16 DECEMBER MEETING WITH SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY (D., VT.)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90M00005R000400080001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 14, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 15, 1988
• Content Type: MEMO

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OCA 88-3998
15 December 1988
FROM: John L. Helgerson
Director of Congressional Affairs
SUBJECT: 16 December Meeting with Senator Patrick Leahy
(D., VT.)
1. Senator Patrick Leahy has requested a brief meeting
with you prior to his
briefings on Egypt and Israel.
Senator Leahy will be traveling to those two countries in early
January. I will join you in this meeting. Senator Leahy will
meet with Dick Stolz after your session.
2. The Senator's visit to Egypt and Israel will be his
first act as new Chairman of the Senate Appropriations
Committee's Subcommittee on Foreign Operations. That
Subcommittee has jurisdiction over all foreign aid programs.
Senator Leahy is former Vice Chairman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee and serves on the Defense Appropriations
Subcommittee which has jurisdiction over our budget.
3. Senator Leahy's staff says that he wishes to discuss
two subjects with you:
4. In addition to the talking points, you may wish to say
that you understand key topics the analysts will cover in his
briefings include our latest information on
reaction to the US decision to agree to enter into
direct discussions with the PLO; Egyptian efforts to cope with
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severe economic problems without creating political
instability, and status of negotiations to form a new Israeli
government.
5. Since Senator Leahy serves on the Appropriations
Committee, you may wish to make the basic point to him that we
will need his support for our intelligence budget proposals in
order to meet the increasing challenges facing the Intelligence
Community such as arms control monitoring and support for
narcotics interdiction.
J L. Hel rson
SECRET
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S E C R E T
SUBJECT: Talking Points for DCI 16 December 1988 Meeting with
Senator Patrick Leahy (D., VT), Chairman of the
Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Senate
Appropriations Committee
1. There are two issues concerning Israel and Egypt which
may be of interest to Senator Leahy in connection with his
trip. Talking points on these issues follow.
2. Talking Point - Israel.
3. Talking Point - Egypt.
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Patrick J. Leahy (D)
Of Middlesex - Elected 1974
Born: March 31, 1940, Montpelier, Vt.
Education: St. Michael's College, B.A. 1961; George-
town U., J.D. 1964.
Occupation: Lawyer.
Family: Wife, Marcelle Pomerleau; three children.
Religion: Roman Catholic.
Political Career. Chittenden County state's attorney.
1967-75.
Capitol Office: 433 Russell Bldg. 20510; 224-4242.
In Washington: Leahv's term as vice
chairman of the Intelligence Committee in the
99th Congress seemed at times to produce a
change not only in his interests but in his style.
Under the glare of television lights, his affable,
unpretentious nature appeared to yield to a
more confrontational, publicity-conscious ap-
proach to his job.
Now that he is no longer on Intelligence,
and busy with his duties as chairman of the
Agriculture Committee, Leahy may reflect
more of the unassuming charm that long made
him one of the Senate's most likable members.
He will need all of his collegial skills and soft-
spoken common sense if he is to succeed at
balancing the regional and commodity interests
that combine in the writing of farm legislation.
On the other hand, soybeans and milk may
he a little boring to Leahy after the heady brew
of spies and counterspies. As the leading Demo-
crat on Intelligence, Leahy had access to in-
formation available to only a handful of other
officials in the government. At a time of intense
controversy over intelligence issues - a string
of spy scandals and the Iran-contra affair,
among other events - Leahy's position made
him one of the most sought-after politicians in
Washington, pursued by reporters each time he
emerged from committee meetings and much in
demand as a guest on television talks shows.
Leahy seemed particularly entranced by
the "tradecraft" of intelligence - the sophisti-
cated electronic gear and elaborate, procedures
designed to protect vital information from dis-
closure. To the consternation of committee
security officers, he once led a press tour of the
panel's hearing room, which features a complex
array of anti-snooping systems. "We've had to
set up a special procedure just to go to the
bathroom," he said, revealing that he was one
of the select few to receive such closely guarded
information.
One of Leahy's prime concerns on the
committee was in ferreting out Soviet spies in
the United States. Convinced that many such
spies were working under diplomatic cover. he
and Maine Republican William S. Cohen
pushed hard for an amendment limiting the
number of Soviet diplomats in this country to
the number of American diplomats in the So-
viet I. nion. Leahy's efforts frequently brought
him into sharp conflict with the State Depart-
ment. which he felt was too protective of Soviet
officials. "There are times I wonder whether
the State Department is working on our side or
on the Soviets' side." he once said.
Leahy also used his Intelligence post to
mount broader attacks on the whole course of
the Reagan foreign policy. He has been particu-
larly outspoken in fighting aid to the contra
rebels of Nicaragua - a subject he has been
involved with since well before it became a
central item on the Washington agenda.
