DURENBERGER SCORES SECRECY OF INTERCEPT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000200720005-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 25, 2012
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: October 22, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/25: CIA-RDP90-00965R000200720005-9
AP-EA ED
1 ;4 PAGE
WASHINGTON TIMES
22 October 1985
,,'Durenberger scores
in ?
sec ~; By Thomas D. Brandt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The chairman of the Senate Intel-
ligence Committee yesterday
accused the Reagan administration
of slighting Congress by the way it
sent warplanes to capture the
pirates who seized the Italian cruise
ship Achille Lauro.
Sen. David Durenberger, Minne-
sota Republican, wants new laws to
strengthen the congressional role in
future U.S. anti-terrorist operations.
"My fear is that the administra-
tion will continue to slight the role of
Congress in counterterrorist
actions," he said, "... and then one of
these daring deals will blow up in its
face"
The senator said the War Powers
Resolution and the Intelligence
Oversight Act. -the primary statutes
governing the congressional over-
sightof U.S. intelligence and covert
activities, may no longer be ade-
quate to oversee the growing U.S.
counterterrorism programs.
Sen. Durenberger's criticism,
contained in a speech last night,
were the first criticism of the Rea-
gan administration's failure to con-
sult Congress on the U.S. response to
the Oct. 7 cruise ship piracy in which
an American tourist, 69, was mur-
dered. Four of the hijackers were
captured three days later when U.S.
Navy F-16 fighter planes forced an
Egyptian Air Boeing 737 jetliner -
with the terrorists aboard - to land
in Sicily.
"What if the Navy fighters had
been required to fire on the Egyp-
tian aircraft and had destroyed it
and its occupants?" Mr. Durenber-
ger asked. "What if this had led to a
series of ever-widening military con-
flicts?
"We were in a crisis of great
potential impact on U.S. national
security and U.S. foreign policy, yet
at no time in the initial stages, final
planning, or execution was Con-
gress notified of the proposed
administration course of action," he
said. "No consultation took place."
Mr. Durenberger said he cally asked the administration to
inform the intelligence committee of
any significant activity as soon as he
learned of the hijacking from news
accounts but that requirement
under the Intelligence Oversight Act
was ignored.
"The committee was never noti-
fied of any such activity and has yet
to receive the offer of a detailed
briefing on the action which
occurred," he said in a draft of his
25-page speech, prepared for deliv-
ery to the Johns Hopkins Foreign
Policy Institute.
Mr. Durenberger, who has also
been critical of administration fail-
ures to inform Congress about oper-
ations in Central America, called for
"a mutual non-partisan effort to
design a new strategy ... which calls
for a formalized notification process
in its implementation and an annual
review of the effectiveness"
The chairman said his committee
already has started to design such a
strategy by sponsoring seminars for
representatives from all interested
congressional committees and
executive agencies "to sit down and
talk through the issues."
an administration officials
aveReagcomplained that covert oper-
ations o ten require a so ute
secrecy and quick re ponse - which
ould be compromised by notifying
congrressssiona leaders or the two
CIA oversight committees.
Mr. uren er er sai because of
those arguments the White House
often has used "intricate legal
amesmanshi " to avoid dealing
wit ongress despite "t a aw ess
r_ecoor of t_e intellie n - ;ommittee
In protecting our most sensitive
secrets...
"What may be the most effective
course of action from the military or
political point of view may be
rejected because of the current
requirements for notification," he
said.
"In short, the administration may
prefer to do the wrong thing in
secret rather than doing the right
thing with congressional
knowledge;' he said. "The system
has truly been stood on its head, and
the effect could be disastrous."
Some of the points he raised last
night have caused friction between
Conmess and the administration
over covert operations in the last two
ears.
The issues that have erupted
beyond the committee, which deals
almost exclusively with classified
matters, include the CIA-backed
mining of Nicaraguan harbors, a
CIA produced manual for the anti-
Nicaraguan resistance that included
assassination instructions, an the
role of White House sta to raisin
funds for the resistance while a con-
gressional ban against aid was in
effect.
The senator said the oversight act
is a so nolonger su icient to accom-
moate "t a evo utton o a new and
broader use of lethal force beyond
our borders that troubling contra-
diction in terms, the p enomenon o
overt-covert action..:'
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/25: CIA-RDP90-00965R000200720005-9