CNSS REQUEST FOR INDEX TO HISTORIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP01-00569R000100120050-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 19, 2009
• Sequence Number: 50
• Publication Date: January 29, 1985
• Content Type: MEMO

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/19: CIA-RDP01-00569R000100120050-4
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ADMINISTRATIVE--INTERNAL USF ONLY
29 January 1985
MFJIORANDUM FOR:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
Chief, Information Privacy Division, OIS/DDA
J. Kenneth McDonald
Chief, DCI History Staff
CNSS Pequest for Index to Histories
1. In our discussion yesterday afternoon I think I mentioned that when
the FOIA relief bill was first being discussed in 1983 and
others in DO/IMS talked with me about its possible implications for the
History Staff, and especially for DO histories in our holdings. I'll attach
copies of memoranda for the record I made of discussions on this question.
2. As you can see, DO was evidently eager to assure Congress that
histories would continue to be subject to FOIA requests; I couldn't argue
against that, since even DO histories do not fit in any conventional
definition of "operational records." Although a hazy recollection of
earlier di ons of this issue may have something to do with the
exchange about the denial of the request for an index to
is Dries, really a quite separate question. Our histories will not
be "designated files," and they remain subject to FOIA requests whether our
index is released or denied..
3. On the other hand, I did protest strongly then against any proposal
to make the History Staff a "conduit" for releasing records. My arguments
against this idea parallel my concern now over any proposal to release an
index to our holdings. I entirely agree with the position that we all took
yesterday that the Agency should not give up what appears to be the
perfectly legitimate denial of the histories index. My objections focus
first on the FOIA demands such a release would make on the Agency, secondly
on the potentially devastating implications such a precedent could have on
CIA's ability to protect other indexes, and finally on the release of
indexes as a back door to a new 'systematic review' requirement.
4. Manpower If the list is released, we can expect extraordinary
demands on manpower not only in the History Staff but also in the components
treated in the histories, Although we could deny some of the titles on the
list, we could expect CJSS and others immediately to request the remaining
titles on a sanitized list. The demands on the History Staff would he
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/19: CIA-RDP01-00569R000100120050-4
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/19: CIA-RDP01-00569R000100120050-4
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ADMINISTRATIVE--INTERNAL USE ONLY
heavy, but since these are mostly component histories, the controlling
components would have to take primary responsibility for review.
Coordination would be burdensome, and the Agency would have to commit very
large resources (including senior officers' time) to review these histories,
especially in light of the requirement to sanitize for segregable portions.
This burden might raise questions about the viability of the Agency's
history program; it would be ironic if conceding the list to CNSS resulted
in crippling the Agency's future efforts to document and record its
history.
5. Precedent If we release the history index we shall set a precedent
for the Agency. It will then be hard, if not impossible, in future to use
our legitimate defense that indexes are not subject to FOIA. I doubt if any
component relishes the prospect of giving up'indexes of their records as
shopping lists for FOIA requesters. A decision to release indexes and lists
(especially in light of growing computer retrieval capabilities) thus has
serious implications for the whole Agency.
6. 'Systematic Review' If the Agency is unwilling--or unable--to deny
indexes to its records, t e components involved will in effect have to
undertake a systematic declassification review of all their listed records
upon request. Any FOIA requester who got a list of a component's records
could demand this new kind of systematic review, by simply requesting all
the documents listed. This is not what the FOI Act intends, and is no doubt
the reason that the Act does not consider indexes and lists as records.
Copy to:
Distribution:
Orig - Addressee w/att
1 w/att (OIS)
X- HS Chrono wo/att
1 - HSSubject (FOIA ) wo/att
1 - C/HS wo/att
ADMINISTRATIVE--INTERNAL USE ONLY
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2009/11/19: CIA-RDP01-00569R000100120050-4