Leahy visited Central America in 1983.
hinting upon his return that the administration
was violating the law by trying to overthrow the
Nicaraguan regime. But. except for Democrat
Joseph R. Biden .Jr. of Delaware. Leahy found
few allies on the Intelligence Committee. But
after the 1984 revelation that the CIA had
backed the mining of Nicaraguan harbors.
Leahy picked up more support from committee
Democrats. By year's end. Congress voted to
cut off the aid at least temporarily.
Although Leahy could do little to halt the
resumption of open military aid to the contras
in 1986. he used his position on Intelligence to
press for information about the role of the CIA
and other administration agencies in arranging
covert aid to the contras in defiance of the ban.
Arguing that U.S. intelligence should focus on
the issues of arms control and terrorism, Leahy
offered an August 1986 amendment to bar the
CIA from involvement with aid to the contras.
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Patrick J. Leahy, D-1/t.
It was killed by a 57-42 vote, however.
An ardent supporter of arms control agree-
ments, Leahy also has been concerned with
maintaining U.S. observance of the SALT II
treaty with the Soviet Union. He and Arkansas
Democrat Dale Bumpers led Senate forces
pressing the administration to continue to com-
ply with the pact, which Reagan abandoned in
1986.
Leahy did not completely ignore farm is-
sues during his first two terms in the Senate,
but neither, with one or two exceptions, did he
devote much energy or attention to them. Like
Vermont's farmers, he has shown little interest
in the major commodity crops -. corn, wheat
and soybeans - that are the focus of most
agricultural debates.
But Leahy has worked hard over the years
to aid dairy farming, which dominates Ver-
mont's agriculture. His disputes with the ad-
ministration over dairy issues began almost as
soon as Reagan was inaugurated - Leahy
strongly opposed the new administration's re-
quest for a cancellation in the scheduled in-
crease in dairy prices in 1981. In 1983, he
backed a controversial bill to pay dairymen for
reducing production. Although the administra-
tion was sharply critical of the bill, Reagan
eventually signed it.
Leahy also played a key role in writing the
section of the 1985 farm bill that created a new
industry-backed program of dairy supports.
Known as the "whole herd buy-out," the pro-
gram provided payments to milk producers
who sent their entire herds to slaughter. The
idea was to reduce milk production and so cut
costly government purchases of dairy surpluses.
Leahy also has worked on the Agriculture
Committee to hold off efforts to make severe
cuts in the food stamp program. Working
closely with Nutrition Subcommittee Chairman
Robert Dole of Kansas, he came up with a
series of moderate reductions in food stamp
spending that headed off a more draconian
package of cuts sponsored by full committee
Chairman Jesse Helms of North Carolina.
Preoccupied with intelligence and dairy
issues, Leahy had little time to focus on Judi-
ciary in the 99th Congress. His one significant
issue on the panel was in extending privacy
guarantees to cellular phones and other new
forms. of electronic communications. Although
he sometimes irritated other committee mem-
bers with the blustery manner in which he
pushed the subject, he managed to play a key
role in passage of an electronic privacy bill in
1986.
In earlier years, Leahy followed a biparti-
san approach on the committee. In the 971th
Congress, for example, he joined with Republ I
can Paul Laxalt of Nevada in pushin
bill It
g a
reform the federal government's regulatorgl
process. After lengthy negotiations, the two
Judiciary Committee members came up with a
compromise bill that passed the Senate unani.
mously. It would have imposed cost-benefit
analysis on new federal rules and given Con-
gress more say in their approval. But the bill
never passed the House.
Leahy may find himself in much sharper
partisan conflict with Judiciary Republicans, in
the 100th Congress, however. He heads an
informal panel of committee Democrats
charged with reviewing all administration judi-
cial selections, which could lead him into a
renewal of the bitter nomination fights that
divided the committee in recent years.
At Home: Though polls throughout Lea-
hy's second term showed him to be popular in
Vermont, Republican officials looked forward
to taking him on in 1986. Since he had won
narrowly in 1980 over an upstart GOP chal-
lenger, Leahy was viewed as the most vulner-
able Democratic incumbent running in 1986.
Republican morale was boosted by the recruit-
ment of former Gov. Richard A. Snelling to run
against Leahy. Snelling retired in 1985 after
four terms as a popular chief executive.
But the expected "battle of the titans"
failed to develop. Well-prepared and well-fi-
nanced, Leahy defeated Snelling in a landslide,
carrying 63 percent of the vote.
After being criticized for the low profile he
maintained in his first term, Leahy made cer-
tain, with newsletters and press releases, that
his constituents would know about his activi-
ties. As the ranking Democrat on Senate Intel-
ligence, he was often visible in Vermont
through his national TV appearances.
