REPORT TO REAGAN AIDES URGES ENDING MANY RESTRICTIONS ON U.S. SPYING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000200010035-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 22, 2007
• Sequence Number: 35
• Publication Date: November 21, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Approved For. Release 2007/03/22 : CIA-RDP99-00498R00020
ARTICLE Ai' Z
NEW YORK TIMES
21 NOVEMBER 1980
anyR e*ict ons ono S py '
By JUDTTH MILLER . -?
t*TbeNewYorkTimes ?:ti
WASHINGTON, Nov; 20 A, report
prepared for.national securityadvisers to
President-elect Ronald Reagan calls for
'sweeping changes: in intelligence prac-
tices and the elimination of many restric-
tionsontheintelligence community. ,
'-The 97-page report; prepared under the
auspices. of the. Heritage Foundation, a
conservative research organization here,
concludes:that in order. to revive- the na-
tion's intelligence capabilities, "agencies
must be rebuilt through a combination of
legislation; executive orders, administra-
tive actions and Presidential leader-
ship.". It suggests. separating clandestine
operations from.the. Central Intelligence
;Agency, hiring,. more and better-trained,
,agents establishing competing sources;
.of intelligence analysis and changing'
;laws that restrict intelligence activities. i
The report characterizes the current,
intelligence apparatus as being "in the
worst condition since- before Pearl Har-,
bor" and blames nut only President Car-
ter but also three previous Administra-
tions for politicizing intelligence gather
ing and analysis... .. _..... : . a
. Officials., stressed that key Reagan;
aides had only begun to think about how
intelligence should, be reshaped, and the ]
report, they said, is only a tentative list of
,options open to a Reagan administration.
As one indication of the tentative na-
ture of the options, .I., William Midden-
dorf, former Secretary of the Navy and I
acting head of the transition's task force,
on intelligence, and other members of the j
task force, met Today for the first timed
with. Adm. Stansfield Turner,. Director of
Central Intelligence..
However,: officials close to, the Republi-
can transition effort in intelligence said it
was likely that several of the proposals inl
the report would be pursued by a Reagan,
administration and the new. Republi
majority In the Senate. Y r: ,.::
The officials said that Mr. Reagan had
not yet chosen a Director of Central Intel-
ligence but that- William J. Casey, the
Reagan campaign director, was known to
be the front-runner. Mr. Casey is known
to support a much more. aggressive ap-
proach to intelligence operations.
Moreover, many of the report's propos-
als resemble portions of a now-dormant
legislative charter, introduced last sum-
mer by Republican Senators, that would
restructure intelligence agencies and
relax restrictions on domestic spying.
Many of the changes advocated in the
report are bound to be resisted by civil
liberties groups, which have fought for
years for the laws and executive orders
that now limit intelligence activities and
protect individual liberties. Other-struc-
tural recommendations are bound to be4
controversial, since they would require
an overhaul of the current intelligence
scheme. They stem from an assumption t
that the. organizational setup is. largely'
responsible for what the report contends;
is the poor quality of intelligence.
The report accuses the Carter Adminis-
tration of weakening American intelli-
gence "through mass dismissals of C.I.A.
officials and partial replacement of them
by inexperienced employees," :a charge
that agency officials have denied.
"Presidential leadership must play a
role in rebuilding our intelligence, serv-
ices, which have not been so weak since
Pearl Harbor, and can instigate not only;
administrative reform ,but also promote,,
legislation and give the intelligence com-<
munity the moral and political support4
necessary to fulfill its mission,". the re4
port concludes. .. i
Many of the report's recommendations!
would not require legislation. For exam-,
ple, it urges the revocation of an execu-l
tive order that governs intelligence strut-I,
ture and provides operational guidelines:
and restrictions for the intelligence agen- i
ties.
The report recommends that "lan-
guage training, as well as adequate r_Tii.-l
tary and political instruction" should be
standard for agents. .