LETTER TO EDWARD P. BOLAND FROM W.E. COLBY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP10-00750R000101230001-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 22, 2011
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: April 27, 1983
• Content Type: LETTER

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/22 : CIA-RDP10-00750R000101230001-3
STAT
April 27, 1983
The Honorable Edward P. Boland
Chairman
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman Boland:
Last year, with the sponsorship of your Committee,
The Central Intelligence Agency Spouses Retirement Equity
Act of 1982 (P.L. 97-269) was passed by the Congress, provid-
ing retirement and survivor annuities for divorced spouses of
Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System
(CIARDS) participants. That Act corrected a long-standing in-
equity in pre-existing law which ignored the contribution of
those spouses to the Agency's mission and left them without a
claim for an appropriate portion of their sponsor's retirement
benefits. The 1982 Act vested annuities in spouses divorced
after November 15, 1982, provided the marriage had continued
for at least 10 years of Agency service and involved at least
five years overseas service.
The November 15, 1982 date was set to avoid retro-
active interference with existing retirement and survivor pay-
ments and to avoid conflict with existing divorce decrees and
property settlements. However, unfortunately, the Act provided
no relief for spouses divorced on November 14, 1982 and earlier,
nor for divorced spouses of CIARDS participants who retired be-
fore the effective date of the Act. When he introduced the CIA
Spouses Retirement Equity Act in the Senate, Senator Daniel
Inouye said, "I feel that at some future date we should con-
sider providing additional benefits to this group (those ex-
cluded) in recognition of their important service."
The spouses not protected under the 1982 Act are a
particularly deserving group. Contact has been maintained with
a number of them in the Washington area and their situations in-
dicate that they are both highly deserving and highly needy of
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The Honorable Edward P. Boland
April 27, 1983
Page 2
this kind of protection. Most are older women who had long
term marriages (20-30 years and more), served abroad for 12-15
years and more, and many were overseas prior to 1972 when
their performance was required and graded by their sponsor's
official superiors. Ma.iy of these spouses were divorced at
an age which made it practically impossible for them to secure
anything beyond entry level employment and, of course, not
build up individual retirement rights under Social Security.
Many of these do not receive alimony, which in any case ceases
with the sponsor's death. As a result, a number are presently
dependent on welfare or the charity of their families, churches
or friends.
In a study conducted by the Association of American
Foreign Service Women of a comparable group of former Foreign
Service wives, the estimate has been developed that'there are
approximately 100 known cases and up to another 100 potential
cases in these categories. The CIA group would obviously be
considerably smaller than this; the known cases in the
Washington area number about 34. It is estimated that the
total number would not be much more than double this.
In this situation, I have been authorized by several
of these affected spouses to recommend to your Committee that
it consider the possibility of adding to the current appropria-
tions bill sufficient funds for the Agency to correct this in-
equity between the two classes of former spouses. Similar
supplemented benefits are provided to former spouses covered
under normal Social Security rules, i.e. the payment to a former
spouse is not deducted from the payments to a current spouse.
This process also seems more appropriate than attempting to
utilize the CIARDS retirement fund itself and certainly would
be more effective than attempting to reopen the divorce de-
crees, current payments received by participants in CIARDS,
etc. An estimate of the funds which would be necessary for
such a program can be made as follows: Of the 34 spouses, the
average period of marriage was 25 years. The normal computa-
tion of the sum which would be received for retirement as sur-
vivor of a 25 year marriage under existing legislation would
be approximately $11,000. If there are in the neighborhood of
about 70 such cases (double the 34 known), the resulting sum
required would be $770,000.
It would be recommended that the eligibility rules
for this group follow precisely the eligibility rules of the
spouses covered under present legislation. A number of varia-
tions could be proposed to this, but it is our belief that the
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The Honorable Edward P. Boland
April 27, 1983
Page 3
equity of the situation, simplicity in administration, and
the essentially small amounts required to benefit such a
small group make this the best approach. In most cases divorce
after a shorter marriage was followed by remarriage which
terminates eligibility, and the sum which would be derived from
a shorter marriage would be considerably less than the $11,000
stated above.
We understand that the Agency's authorization bill is
currently under consideration by your Committee. We would hope
that these considerations might be included within the House
appropriations bill and be the subject of conference with your
Senate counterparts who apparently have already acted on their
bill. This would enable the matter to be covered in this year's
legislation. Obviously, follow-on appropriations would be neces-
sary to continue this program in the years ahead. However, it is
obvious that this is a diminishing class of recipients and that
the sums involved should correspondingly decline. Obviously,
it also will be necessary to gain some experience to determine
how many spouses would actually be eligible, but our estimate of
70 maximum is probably quite generous.
May I again express the appreciation of the spouses of
CIA personnel for the passage of the 1982 Act. We particularly
appreciated the active role played by Congressman Romano L.
Mazzoli, Chairman of the Subcommittee, and the ranking minority
member, Congressman Robert McClory, plus the active support of
Congressman G. William Whitehurst. We do hope that this final
action in this field could be undertaken in order to relieve a
real human problem and recognize the very substantial contribu-
tion that these spouses as well as those covered under the cur-
rent Act have made to our intelligence service and to their
country.
WEC:pdk
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