MEETING WITH SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE ON LEGISLATION WHICH INHIBITS AGENCY ACTIVITIES IN COUNTER-TERRORIST FIELD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81M00980R000800020052-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2005
• Sequence Number: 52
• Publication Date: May 12, 1978
• Content Type: MFR

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12 May 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT: Meeting with Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence on Legislation Which Inhibits
Agency Activities in Counter-Terrorist Field
1. Four Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI)
staffers have received several briefings on terrorism from
Area Divisions and PCS/ITG as well as specific briefings of
terrorist activities in Cyprus and on the Red Brigades.
Mr. Stan Taylor, the senior SSCI staffer working on this
problem, stated that their objective is to modify the
proposed legislation in S.2525 as necessary to provide the
various government components seized with the terrorist
problem less inhibitive restrictions on their activities.
Mr. Taylor asked the Agency to identify the existing legis-
lation and regulations which place these inhibiting limita-
tions on our activities in the terrorist field. tie added
that they have already discussed this subject in great detail
with the FBI and that as a result they.now have a better undf r?-
standing of why certain legislation, and proposed legislations,
is impractical from an operational standpoint. As a result of
this request, we met with OLC, who then provide: 25
.to the SSCI those regulat egis a ion which fit this
category. Subsequent to this exthange, Mr. Taylor requested
meeting with the Agency to discuss these points and to obtain
a better understanding of the effect such legislation has on
counter-terrorist operations. This meeting was held on 10 May
1978.
allU ignec. Par icipating tor the SSCI wei
starters Stan Taylor, Pat Norton (the.staff manager for S.252:1:
Abe Shulsky, Tom Crowley, Keith Raffle and Catherine Essoyan.
The meeting lasted approximately two hours.
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2. Participants at the meeting representing the Agency
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3. began the presentation by concen-
trating on the legal problems related to activities in the
terrorist field. Briefly, he noted that E.O. 11905 and
E.O. 12036 permit us to function in the FI and Cl fields for
the collection of intelligence only.
ea rnaz c i n 550 o e ug es- yan c
prove e . too many restrictions and in order to reach a compro-
mise and to have it narrowed down, Mr. Colby (then DCI)
promised that in the terrorist "field, we would only work with
liaison for our FI/CI purposes and would not undertake such
activities as those the Amendment was attempting to prevent.
also suggested that the Committee review the
restraints on USAID since perhaps the State Department is the
best entity to act on foreign domestic terrorism.
4. NE Division provided a paper, which is attached,
written at the request of the SSCI of three sanitized cases
which pointed out difficulties which may be encountered in
the counter-terrorism field. The points illustrated.therein
were discussed.
5. There followed a wide ranging discussion of existing
or proposed restrictions which could affect the Agency's
operations in this field. Comments and questions of interest
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c. Does the Agency desire to take positive counter-
terrorist-'action in addition to the collection
of intelligence?
d. What precise effects does Title~II have on the
surveillance, etc. of U.S. persons abroad? A
redefinition of Title II and Section 243, Page 122
of S.2525 "No person acting on behalf.of the U.S.
Government" to tacitly omit agents, assets, etc.
by substituting "staff employee" or something
along those lines might help,
e. Recognized the problem of obtaining information
on U.S. persons overseas, that some information
is necessary; what activities are permitted when
attempting to determine the identity of someone
who might be a U.S. person;;problems raised by
not being able to retain certain information on
U.S. persons in our files, etc,
f. Referencing Title III and the question of warrants
regarding surveillance of U.S. persons abroad,
many of the Senators do not like this restriction
and it is.quite possible that is will not remaii
in the final version of S.2525. (Additionally.
their talks with the FBI have given the staff
realistic insights into why this is not ne:es-
sarily workable.)
6. It would appear that the SSCI and the staffers are
making a sincere effort to revise S.252S in such a manner as
to permit the appropriate government agencies to carry out
their responsibilities in the counter-terrorist field while at
the same time protecting the rights of U.S. persons. However,
they are better able to comprehend now why certain restrictions
are unfeasible and are attempting to determine how best to
modify the legislation in a practical sense. Future meetines
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with the SSCI staffers will be scheduled to continue discus-
sions on this subject.
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Distribution
Orig $ l - SA/DO/O
1 - DDO w/att
1 - ADDO w/att
1 - OLC
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