CONGRESSIONAL RELATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00610R000200080026-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 18, 2003
• Sequence Number: 26
• Publication Date: September 23, 1963
• Content Type: MF

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' 3 SEP 1963
a : m~~ i ill r. OR; Director of Central t .i Ce
$Ul CT:
. DeterraWng the general view held by the Congress o any
particular situation is difficult not Aposeihlo until the goestion is
tt to a vote. However, there are sufficient indications of the
congressional view of the Agency to warrant concern. I shah discus
ao e of these but first would like to point out the uew%l situation of
our Subcou=ittees.
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1. This memorandum suZZeets action on the part of the
Director of Central to i e ce. Such requested action, is contained
in paragraph 9.
to am of senior officiate '& t With the .b om nitt . The entire meeting Was devoted to a caries of q aattona by the Chairman based an a Readers
4. The other House : om aittes (Appropriations) is not a
formally established Subconaandtteo. Last year we met three ti-mea
with this Subcommittee and three times this year. The most recent
meeting occurred on 27 August 1963 when both the Director and Deputy
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ncti ltiea is the 1 Subco.r mlttee on the Central intelligence A,gcncy't of
use Armed Services. Last year, T ir. ineon indicated a strong
de ire to have monthly Meeting and the Agency on its initiative since
then has urged that monthly briefings Occur. There were six meetings
of, this Subcommittee last year and there have been four this year.
eat article by "rands Vivian Drake. The coo f taa o of eo-vo
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the enbers was obvious as it has been i ; other eetin e. The
probleu s,of the chairmax%ship of this o?~x a.itte are fully
appreciated by war. Mahon . and Mr. "ord. 'M.s subject was dis-
cussed ,
,I Mr. Mahon with tb.e i' lire for of Central latel.Ugence
early this year. Mr. ?o d is out o town for two weeks but I have
word that be is seriously concerned that the &&bcod emit e is not
heard fro4 x ti . a e cy on a current basts os.'both Viet - ? . and
and intends to raise this pro lom with Mr. ,Mao and Mr.
Cron When he returns.
S. the Senate aide, there is interiocid x sers on
the two &ohco. s tteee. Therefore, as a matter of convenience and
aisoo in part because of the 'Increasing disability of hai.ra Hayden,
Senator iwtWsse has in effect coveted joint meetin for the past
ree years. There were ei such a cretin last year and this year
re have been two. As a x tter. interest there was only one
m .eeting in 1961.
an treaty and others.
continuously have weighty robiee'x s eoaas sti for their attea tion.
In ad tt n, there are mrxan other proble.cazs political and otherwise,
%vWch are of concern to these Chairmen. AU of this leaves little time
for them to devote to CIA. This is notably so in the case of Senator
Russel with civil rights ie ;iaiation, his position on the nuclear test
6. Thee four Committees have perhaps the greatest
responsih ihiti s in the Congrass and i n consequence the heirs
7. The c nti uiag efforts to establish a Joint Committee on
Znte .i en e are reflected in the introduction of seventeen resolutioaa
in this Congress. A rather well,-reasoned speech was a e by
Representative .i lea . on this s zb ect o i August 1963. "and this
containe various factual errors about the Agency which have gone
unanswere There have been other references to the need for a
Joint Co .arvaittee including such Senators as Morse and Smathers.
`i`taer continue to be press criticisms of the ., eae 's a recent one
for e ple being The as!Li4 t editorial of 9 September 1963.
None of the monabers of our ubco x itteee has taken to. the floor or
to the press to state that they are thorouZhly briefed on CIA aoti. sties
r
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SECIRET
or to refute the accusations against the agency. This can be
Contrasted With ?re u t favorable reference to the Director by *=W=0
e head of the errt &1 e a oe. Agency during the coaxes of the
floor debato on the rnuciea test bin treaty. We have a transcript of
a radio interview with eO Axen ,J n i i !gray who arc
members of tho CIA Suboozaa-Attee. They were ached if they anew
about the Centre'. ateiii e oe Agency' a role in the ietna rma,eee
eituatior. They both i dieate that they were not briefed on this
subject.
