, and In December and Janiar;.
I. finally wrote to "Doc" Morgan, chairman wrote a series of stories alleging that the
tor Ful- CIA had conduct
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(By BIICIIesi, J_ HARRINGTON)- o
bright, In those two. long letters- of July surveillance of American citizens in direct
If a President engages In a cover-up of 18,-I reviewed Colby's April testimony and violation of its charter. Although cynics
government wrongdoing, as happened In the argued that -the Congress and the American might have, suggested that this only,
Nixon White House, he can be challenged people have a right to know what was clone amounted to bureaucratic ovc-clap with the
through the process of impeachment, which in our name in Chile ... I urge you to turn FBI, the revelation jolted Con_>resz in a. way
amounts to indictment and trial by the Can- this natter to the attention of the Foreign that harassment and assassination of foreign--
cress. But what do we do if the Congress en- Relations IAffairsl Committee fora complete, err never seemed to--possibly because some
gages in -a-cover-up? Individual members can public Investigation...." I pointed out that reports charged that the agency bad snooped
be censured or expelled, of course, but what the Forty Committee, the Interdepartmental on senators anti representatives. In any case
If the cover-up is institutional, a product of body chaired by the President's national se- bard on the heels of the Ilre>ident's- estab?--
the most time-honored rules and rituals? curity adviser had authorized the expendi- lishment of the Rockefeller commission, the
This is precisely the problem that con- ture of about $11 million between 1963 and Senate voted to set, up a select connnittee-to
fronts us in the unfolding story or CIA and 1973 to help block Allende's election and then investigate the full range of IrS its teIligence
other intelligence agency misdeeds,. To be to "destabilize" his government after he won. activities- I proposed formation of a similar
sure presidential decisions and actions are "The agency's activities In Chile were committee in the House, and a,.iter a month
involved here too, but now we have a shun- viewed as a prototype, or laboratory experi- Iona minuet of maneuver and delay, we- hall
tion where members of Congress, in their anent," I noted, "to test the techniques of a select committee; too. I felt pretty good
capacity as overseers of intelligence agency heavy financial Involvement in efforts to dis- about it until the Speaker announced ills
operations, had knowledge of the most bla- credit and bring clown a government." I gave choice for chairman- Lucien Nedra,
tant crimes and improprieties and neverthe- a general breakdown of the amounts author- Lucien Nedzl, the man who had sat on hi_s
less did nothing. The Instance I am most ized from 1962 through 1973, and explained liailc~a : c'ialrinaii qi' ,fat
familiar with concerns the CIA's accomplish- to the respective chairmen that since acquir- committee on 1lttclligenca ztaiee 13F2; who,
snents on our behalf In Chile in the early ing this information I had tried to persuade had listened to the ayeiiQy-gt5rrnr_._stnllc -
1970s. The reactions to that record by those well-positioned colleagues to pursue the 0i61dt the bhW'eoning_ of._.;, .demnoer rcy "fit
who came to hear of it are a sobering.illus- facts but that nothing seemed to be happen- Latin America without no ninth as a nsnr--
tration of the great congressional weakness- ing. I said I was writing to thesis as a last our to his colieaglua--this was the span as
the, habitual reflex of avoidance and acquies- resort- Rep. Morgan did not answer my letter. signed to conduct the special investigation
cence, masked by the illusion of activity. Sen. Fulbright replied, but not very sub- that would logically include his own lack of
In April of last year, CIA Director Wil- stantively, suggesting that the real solution action as a subject of inquiry- I went to the
Hato Colby appeared at a closed session of to the problem was the establishment of a floor of the house on the day bin chairman.
Itep. Lucien Nedzl's Armed Services sub- joint committee on oversight. stile because oftictkti and said I thought it
committee on Intelligence and described his I felt ambivalent at this point as to bow wits an outrage. This Indiscretion, I was told
agency's long-term involvement in the polit- I ought to proceed--I did want to stick with later by horrified staff and cone agues, wry?
ieal process in Chile, where a bloody coup the congressional process but could roe no not likely to advance rn.y career -X haci been
agaiuLst Salvador Allende Gossens - in Sep- obvious lines to follow. At any rate f.he mat.- given a neat on the committee srsyself anti
tenibar 1973 bad led to the Installation of a ter was set aside in my preoccupation with would therefore have to work with hint-
s.riiitary dictatorship. Mr- Nedzi had called the summer's major event: the Impeachment but I felt it had to bo said.
Colby in at my urging, so naturally I wanted proceedings of the House Judiciary Commit- Other members of the selc-ct? comsntttee
to know what the direr r had to s y 'For tie, Then n i'isc lncss zcatlp
ipprovec For Release `Q "11$~f .'G1- f)13~' 60'4 00'0 '2M24-3'