TO PROTECT THE LIVES OF INTELLIGENCE EMPLOYEES OF THE UNITED STATES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00901R000700070044-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 22, 2006
• Sequence Number: 44
• Publication Date: February 9, 1976
• Content Type: OPEN

56
Approved For.Release 2006/09/24: CIA-RDP91.-00901R000700070044-9
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -MOUSE " . Februarj 9
squarely before the Congress. We have
our work cut out for us.
We must reconstitute the Federal Elec-
tion Commission as a, near-term first
step. There are several recommendations
pending. I favor making the Commis-
sioners appointees of the President, sub-
ject to Senate confirmation,- with as
much Independence as is possible to cre-
ate for them.
Congress should act quickly on this
legislation so what remains of the act
can he enforced.
We must, in the long term, face the
unpleasant fact that our efforts to regu-
late congressional campaign spending
have not met the constitutional test. So,.
time has finally come to take a serious
look at public financing for Rouse and
Senate races. -
This proposal is thorny and fraught
with anticipated and unanticipated
problems. But, we cannot afford to back-
slide to the "old" system where cam--
paiogns are won or lost, depending upon
the presence or absence of big money.
I commend the gentleman from New-
York for sponsoring, this special order. It
provides an appropriate forum for the
discussion of this many-faceted matter.
GENERAL LEAVE
Mr. PEYSEFL. Mr. Speaker, I ask
unanimous consent that all-Members de-
siring to do so'may have 5 legislative
days in which to revise and extend their
remarks on the subject of my special
order today. - -
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there
objection to the request of the gentle-.
man from New York?
There was no objection.
LIGENCE -- EMPLOYEES OF - THE
UNITED STATES
The SPEAKER pro terapore.. Under a:
previous order of the House, the-gentle-
man from Illinois AQ is ree-
oa ized for 60 minutes. - -
Mr. MICHEL.. Mr. Speaker, the first
bill - (H.R. 11365) I Introduced in this
session was designed to protect the lives
of intelligence employees of the 'United
States, and was prompted by the tragic
murder of Richard Welch, a CIA em-
ployee, during Christmas week in Athens,
Greece. Many of us were shocked and
dismayed to learn that Welch's murder
may have been caused by his having been
publicly identified as an employee of the
CIA.
In researching whether there was any
law providing for criminal penalties
against anyone blowing the cover of
people engaged In intelligence work for
the -United States, I yeas advised that
there was none, even though we do have
Imes on. the books with criminal pen-
alties prohibiting the premature disclos-
ure of crop estimates, the navies of bor-
rowers from the Federal Land Bank, tax
return Information and the questions on
a civil service examination. My office im-
mediately got in touch with the then
Director of the Central Intelligence
Agency, William Colby, to determine
whether lie had a similar concern.
We also inquired whether there were
any other incidents similar to the Welch
case, which had not heretofore been
publicly revealed and If so, could they
be declassified. .
. Late last month we received informa-
tion from Acting CIA Director Lt. Gen.
request. To me, this information holsters
our case for the enactment of the legis-
latlon. -
Mr. Speaker, intelligence, is a vital na-
tional asset, but It does not generate
-itself. Intelligence sources and methods
are painstakingly acquired and devel-
oped, often at high cost. It has taken
28 years for us Americans to build tip
the best foreign Intelligence organiza-
tion in the world. I have taken this spe-
cial order as one who Is concerned that
the systematic exposure. of our country's.
intelligence secrets is doing grave. harm
to our Nation's intelligence structure.. -
I think Senator MANSFIELD'S remark
the other day that the intelligence func.-
tion is a cornerstone to national survival
was well put. While'I am very concerned
about the general problem of protecting -
our country's intelligence sources and
methods, today I Would like to address -
the most pressing and acute aspect of
this problem; namely, protecting the
lives and safety of the people engaged
in U.S. intelligence activities; this is the
subject of my bill. -
.. Mr. Speaker, in some cases Identifying
and exposing American intelligence per-
sonnel who are under cover is fingering
them for murder. At this moment there
are groups within the United States
literally vying with each other to dis-
cover and publish the identities of
American intelligence officers and
agents, and there are no laws to stop
them. The brutal slaying of Richard
Welch has not deterred them; if any-
thing it has encouraged them.
American intelligence personnel make
attractive targets for the extremist
groups and terrorist organizations that
infest the modern world.
Mr. Speaker, my colleagues should
know that the attack on Richard Welch
was not an Isolated case. I am sorry to
say there have been other incidents. For
example, very recently, In art area of the
world in which a number of terrorist
groups have been active, an American
embassy official was identified by a local
journalist as a CIA officer. The journal-
ist's identification may have stemmed
from an expose of the CIA. It is.unim-
portant whether that embassy official ac-
tually was or was not a CIA officer. The
fact that he was alleged to be a CIA of-
ficer led to his being marked for assassi-
nation by a terrorist squad. The terrorist
staked out an ambush. The American of-
ficer was not entrapped in the ambush;
however, a local citizen was slain. It was
a close call.
While I cannot discuss further details,
I-can tell you that other alarming re-
ports have come to my attention con-
cerning plots and threats on the lives of
people who have been identified as in-
telligence personnel. Nor have the fami-
lies of those - pinpointed been spared. .
Intelligence people comes from terrorist
groups and extreme political parties.
However, the Communist - intelligence
services have not shrunk from violence,
kidnaping, and assassination to further -
their goals. Indeed, they have unite spe-
cializing in these methods. In the Soviet
intelligence service, the KGB, the group - - -
that specializes in violence, kidnaping, - - -
and assassination-is the ultrasecret "Dc
partment V." Those In "Department V"
gruesomely refer to their assignments as
"wet jobs." We have all heard firsthand
accounts of the KGB using these tech-
niques against domestic dissidents. (How-
ever, you should know that "Department
V" has used violence, kidnaping, - and
assassination all over the world.
I do not know if Communist intelil-
gence services have used such methor?s
against American Intelligence people.
That Is not my point. Nor can I prove
9n absolute cause and effect relat-ionshin
between the exposures of CIA people and
the recent threats and attacks against
them by extremists. That is not my point
either, although I personally think that
It is a fair assumptiion that the exposures
brought on the threats and attacks. My
point is that in a world where there are
ruthless adversaries. and terrorist groups,
It is foolhardy in the extreme to permit
public identification of American intelli-
gence personnel who are tinder cover. -
.We must realize that there are -uly
back alleys in the world. Vigilance re-
quires that we send dedicated men and
women Into these hostile Places. Because of our legal and moral traditions we have
placed restrictions on these men and
women before sending them forth.
Usually the only thing going for them--: - -
the only protection we can extend to -
them-is their cover, their anonymity. .
Groups here in the United States whose
stated purpose is to destroy our country's
intelligence agencies are now methodi-
cally exposing our intelligence officers.
I cannot believe that Congress will sit
safely here in Washington, smugly ex- -
ploiting the intelligence information
which these men and women Provide it,
and not lift a finger to protect them or
their families. This would be a grotesque
spectacle. But it is the spectacle which
is taking shape right now.
Mr. Speaker, to date 43 Members have
joined me in cosponsoring legislation
making It a crime to identify American
Intelligence personnel operating under - -
cover. As I mentioned earlier in my re-
marks the Congress has enacted criei-
nal sanctions to protect the questions on'
civil service exam. Congress has made
a1Pl?_._.
ApprovedFor Release 2006/09/24: CIA-RDP91-00901 R000700070044-9