JOURNAL - OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP77M00144R001100190014-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 10, 2006
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: June 25, 1975
• Content Type: NOTES

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Journal - Office of Legislative Counsel Page 4
Wednesday - 25 June 1975
S r- 006,
t:.URET
In Iabsence, took a call
from Charles Snodgrass, House Appropriations Committee staff, asking
ere the appropriations language was that he had requested. He said if
they did not ge he nguage today, Chairman George Mahon would call
Mr. Colby. -
Upon eturn he called Snodgrass and told him the
language was on its way to him.
17. Julie Marshall, in the office of Senator
Dick Clark (D. ,
Iowa), called and asked for General Walter's telephone
numbar saying the Senator would like to have breakfast with the General
and talk about the Iberian Peninsula
I gave her the number.
Acting Legislative Counsel
cc:
O/DDCI
Ex. Sec.
DDI
DDA
DDS&T
Mr. Warner
Mr. Thuermer
Mr. Parmenter
EA/DDO
Compt
S L
RET
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Journal - Office of Legislative Counsel
Wednesday - 25 75
Page 3
11A I Shirley McGloon, on the staff of
Representative J. William Stanton (R. , Ohio), called to make sure
that the phone number we had given her
was correct. Apparently, the number we had given her on 19 June for
a constituent I who has information he believes useful to the
Agency, was disconnected. After checking with I
gave Ms. McGloon the new number.
12. I Dropped off the following: with
Charles Snodgrass, House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee staff, the
suggested language we had prepared in response to his request for open
"ppropriations langu--age; at Representative George Mahon's office, the
"``'`~~ ector's letter ta` iiinng a strong stand against an open budget; at Representative
John Conyer's office, a letter from the Director regarding operation 25X1
13. After checked with
General Walters and I called Mark Kolner, on the House
Republican Research Committee staff, on his inquiry concerning the
General's visit I said the General had made an "official
fact finding trip, " and that he had made no written report of his findings
but had reported orally. I said if he had any questions about the details
of the trip he should have his chairman write to the General who I thought
would be responsive to such a request. Mr. Kolner asked whether the
trip was a "state visit" and I repeated it "was an official fact finding trip. "
He asked who had sent the General and to whom the General reported upon
his return, and I repeated that I thought the best way to get at these details
would be to have his chairman write the General. Kilner said he would
"get it into that channel.
SECRET
of the Subcommittee on Government Information and Individual Ri
hts
H
g
,
ouse
1avernment Operations Committee, on the Privacy Act. See Memo for Record.
15.
with several House members
for Record.
Accompanied the Director to a session
I See Memo
SECRET
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 r Approved For Releas?fftNET 0144R
JOURNAL
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL
Wednesday - 25 June 1975
2. I called on Charles Snodgrass, House
Appropriations Committee Staff, at his request, to explain to him the
various codewords and caveats which appear on our publications. During
our conversation Snodgrass remarked that he had asked that the Agency
vide a draft for ro os d arQla aati.Q.ns_legislation. Snodgrass said
that if this was not received by c. o. b. this afternoon, the Director would
receive a call from Chairman George H. Mahon, (D., Tex. ).
3.
Foreign Relations,
yesterday I
I called on Pat Holt, Chief of Staff of Senate
o discuss several items he had raised with 25X
25X1
4.1 k called on Frank Slatinshek, Chief Counsel
on Committee on Armed Services of the House, to explain to him we could
not provide an unclassified version of the SIC memo on "Military Implica-
tions of Technology Transfer to the Soviet Union. " Frank took this in good
grace but he said he would like to read the classified version and I agreed
to send it down to him via the daily courier run.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. 20505
2 5 JUN -,/ 5
Honorable George 11. Mahon, Chairman
Subcommittee on Defense
Committee on Appropriations
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
In responding to a request by the Subcommittee staff to draft appro-
priations language providing some form of open appropriation for the
Central Intelligence Agency, I would like to underscore my views on the
open budget issue.
I am strongly opposed to the public disclosure of the Central
Intelligence Agency's budget or of a total budget figure for the intelligence
community. While I recognize that, in the final analysis, this is a matter
for determination by the Congress, I believe disclosure would do a disservice
to our foreign intelligence efforts and therefore would not be in the national
interest.
I am convinced that once an intelligence budget figure is made public,
it will be impossible to prevent the disclosure of many sensitive and
critically important intelligence programs and activities. Whether the
published figure represents the Agency or intelligence community budget,
whether it reveals intelligence budgets in whole or in part, I believe the
ultimate effect would be the same.
Disclosure of intelligence budgets could provide potential enemies
with significant insight into the nature and scope of our national foreign
intelligence effort, particularly where analysis of year-to-year fluctuations
in the budget are possible. Publication of intelligence budget figures would
result in debate on changes or trends developed in succeeding year figures,
and fluctuations in the figure would generate demands for explanations
which in turn would reveal the component parts of the figure and the programs
supported by it. The history of disclosure of Atomic Energy Commission
budget materials and related information by both Executive Branch and the
Congress indicates that publication of any figure with respect to intelligence
would quickly stimulate pressures for further disclosure and probes by
various sectors into the nature of the figure and its component elements.
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Questions have been raised. concerning the constitutionality of the
present financial processes for protecting our national foreign intelligence
effort. I believe the present procedures are fully in accord with the
Constitution. Agency appropriations are an integral part of appropriations
made by law and are reflected in the Treasury's Statement and Account of
Receipts and Expenditures in compliance with Article I, Section 9, clause 7 of
the Constitution. Moreover, there is considerable historical precedent for
budgetary secrecy, going back to debates in Constitutional Conventions and
the use of a secret fund during the administrations of Washington and Madison,
and a secret appropriations act in ress most recently endorsed
secrecy of intelligence bud Yets hen d an
amendment which
would have require that the total budget figure for intelligence purposes be
made public.
If the Subcommittee believes it is essential to make some public
statement concerning intelligence appropriations, I would suggest inclusion
in the Committee Report of language along the lines attached.
Sincerely,
SIGNED
W. E. Colby
Director
Attachment: As stated
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