S.920, A BILL TO AMEND SECTIONS 303 AND 310 OF THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934, AS AMENDED, WITH RESPECT TO ALIEN AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP66B00403R000200110017-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 6, 2005
• Sequence Number: 17
• Publication Date: August 1, 1963
• Content Type: MF

Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP66B00403R000200110017-8
U 9 1963
MEMORANDUM FOR: Assistant Legislative Counsel
SECRET
S. 920, a Bill to Amend Sections
303 and 310 of the Communications
Act of 1934, as Amended, with
Respect to Alien Amateur Radio
Operators
1. In response to your request of 29 July, the Deputy
Director, Plans, has reviewed S. 920, a bill to amend
sections 303 and 310 of the Communications Act of 1934, as
amended, to permit the Federal Communications Commission,
if it finds that the public interest, convenience, or necessity
may be served, to issue authorization for alien amateur
radio station operators to operate their amateur radio stations
in the United States, its possessions,. and the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, provided there is a bilateral agreement
between the United States and the alien's government for such
operation by United States amateurs on a reciprocal basis.
2. As was explained at some length by the Department
of Justice in its recommendation on this bill, the security
aspects of the proposed legislation are a factor of major and
continuing importance. The experience of CIA shows that
radio communication is a vital factor in espionage operations,
especially in so-called "illegal,, operations employing agents
under deep cover. Such communications play an equally
significant role in the operation of sabotage networks and,
indeed, in any foreign controlled subversive activity requiring
high-speed communications for which diplomatic channels are
not available. Any relaxation of present legal provisions
SECRET
GROUP I
'Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassification
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 Approved For Release 2005/01/27 : CIA-RDP66B00403R000200110017-8
SECRET
governing the licensing of amateur radio operations that
might facilitate such communications would not, we believe,
serve the public interest.
3. Accordingly, we do not favor the revision of
present legal provisions that are proposed in S. 920.
25X1
Richard Helms
Deputy Director (Plans)
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