Leahy also had a strong organizational
edge. By fall 1985, Leahy had a grass-roots
network in place, and the $250,000 he had
raised at that point sent a signal that this
would be Vermont's most expensive race.
Meanwhile, Snelling spent much of 1985
on an Atlantic sailing excursion. Several key
Republicans, including President Reagan, fi-
nally convinced him his candidacy was crucial
to maintaining the Senate majority-.
A late start was not Snelling's only prob-
lem. He was bucking Vermont's pro-incumbent
tradition; some Vermonters expressed anger at
Snelling for forcing them to choose between
t
wo popular figures. This attitude helped
Leahy to large leads in early polls, which in
turn hurt Snelling's efforts to raise funds.
But Snelling's biggest handicap was likely
the lack of political distance between him and
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Leahy. Snelling, a Republican moderate, held
similar positions to Leahy on many issues. His
efforts to run as a Reaganite did not ring true;
as governor, he was a sharp critic of Reagan's
federal budget priorities. Snelling resorted to
attacking Leahy's attendance record and label-
ing the incumbent as one of the Senate's -big-
gest spenders." Not only was the strategy inef-
fective. it also enabled Leahy to accuse Snelling
of negative campaigning.
Leahy's victory was sweeping. He carried
Chittenden County by 2-to-1, taking 75 percent
of the vote in his home city of Burlington and
.59 percent in Shelburne, Snelling's hometown.
Leahy also won 10 of the other 12 counties.
Leahy now has enjoyed two decades as a
Democratic officeholder in a traditionally Re-
publican state. He was elected as Chittenden
County state's attorney in 1967, when he was
just 26 years old. He revamped the office and
headed a national task force of district attor-
neys probing the 1973-74 energy crisis.
In 1974, Leahy decided to run for the
Senate seat being vacated by Republican
George D. Aiken. At 34, Leahy was still a little
Committees
Vermont - Junior Senator
young to replace an 82-year-old political insti-
tution, but he was already balding and-graying,
and looked older than he was.
Leahy was an underdog in 1974 against
U.S. Rep. Richard W. Mallary. But Mallary
turned out to be a rather awkward campaigner,
and Watergate had made Vermont more recep-
tive to voting Democratic than it had been in
modern times, enabling Leahy to win narrowly.
Leahy survived in 1980 by emphasizing his
roots in the state rather than his roots in the
Democratic Party. Campaigning against the
national Republican tide, he fought off a New
York-born GOP challenger with the slogan:
"Pat Leahy: Of Vermont. For Vermont."
It took all the ingenuity Leahy could sum-
mon to overcome the challenge from Stewart
Ledbetter, former state banking and insurance
commissioner. With financial help from na-
tional Republican groups, Ledbetter sought to
convince voters that Leahy was a free-spender
and weak on defense. His aggressive campaign
helped: him close the gap. and Reagan's coat-
tails almost carried him to victory. Leahy was
able to hang on, but by less than 3,000 votes.
Voting Studies
Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry (Chairman)
Presidential
Party
Conservative
Appropriations (9th of 16 Democrats)
D
f
Support
Unity
Coalition
e
ense: Foreign Operations; HUD-Independent Agencies; Inte-
Year
S
0
S
0
S
0
rior and Related Agencies.
1986
24
70
83
11
21
75
J
di
i
1985
29
68
83
16
27
7
u
c
ary (6th of 8 Democrats)
Technolo
d
1984
30
62
.
85
11
15
3
77
gy an
the Law (chairman); Patents, Copyrights and
Trad
k
1983
.
41
58
89
10
18
,
.
8
emar
s.
1982
37
62
91
9
12
2
88
1981
34
60
76
8
4
84
Elections
1986 General
Patrick J. Leahy (D) 124,123 (63%)
Richard A. Snelling (R) 67,798 (35%)
Previous Winning Percentages: 1980 (50%) 1974 (50%)
Campaign Finance
Receipts Expend-
Receipts from PACs itures
Leahy(D) $1,919,740 $822,931 (43%) $1,705,099
Snelling (R) $1,495,491 $258,377 (17%) $1,502,304
S = Support 0 = Opposition
Key Votes
Produce MX missiles (1985) N
Weaken gun control laws (1985) Y
Reject school prayer (1985) Y
Limit textile imports (1985) Y
Amend Constitution to require balanced budget (1986) N
Aid Nicaraguan contras (1986) N
Block chemical weapons production (1986) Y
Impose sanctions on South Africa (1986) Y
Interest Group Ratings
Year ADA ACU AFL-CIO CCUS
1966 85 9 87 29
1995 70 13 86 41
1984 95 10 91 35
1913 85 4 88 32
1982 90 20 92 45
1981 95 0 89 6
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