LETTER TO WILLIAM H. TAFT, IV FROM WILLIAM H. WEBSTER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91M01043R001900120003-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 30, 2013
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: March 2, 1989
• Content Type: LETTER

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ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET ?
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SUBJECT: (optional)
Ltr to Taft re E.O. 12333 LiIMtg
FROM:
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TO: (Officer designation, room number, and
building)
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OFFICERS
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COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
to whom. Draw a line across column after each comment.)
RECEIVED
FORWARDED
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STAT STAT
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Please return to EO/ICS
for distribution.
ExAss't to DCI
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FORM 610 USE PREVIOUS
1-79 EDITIONS
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STAT
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The Director of Central Intelligence
Washington, D. C.20505
2 March 1989
The Honorable William H. Taft IV
Acting Secretary of Defense
Washington, D. C. 20301
Dear Will:
As we discussed last Friday, your memorandum of 19 January
1989 concerning the authorities of the DCI and the Department
with regard to the budgets of the NFIP elements in Defense is
of considerable concern. I believe it has been clear for the
past 12 years since the issuance of E.O. 12036 (and restated in
E.O. 12333) that the DCI has the final decision authority over
the NFIP that is to be presented to the President for approval.
Since your memorandum seems to imply that the Department has
that ultimate authority, I want to correct any misimpression or
misunderstanding that it may cause within the Department.
Executive Order 12333 gives the Director of Central
Intelligence, after consultation with the Program Managers and
heads of Departments and Agencies, the responsibility to present
the recommended budget for the NFIP to the President and
Congress. Heads of Departments and Agencies may appeal such
decisions of the DCI to the President. The inviolability of
NFIP budget to Departmental adjustment was recognized and
supported by the strong policy statement of the Deputy Secretary
of Defense to the Secretaries of the Military Departments, the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Office of the
Secretary of Defense Staff in the memorandum of 17 April 1981 to
which you referred. I cannot fulfill the responsibilities
assigned to me by the President in the absence of strict
adherence to these principles by all elements of the
Department. Over the years, elements of the Department have
chaffed under these conditions and have on occasion violated or
attempted to violate these principles. In almost every case, we
have succeeded in undoing the resulting harm. Unless you
withdraw or correct your memorandum of 19 January 1989, any
element of the Defense bureaucracy could consider the NFIP
"fair game." I am sure you can appreciate why I cannot allow
such a situation to occur.
STAT
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The Honorable William H. Taft IV
Typical of the problem that can occur is the 6 February
1989 memorandum, Subject: Review of Defense Agencies Manpower.
Without any acknowledgment of the DCI, the memorandum calls for
plans to roll back Defense Agency manpower to the levels of
year-end FY 1983. As you are aware, the DCI has been restoring
the capabilities of the NFIP since 1981. Included were specific
proposals, in which Defense concurred, to increase the manpower
of both DIA and NSA. These proposals won the support of the
President and ultimately the Congress. I know of no logical
reason for arbitrarily cutting back to the year-end FY 1983
levels. If resource constraints require a manpower cutback,
I will decide to do so within the preservation of the most
balanced NFIP possible in accordance with extant requirements
and priorities. I, therefore, request that the Assistant
Secretary (Force Management and Personnel) be directed to
exclude the NFIP elements of NSA and DIA from consideration in
this review.
I believe it is important to set the record straight on
these matters. I believe we have worked well together under ,
this mode in the past and can continue to do so in the future.
Sincerely yours,
William H. Webster
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`41,
The Honorable William H. Taft, IV
DCl/ICS/DD/ICS,
Distribution: (ICS 3015-89)
Original ? DepSecDef
1 ? ER
1 ? DDCI?Designate
1 ? DCI
1 ? D/ICS
1 ? DD/ICS
1 ? ICS Registry
(13 February 1989)
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/12/30: CIA-RDP91M01043R001900120003-7