HIS GOALS NO SECRET

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605350002-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 2, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: February 9, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/02 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605350002-4
^^TICLE APPEARED 9 February 1987
ON PAGE e- f
His goals
no secret
Key panel chairman
-~ By HARRISON RAINIE
P WASHINGTON-Rep. Matthew McHugh (D-Itha-
ca), an increasingly prominent and respected
lawmaker, has taken the helm of a House intelli-
gence subcommittee. that he vows will rein in the
CIA and keep closer watch. on all covert spy
McHugh was named last
week to head the legislation
subcommittee of the House
Intelligence Committee and
immediately joined in writ-
ing a bill with the commit-
tee's chairman, Rep. Louis
Stokes (D-Ohio), that would
end the practices that the
Reagan administration used
to launch the secret arms-for-
hostages deals with Iran.
"We are going to eliminate
any ambiguity in the law that
could be used by an execu-
tive to do things he should
not constitutionally do,"
vowed McHugh.
The intelligence oversight
amendments co-written by
McHugh would prohibit the
President from launching a
covert action unless he gave
advance written notification
to Congress. In "extraordin-
ary circumstances"--such as
the interception of the Achil-
le Lauro hijackers-when
"national' security" interests
prevent prior notification,
the President would have to
give notice within 48 hours.
In addition, the written
presidential "finding" that
launches a covert campaign
must also be disclosed to all
statutory members of the Na-
tional Security Council, in-
cluding the secretaries of de-
fense and state.
The measure will prevent
"future Iran-type scandals,"
McHugh said, because it will
not allow the President to
issue a secret finding (as he
did on Jan. 17, 1986, to begin
U.S. sales of arms to Iran) or
keep its contents secret from
Congress and key cabinet
members.
The measure is likely to
sail through McHugh's
panel-probably after public
hearings later this month-
and be passed by the full
House. The Senate Intelli-
gence Committee is consid.
ering a similar proposal.
McHugh said, though, that
his agenda is broader than
that bill. He wants to
strengthen the office of the
inspector general at the CIA
to make it, independent, in-
vestigative and analytical in-
stead of the "captive" office
that it is.
McHugh said he plans to
look at the recommendations
developed by the Tower Com-
mission that was convened
by President Reagan to look
at his foreign policy
apparatus.
The Democratic lawmaker
said that if the Tower Com-
mission spells out a policy-
making role for the National
Security Council he will look
at ways to make the council
"more accountable," perhaps
by requiring Senate con-
firmation of the national
security adviser and through
legislation that might ban the
council from getting in-
volved in foreign policy at
the operational level.
He also is considering in-
troducing legislation that
will establish clear legal
penalties for breaking the na-
tion's intelligence oversight
laws. In current laws there is
no criminal or civil penalty
for failing to notify Congress
about covert action or, for
instance, not following the
terms of the Boland Amend-
ment that tried to prevent the
administration from giving
military aid to the Contras in
Nicaragua.
McHugh is one of the most
widely trusted liberals in the
House and is likely to turn
the moribund subcommittee
into a legislative power. He is
considered thoughtful and
low-key, so his strong opin-
ions on the Iran-Contra scan-
dal carry weight.
"Even if (the Iran-Contra
scandal) does not lead to le-
gal problems, it has created a
very substantial foreign poli-
cy disaster for the U.S. in the
Middle East, among our
NATO allies and, most of all,
in decimating our antiterror-
ism policy," he said. "That is
why it is a more serious scan-
dal than Watergate.
"Our national interests
were not damaged in Water.
gate. But in this scandal
American capabilities and in-
terests around the world
have been seriously eroded.
"The policy was funda-
mentally flawed and the
striking thing as you look at
the record is that no one
perceived ahead of time the
kind of damage it could
cause. Those who im-
plemented policy felt they
were not accountable.
"I don't know what is the
worst thing to say about the
President-that he didn't
know what was going on, or
that he did know. One of
them is true and it is a very
distressing picture."
Spy mystery?
Were the Soviets spying on
Rep. Robert Torricelli (D-
N.J.)?
That's the question folks
are asking in the wake of
mysterious activities last week
at the office building at 25
Main St., Hackensack, where
he has a district office.
Several months ago an un-
usual business took space in
the building. It claimed to be a
petroleum company. It had an
unlisted phone number. It was
run by Russians.
Torricelli might be a prime
target for surveillance because
he's an important member of
the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, with access to
sensitive U.S. operations
around the world.
Last week, the Russian "oil-
men" left town in the dead of
night, leaving much of the
furniture behind. The landlord
says they owe a couple of
bucks and he hasn't been able
to find them.
The FBI isn't talking. But
Torricelli's neighbors think it
is all very suspicious.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/02 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605350002-4