DURENBERGER SCORES SECRECY OF INTERCEPT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000201670047-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 19, 2010
• Sequence Number: 47
• Publication Date: October 22, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/19: CIA-RDP90-00552R000201670047-6
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Pr,GE
22 October 1985
Durenberger scores
WASHING1ON TIMES
secrecy of intercept
By Thomas D. Brandt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The chairman of the Senate Intel-
ligence Committee yesterday
accused the Reagan administration
of slighting Congress by the way it
sent warplanes to capture the
pirates who seized the Italian cruise
ship Achille Lauro.
Sen. David Durenberger, Minne-
sota Republican, wants new laws to
strengthen the congressional role in
future U.S. anti-terrorist operations.
"My fear is that the administra-
tion will continue to slight the role of
Congress in counterterrorist
actions;' he said, "... and then one of
these daring deals will blow up in its
face:'
The senator said the War Powers
Resolution and t e Intelligence
Oversight Act, the primary statutes
governing the congressional over-
sight of U.S. intelligence and covert
activities, may no longer be ade-
quate to oversee the growing U.S.
counterterrorism programs.
Sen. Durenberger's criticism,
contained in a speech last night,
were the first criticism of the Rea-
gan administration's failure to con-
sult Congress on the U.S. response to
the Oct. 7 cruise ship piracy in which
an American tourist, 69, was mur-
dered. Four of the hijackers were
captured three days later when U.S.
Navy F-16 fighter planes forced an
Egyptian Air Boeing 737 jetliner -
with the terrorists aboard - to land
in Sicily.
"What if the Navy, fighters had
been required to fire on the Egyp-
tian aircraft and had destroyed it
and its occupants?" Mr. Durenber-
ger asked. "What if this had led to a
series of ever-widening military con-
flicts?
"We were in a crisis of great
potential impact on U.S. national
security and U.S. foreign policy, yet
at no time in the initial stages, final
planning, or execution was Con-
gress notified of the proposed
administration course of action," he
said. "No consultation took place."
Mr. Durenberger said he specifi-
call asked the administration to
inform t e intelligence com=._ itr ee of
any significant activity as soon as he
learned of the hijacking from news
ac Mn but that requirement
under the Intelligence Oversight AcL
was pore.
"The committee was never noti-
fied of any such activity and has yet
to receive the offer of a detailed
briefing on the action which
occurred;" he said inn a draft of his
25-page speech, prepared for deliv-
ery to the Johns Hopkins Foreign
Policy Institute.
Mr. Durenberger, who has also
been critical of administration fail-
ures to inform Congress about oper-
ations in Central America, called for
"a mutual non-partisan effort to
design a new strategy ... which calls
for a formalized notification process
in its implementation and an annual
review of the effectiveness.'
The chairman said his committee
already has started to design such a
strategy by sponsoring seminars for
representatives from all interested
congressional committees and
executive agencies "to sit down and
talk through the issues."
Reagan administration officials
bave complained that covert oper-
ations often require absolute
secrecy and quick responses which
could be compromised by notifying
congressional leaders or he two
CIA oversight _ committees.
Mr. Durenberger said because of
STAT
those arguments the White House
often has used "intricate legal
amesmanshi " to avoid dealing
wit on ress despite "t a awes
record of the intelligence committee
in protecting our most sensitive
secrets.. R
"What may be the most effective
course of action from the military or
political point of view may be
rejected because of the current
requirements for notification," he
said.
"In short, the administration may
prefer to do the wrong thing in
secret rather than doing the right
thing with congressional
knowledge;' he said. "The system
has truly been stood on its head, and
the effect could be disastrous."
Some of the points he raised last
night have caused friction between
Congress and the administration
over covert operations in the last two
years.
The issues that have erupted
beyond the committee, which deals
almost exclusively with classified
matters, include the CIA-backed
mining of Nicaraguan harbors, a
CIA produced manual for the anti-
Nicaraguan resistance that included
assassination instructions and t e
role of White House sta in raising
funds for the resistance while a con-
gressional ban against aid was in
e ect.
The senator said the oversight act
is also longer sufficient to accom-
mo ate "t a evo ution of a new and
broader use of lethal force beyond
our borders, that troubling contra-
diction in terms, t e phenomenon o
overt-covert action..:'
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/19: CIA-RDP90-00552R000201670047-6