IMPACT OF CONGRESSMAN STRATTON'S PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO CIARDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79-00498A000500160019-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 21, 2000
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: October 1, 1964
• Content Type: REQ

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Impact of Congressman Stratton's
Proposed Amendment to CIARDS
Mr. Stratton's amendment would require the DCI to certify that an employee's
service is no longer needed or that his usefulness has ended before retirement
can be allowed under CIARDS.
This proposal - a drastic change to: existing law - would have a serious impact
on the Agency, its management of personnel and operations,and on CIARDS
participants themselves.
1. Breaks faith with those employees who have earned - by special service
-. preferential retirement benefits over Civil Service Retirement, and
have planned accordingly.
- Many employees have earned CIARDS by serving in hazardous
assignments, or suffered hardships at overseas posts, or committed
their careers to specialized service, e.g., non-official cover.
- Many of these employees willingly performed or even
volunteered for such service because they kftew they would
earn special retirement benefits.
- It would be an injustice to taint these employees with
the label proposed. Even though their usefulness has not
ended, these e loyees have earned the right to preferential
benefits and should be allowed to retire voluntarily.
2. The amendment comes at a time when the Agency has suffered through the
investigations and would demoralize the very group of employees for
whom CIARDS was sought and enacted.
3. One basis for CIARDS was to recognize hardship or uniqueness of overseas
service. These have increased even more because of disclosure of names
of our overseas employees and the increasing threat of international
terrorism.
4. We are finding it increasingly difficult to man certain overseas posts
with essential skills, e.g, communicators. CIARDS has been used effectively
as an incentive for overseas service. The situation would worsen without
the CIARDS incentive.
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5. Original legislation was also sought as a management tool. By providing
for early retirement, the Agency can maintain a young, dynamic and
responsive work force in certain occupational categories in recognition
of the demands placed on this group of employees.
- The proposed amendment would reverse the current trend -
reduction in.the age of certain groups of employees - and will
result in an aging of the group,
- Longer tenure will create a "hump" and will frustrate
management efforts to bring in younger employees at the entry
level - an objective which is vital to the future effectiveness
of the Agency.
- It may be necessary to institute reductions-in-force,
forcing the Agency to retire involuntarily groups of employees
who are eligible to retire voluntarily without the onus and
disgrace of being fired.
6. If Mr. Stratton's amendment is passed by the House, it obviously will
become public knowledge. The action will send shock waves through the
group of employees now eligible for voluntary retirement under existing
law. Rather than. run the risk that the Senate will not adopt the
amendment, many eligible employees might decide to retire now. Many
of them represent hard-to-get types or are serving in sped la ties
requiring years of experience and training. Massive retirements
within the group of current eligibles would cripple ongoing operations
since replacements are not readily available, e.g., communicators,
security types, case officers, NOC's, etc.
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A G E N D A
ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, May 13, 1976
I. Report by Mr. Stratton, on behalf of the Subcommittee on Military Compensation, on
the following bills:
H. R. 13549 - To provide for additional income for the United States Soldiers'
and Airmen's Home by requiring the Board of Commissioners of
the Home to collect a fee from the members of the Home; by
appropriating nonjudicial forfeitures for support of the Home;
and by increasing the deductions from pay of enlisted men and
warrant officers.
(Mr. Ford, Professional Staff Member)
H. R. 8089 - To amend section 404(d) of title 37, United States Code, relating
to per diem expenses of members of the uniformed services
traveling on official business.
H. R. 8089 passed the Senate, amended, on March 31, 1976.
(Mr. Wincup, Counsel)
II. Report by Mr. Hebert, on behalf of the Subcommittee on Investigations, on the
following bill:
H. R. 13615 - To amend the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement Act of 1964
for Certain Employees, as amended, and for other purposes.
H. R. 13615 supersedes H. R. 11088.
(Mr. Hogan, Counsel)
III. Consideration of the following Reprogramming Actions:
1. Reprogramming Action FY 76-37 P/A, Missile Procurement, Air Force, to transfer
$13 million from Other Procurement, Air Force, to the Defense Satellite
Communications System.
