STATEMENT BY REP. BELLA S. ABZUG (D-L, N.Y.), CHAIRWOMAN, HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT INFORMATION AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP77M00144R000800070093-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 26, 2001
• Sequence Number: 93
• Publication Date: March 7, 1975
• Content Type: OPEN

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BELLA S. ASTUO, N.Y.. CHAIRWOMAN
JIM WRIGHT, TEX.
LEO J. RYAN, CALIM,
JOHN CONYERS, JR.. MICH.
TORBERT H. MACDONALD. MASS.
JOHN E. MOSS. CALIF.
MICHAEL HARRINGTON, MASS.
ANDREW MAGUIRE, H.J.
SAM BTEIGER. ARIZ.
CLARENCE J. BROWN, OHIO
HAUL. N. MCCLOSKEY, JR.. CALIF.
Q,Ongreo -of
puze of eprezentatib
GOVERNMENT INFORMATION AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
SUBCOMMITTEE
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING, Room B-349-B-C
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515
March 7, 1975 FOR RELEASE 2:00 p.m.
STATEMENT BY REP. BELLA S. ABZUG (D-L,N.Y.), CHAIRWOMAN, HOUSE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT INFORMATION AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
In making public today the file on her which she received earlier
in,the week from the CIA, Rep. Bella S. Abzug (D-L, N.Y.) said:
"This collection of trivia and inaccurate information and. the
tampering with my mail are a violation of privacy, my individual Constitu-
tional rights and the law. It also represents a colossal waste of tax-
payers money if it is representative of the kind of material that the
CIA holds on hundreds of thousands of Americans."
Rep. Abzug also provided comments on the contents of her file.
"In his letter to me enclosing the file,-CIA legislative counsel
George L. Cary included the following annotations.
101. Enclosure A, said Mr. Cary, is 'the text of CIA cables re-
flecting your visit with members of the PRG.' This refers to a trip I
and another member of Congress made to Paris in. April 1972 to talk
with all sides in the lagging Vietnam peace negotiations. We met with
representatives of the U.S., the PRG, the South Vietnamese government,
the third force, etc. It was a public visit extensively reported. in
the news media.
"2. Mr. Cary said: 'As part of its foreign intelligence program,
from 1953 until February 1973, CIA conducted in the United States and.
abroad a survey of mail between the United States and certain countries.
Some of this mail was opened
to determine Communist censorship techniques ox
to report the content of the correspondence. The survey also provided
addresses that might be used for various foreign intelligence programs
and information on conditions in the country as well as operational.
leads for agent recruitment. As far as can be determined, three of
your letters were noted as part of this program. Two letters were
opened and together with two related references are Enclosure B.'
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As an attorney, I represented various people involved in estates
claims and this required my writing to the Soviet Union to get infor-
mation about relatives. By its own admission, the CIA opened private
mail from Americans to people in other countries and even used them in
an attempt to recruit agents abroad. I have received a personal visit
from the Postmaster General, who expressed his extreme concern and out-
rage at this illegal interference with the U.S. mails.'!
"3. Enclosure C, said Mr. Cary, 'lists your name in a mailing
list of The World Council of Peace.' I assume the (sic) after esquire
was supplied by the CIA.
"4. Mr. Cary said: 'Your name appears on a list of persons who
were the subject of a study related to possible foreign links with
American dissident groups. It was determined ,that you were not in-
volved in the'terms of reference of that study and were-not included
in it. Enclosure D is a copy of a handwritten notation to this effect.'
In effect, the CIA conducted surveillance of the American peace move-
ment in violation of its legal mandate.
"5. Mr. Cary said: 'In March .1971., we received two uiiclassified
reports from another agency in which you are mentioned. These references
are in Enclosure E.' This refers to a rally outside the Now York City
Public Library at which I spoke and called for an end to the war in
Vietnam.
"6. Mr. Cary concluded: 'Your name is also mentioned in a number
of newspaper articles and other publications or circulars contained in
or referenced in Agency files. These publications and circulars are
listed in Enclosure F.' These include references to minutes and
attendance lists of American peace organizations. The newpaper articles
that I'have been able to trace reported my domestic activities as a
civil liberties attorney, my public speeches, my election campaign, a
fund-raising party held for me at Katz's delicatessen and my statements
as a member of Congress, including an appeal I made for more humane
treatment of mentally retarded children at Willowbrook Hospital."
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