S. A sufficient n amber 'o unchallenged aeeus tion inevitably
will influence a me ahers of Congress wid thought aho . be given to
some raethod of countering this continuing barrage. This bee ses
particularly important in C si ering the ti ain of i loor action on
our early retirement bill. ur&ng the Sub oza ttee hearin a$ , rraan
Uver e several times cautioned that there was eo eidevable body of
antagox a . : to the Agency in the i"loa so. We would not wara floor action
on the hill to be the oceo.aion for a debate on 'the Bits of n :nerous
accusatloa or cause renewal of cu sion of a Joint Committee.
is recognised that inevitably this will be true to a certain degree.
Hawaver, we should consider prior action. to at least blunt the edge
of such attack. we are to have any hope of final assage of the
early retirement bill this year there will. have to be use floor action
in the relatively near futaaxe in order provide sufficient ti=e for
Senate action.
What to do about the pro?blem ? The area of poaslble action
appears, to 'be limited to the membership of our uboom mittees who have
been given detailed and candid briefings and who are the only members in
a Position to m make judgment on the over all performance of the ency~.
11 a believe these members and particularly the senior membe s iF ?elp .
believe the AZenoy is performing a creditable job despite its difficult tnsm>.
Therefore, it is to be hoped that they would recognize the ueoes. ity for
to demonstrate proper solve of their own responsibilities as members
of CIA ubeom.umittees. The specific action roeoaunended, therefore
Director of Central telligence meet Privately with : oa a rah
aeh a a ee a t st , Viuman and Arend $. tae ca e of Rouse
.ppro ri.a tions$ I believe this is .a special situation where the rector
3
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U lbY, a
aaho d meet et first with 14r. Xaho a seek his advice as to further
contacts pa azi having i miss n Sia Gerald Ford into the
a:s after. The p oa in view of such meetings, Would be to elicit
advice and, develop a sat ate iooi i ; . toward public pronounce.-aengs
by those n embers and other CIA Subcommittee em ers. The form
of the Public statements o be (I) i ooz statements, (U) press
releases. (W) ptess tate views, and (lv s oaa>. ittee reports.
10. exploring possible content of such ro oaancements there
could be considered reiereaces to detailed bvie ngs on all phases of
. , activities. The usual charges that the Agency is pursuing any
independent policy whether South Viet- Nam or elsewhere could be
refuted with no lama e to security assarae ee that this type of
thing has been examined and all phazes of CIA activities are ooor :oat
and reference could be mada to the "reside to a etatemeat on this very
subject. Consideration cos be given to denying specific accuoationoo
for example, as recently as 16 September 1963. Senator Thurniond in
the C s ,rccoional P-acord refers to the Soviet launch or utri i
October 1957 when the U. S. was caught by complete surprise "official
Intelligence estimates, had let ug down as ain.'? Possibly at this tiz-ae two
security considerations would be such the true position of envy, e tip is to
could be made public and lay this one to rest for all time. There zzaaay be
other accusations which have been repeated so often they have become
legend which could k r* to rest t the passage of time has. lessened t~" e
security aspects.
11. To sum up, insofar as we can asa s the situation, the
reputation of the Agency in the Congress , enaera ly seems to be currently
on the decline and action along the hues discussed. above shoaal be t 4en.
M e while we can do sae effective work i our voati.ne contacts with
individual Congressmen as ouch .eetin a as the group breakfasts are
helpful and should be co tinned
V. n -2
4f~ i e7. 4t ;:d
3.Ur
JOHN S. fA,i IR
LegisWiva Counsel
i stribu ont
Orig DC.I
.... o: 1
CCIL X sinks (23 Sept 63)
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