Witness:
Major General Henry B. Stelling, Jr., USAF
Director of Space
Deputy Chief of Staff, Research and Development
Headquarters, USAF
(Mr. Ford, Professional Staff Member)
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Agenda continued -2- May 13, 1976
2. Reprogramming Action FY 76-33 P/A, Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy 1976/1980
for moving $24.2 million from the PHM Patrol Hydrofoil Missile Advance Procure-
ment Program to the Cost Growth Account for the FFG-7, SSBN-622, SSBN-625 and
CGN-41.
Witness:
Rear Admiral Stanley S. Fine, USN
Director of Budget and Report
Office of the Comptroller
Department of the Navy
(Mr. Norris, Counsel)
eprogramming Action FY 34
/A
Other Procure
e
t
A
R
.
,
m
n
,
ir Force,
a new line item "Machine Gun, 7.62mm M-6O,"
Witnesses:
Major General Charles C. Blanton, USAF
Director of Budget
Office of the Comptroller of the Air Force
Mr. Lewis K. Stockman
Chief, Other Procurement Branch
Director of Budget
Office of the Comptroller of the Air Force
(hr. Lunger, Professional Staff Member)
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Congressman Stratton's Concerns About CIARDS
1. Congressman Stratton has expressed certain concerns regarding the
Agency's administration of its retirement system. His concerns and our responses
follow:
2. Mr. Stratton considers it excessive that 30 percent of the Agency are
participants in CIARDS. --
The legislative history of our retirement Act on
this point is unequivocal. The, reports of the Senate
and House Armed Services Committees and the
Congressional Record debate clearly recognized and
stated that 30 percent would be in CIARDS.
3. Mr. Stratton also questioned the Agency's procedure for designating
individuals as participants in CIARDS. He felt that employees should not be
put into the system with only I8 months of qualifying service and felt that an
individual should be designated only after he acquired the full amount, five
years, of qualifying service. --
This procedure was also discussed by the Congress
during its legislative hearings and, equally as important,
was in the regulations developed for the administration
of CIARDS which were sent to the Congress and were
approved.
4. Mr. Stratton also believes that mere service overseas for five
years does not warrant granting preferential retirement benefit. He stated
that CIARDS was specifically enacted to cover only two situations: the
individual whose "cover" might be blown, and the individual who might be
exposed to hazardous duty and becomes physically impaired prematurely
because of the risks that he was taking.
The criteria specified in the law and the regulation
as approved by the Congress also includes individuals
who must practice security and tradecraft to maintain
personal cover in the conduct or support of covert
operations or espionage and counterintelligence
activities abroad; or whose service is such that the
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individual has a distinct disadvantage in obtaining
other employment because his skills and knowledge
are unique to the clandestine activities of the Agency
and are not in demand elsewhere, or duties are so
highly classified that the experience cannot be
described to a prospective employer.
-- Overseas service has been accepted as qualifying
service within the meaning of the law and regulations
because it includes elements of service different from
normal Civil Service employment. ,Overseas employees
are subject to physical and health hazards; live a
life under cover with its attendant strains and stresses;
at times perform a cover job in addition to their CIA job;
and can experience "motivational. exhaustion." The
Agency realized that it had to keep its cadre of operational
personnel young, vigorous and resilient; it had to weed
out those whose once useful skills had become obsolete;
and that changes in the size and composition of the cadre
would cause surpluses which had to be eliminated. This
meant a need for retirements at ages below the normal for
Civil Service. The Agency thus sought authorities to
effect early retirements and for slightly higher annuity in
order to compensate employees whose careers were thus
foreshortened. These criteria formed the basis for former
Director Schlesinger's reduction of personnel in 1973 and
the Congress amended our Act to raise the quota on the
number who could retire in order to allow these separations.
5. It is recommended that the Director inform Representative
Stratton that: (a) in view of the points he has raised, the Director will
undertake an immediate comprehensive study and review of the administration
of CIARDS to ensure that we are complying with the intent of Congress, and
(b) since the pending legislation merely adopts changes already enacted for
the Civil Service Retirement Act and does not affect administration of the
system, the Director would ask Mr. Stratton to withdraw his objections to
the legislation based on the Director's commitment that he will meet with
Mr. Stratton and discuss the study upon its completion.
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