LETTER TO MY FELLOW EMPLOYEES FROM GEORGE BUSH

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06702742
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: December 12, 2018
• Case Number: F-2014-00929
• Publication Date: January 19, 1977

Approved for Release: 2018/08/06 C06702742(.
Central Intelligence Agency
bVashington.I1C 20505
. January 19, 7977
To my Fellow Employees:
Its time to go now, and yet it seems as if I have just
begun.
First, I want to say Thank You to all. I have never been
associated with any institution that gives its leadership more
cooperation and more support. I wish I could thank each of you
personally.
As I leave the Agency and the Intelligence Community there
are a few personal observations I would like to make.
First, I believe it is essential that the American people
give this Agency its full and unqualified support. The world
we live in demands no less. The support for the Agency was
shaken during the height of the public hearings in 1975. It
was shaken, not only because of a handful of abuses that did take
place and which indeed had been remedied before the hearings took
place; but also it was shaken even more by the endless stream of
allegations which were untrue but which were given great attention.
This is changing now, and it is changing for the better. We
are still slugged at times with unfair criticism, but the sensa-
tionalism is giving way now to legitimate inquiry; the adversary
relationship with Congress has given way to thorough and
constructive oversight; the frantic search for reorganization
and dismantlement has given way to a legitimate search for ways
to improve things.
� It is essential that CIA continue to work with the Congress,
with the rest of the Executive Branch, and to some degree with
the public, to demonstrate that CIA the Reality is very different
from CIA the Myth. We are cooperating fully with all concerned;
and this is bound to result in the Truth. We honor the Truth;
we do not fear it.
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Secondly, we should continue to strive for fair and
better legislation to protect sources and methods of obtaining
intelligence. We should do all we possibly can to guard against
unauthorized leaks, and I strongly urge that we have a reawakening
of the need for present and past employees to honor their security
commitments. No foreign intelligence organization can be run
without careful adherence to security, and we should be ever
mindful of the fact that security is everyone's job.
Thirdly, I am pleased with the way the President's Executive
Order has been faithfully implemented. All components have
cooperated fully. As a result we are operating within the
guidelines--guidelines designed to safeguard the rights of
private citizens. To deserve the confidence of the American
people, we must continue to operate, As we are now, within
the law, responsive to Congressional and Executive oversight.
I congratulate all for working to make the Executive Order
effective.
Lastly, a word about the Dedication here. I have been
privileged to serve in many fascinating assignments in public
and private life, but nowhere else have I ever encountered the
same degree of unselfish dedication to country as I have
encountered here at CIA. I thank each and every one of ,you
for the cooperation you have given me over the past year. I
know you will- give our new Director the same support you have
given me.
I am leaving CIA now, but I take with me many happy
memories. Even �the tough, unsolved problems don't seem so
awesome; for they are overshadowed by our successes and by
the fact that we do provide the best foreign intelligence in
the world. I am leaving, but I am not forgetting. I hope I
can find some ways in the years ahead to make the American
people understand more fully the greatness that is CIA.
Sincerely,
/
GeolFj'eT13 ush
Approved for Release: 2018/08/06 C06702742