STATEMENT OF MARY C. LAWTON COUNSEL FOR INTELLIGENCE POLICY BEFORE THE SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON 2. 1324

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91B00135R000500820003-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 8, 2008
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: June 28, 1983
• Content Type: REPORT

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MARY C. L V7TON
Counsel for Intelligence Policy
Before
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
On
S. 1324 --- To amend the National Security Act
of 1947 to regulate public disclosure of information
held by the Central Intelligence Agency
June 28, 1983
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Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee
We appreciate the opportunity to appear before the
Committee in support of S. 1324. While the bill, by. its terms,
relates solely to information in the files of the Central
Intelligence Agency, it has significance for the Department of
Justice which, of course, represents the CIA in 'reelom of
Information. Act litigation.
As the Committee is aware Freedom of Information Act
requests to the CIA impose enormous burdens on the Agency and on
the Department of Justice when litigation ensues. While many
agencies are burdened with "OIA requests, the cornpartme_n.ted
nature of CIA files and the sensitivity of the information
contained in them pose particular difficulties in searching and
processing requested materials. These difficulties are
compounded in l.iti.gation. The Department of justice can only
assign to CIA cases those attorneys who have the necessary
clearances to deal with the information at issue. Working with
the CIA, these attorneys must formulate the sort of public
affidavit called for in Phillippi v. CIA, 546 F.2d 1009 (D.C.
Cir. 1976) and Ray v. Turner, 587 F.2d 1187 (D.C. Cir. 1978),
without at the same time disclosing the very information they
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are required to protect. Often, in order for the courts to
appreciate the naLion:al security implications of requested
records, extensive classified affidavits explaining their
sensitivity must be filed. The courts, in .urn, must struggle
with the paradox of explaining the reasons for their decisions
without disclosing the underlying facts. And all to what end?
When the litigation is over the information remains classified
just as it was before the request was filed.
If there were any public benefit served by FOIA requests of
this type, consideration of this bill would require this.
Committee to weigh the benefit against security concerns. 11i.th
respect to the records covered by S. 1324, however, we perceive
no such benefit. The CIA must divert valuable intelligence
personnel from their mission to identify and review the records.
Processing must be scrutinized to minimize the risk of erroneous
release which might jeopardize sources or diminish the value of
the intelligence. Attorneys at the Agency and the Department
spend countless hours preparing documents. Already heavy cou,_'t
dockets are further burdened by these cases. )Let in the end the
public receives only the bill for this needless expense.
The findings set forth in S. 1324 essentially recognize
that this process wastes intelligence community and litigativee
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-e sources without any offsetting public bene,`.it. Equally
important, S. 1324 recognizes the probl.era posed by the
perception of those who cooperate with intelligence. agencies
that protection of information furnished cannot be ensured.
Whether or not this perception is justified, it is real.
Congressional recognition that the problem exists and that it
warrants remedy should help to allay the concern.
I am.sure that the Committee is aware that the Department
of Justice sought in the last Congress and is seeking in this
Congress generic relief from some of the undue burdens imposed
by FO.7_A on the government as a whole. We are delighted that: they
Senate Judiciary Committee has agreed to report S. 774. The
need for that legislation, however, in no way diminishes the
need. for legislation such as S. 1324.
This bill focuses on the specific protection of CIA sources
and methods and addresses the particular problems of processing
and reviewing compartmented files. It is,, quite properly, an
amendment to the National Security Act of 1947. As exemption
(b)(3), of the Freedom of Information Act itself contemplates, it
addresses the specific need for protection of an agency's files
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a
in the organic act applicable to that agency. Only a proposal
of this type could address with such specificity the files to be
protected. Precisely because S. 1324 deals with the CIA alone,
it can describe the exempt files in terms which address that
Agency's particular filing system. It is entirely appropriate
that it be considered by the Congress as separate and distinct
from efforts to secure government-wide amendments to the Freedom
of Information Act itself.
We have no further comments, Mr. Chairman, other than to
reiterate our wholehearted support of S. 1324 and urge its
speedy enactment.
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