DEAR MR. FOUNTAIN:

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP58-00597A000100200014-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 4, 2010
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: June 15, 1956
• Content Type: LETTER

AO, 32ESS OFFICIAL CON Approved For Release 2010/05/04 :CIA-RDP58-00597A000100200014-6 -=
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
June i5, 1~~6
Your letter of June ~} 195, addressed to the 5?cretary of State
has been referred to me for answer, I want to assure you that the
Department of State earnestly desires to cooperate with your Sub-
committee in its investigation of 811eg?d shipments of CCC ccunmodities
to Soviet bloc countries. With that thought in mind, I have reviewed
the record of our correspondence with your Subcommittee and I belie?sre
that we have in every case givBa yc~u the information requested in eo
far as it has been possible for us to obtain it. An additional reply
is outstanding only with respect to those points mentioned in my
letter of May 3, for ~rhich the complete data requested by the Subcommittee
was not available. As to these! ~~a are awaiting further infoxnaati~-n
from abroad which we shale forward to you when it has been received. -
Before taking up the three specific inquiries made in your letter
of June 6, I should give you some explanation of the role of the Dapart?
merit of State in the gathering of information which the Ilepartmentffi of
Commerce Agriculture:, anti othier official U. S. Agencies yr bodies'
such as your own ubcommi+..te a may require for use in discharging their
functions. When such other United 6tates of ficials or agencies initiate
requests for such information, the Department transmits their requ?sts
to its Foreign Service posts abroad. In turn, the facilities of the
Department a.re used to transmit the replies from the field to the
requesting agencies. In these exclganges, it is our responsibility, in
general, to ?nsure that the collection and later use of any materia:i.
does not create problems in our relations with foreign governments and
does not jeopardize either o~.r cryptographic systems nor the sources
of information. Beyond this, the requesting agencies also may be obliged
to consider other aspects of the uae of such material in relationrtn
the purpose for which the datl- was requested. This Department is bound
to observe the views of the requesting agencies with respect to their
responsibilities in these considerations. If they are engaged in a-
continuing investigations pi~rt+iQUlarly one involving possible legal action
they may feel it their responsibility not to release a particular document,
or information from its to other Departments or officials.
With respect
The Honorable
L. H. Fountains Chairman,
Intergoverrm~ental RPletions Subcommittee,
House o3- Representatives.
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With respect to the three specific inquiries in your letter of
June 6, you request, firs.., that the Subcommittee be furnished a copy
of the report,, or reports, sent try the Department of estate in 1955,
regarding shipments of cottonseed oil tm Odessa. The reports which
we have identified in this connec tiara pertain to requests for information
made by the Department of Commerce. ode have consulted with the latter
department about mating these documents, or information from them,
available to the Subcommittee. We are informed that these are part of
an investigation that is still pending,-with a view t? possible criminal
or legal proceedings, and that Ccanmerce has informed you that they
cannot be released to the Subcomm.t.tee. I may add that this Department
has examined the Foreign Service reports that are identified with the
case file. The Department would have no objection from the point of
view of its own responsibilities described above to permitting the
Subcommittee to examine these doom?nts~ provided that certain sources
of information and investigative proQedures disclosed therein can be
protected from compromise. Nevertheless, the responsibilities of the
requesting agency the I9eparttnent of Com~xerce, must also be weighed in
any decision to make this material i~vailable.
Seconds you request that the I}tpari'~nent make available for exami-
nation by the Subcommittee copies of all reports, letters, or other
communications regarding possibl~a transshipment of CCC commodities to
Soviet bloc destinationse ~rTe believm that we have already taken steps
to make available a12 such repots ?xcept for those dust described in
connection with the cottonseed oil investigation. To explain, the
Department does not ordinarily initiatte requests for, or receive for iit~
own primary use, reports from t~.e Foreign Service with respect to
possible diversions to the Sov3..et bloc of the commodities covered by
your inquiry. When requests for such information are made on behalf of
other agencies, such as Commerce and Agriculture, the Department, as
necessary, forwards these requests, and the replies, and does not record
on any systematic or current basis any additional information with
reference to the subject, as in this cane the transshipment of surplus
commodities. I could not say that w? den not have in our file some
additional data on this subject xhich might be of interest to the Sub?
committee. This information might be scattered throughout a great
majority of the files being maintained ~ the Department.. Under the
circumstances we are not equipped to distinguish and to select readily
from all of our files every c~munieatimn that might have a bearing on
a particular matter in Which the S~zbcpmmi.ttee is interested However
within the limitations explained 1.n this letter I can assure-you that wm
have made and that we will make available for your dxamination all
documents which are primarily concerned with the subject matter in which
you are interested. Specifically, I refer to the information already
forwarded toy or fors the Subcommittee 'by the Depart~aaent, and to the
reports contained in the investigatory files of the Departments of
Agriculture and of Commerce. We have already indicated that we have no
objection to your examining these reports in these investigatory files,
subject
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?~..
subject only to the comment of those agencies.
Thirds you ask whether the Department of state is willing to
permit examination by the SubcQrgmittee of the material in the files
of the Department of Agriculture originating with the Department of
State4s representatives abroad, As I believe the Department of
Agriculture indicated to you ix a litter dated Jane ~s 1956, we had
no ob3ection to your Subcommittee examining certain documents
contained in a workir;.g file of the Agriculture Department. It was
suggested that you .m$.ght ~'aQdre conveniently exa:aine that material as
it was systematically included with more complete information in the
Department of Commerce investigatory file. If there is a dditianal
material which the Department of Agriculture has obtained threaugh
our facilities, and if you or the Stzbcomtnittee can specify what it
is, we shall examine it to deter~t3.ne whether it can be made available
to you. In deciding on the availability of such material, we must,
of course, as before, consider the interests of the requesting agencies
as well as our own interests. inTithin these limitations, I can assure
you that in each case we will exasnine the material you may request and
make every effort to see that the S'tabcommittee staff receives as much
of the information as is possible.
Sincerely yours,
For th.e Secretary of State;
Robert C. Hill
Assistant Secretary
Clearancess Commerce Dept - JA4verton
agriculture ~ ? Farrington
State Dept: E/ITR ?? BHi"hibodeaux
E/ECTI ? R&Fright
REP ~? PFDra.Vivier
ITR:ECD:AVNyren/mwb 6-11~-56 Copy tot
HsRLOiGonnorsfg
Commerce Dept.
Agriculture Dep~,.
ICA-Mr. Bogardus
CIAwMro Normal Pau3
Navy? Mr. Lorne;: Kennedy
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Fran; Roderic L. O~Connor,
T~epartment of State.
~TUne 19, 1956
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