MEETING WITH SENATOR JOHN STENNIS (D., MISS.) ON DOD FACT SHEETS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP72-00337R000100140100-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 4, 2003
• Sequence Number: 100
• Publication Date: July 8, 1969
• Content Type: MFR

Approved For Release 2003/09/30sG!
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MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT: Meeting with Senator John Stennis (D. , Miss.
on DOD Fact Sheets
1. Bill Spell, on Senator John Stennis' personal staff, called
at about 9:15 this morning and asked if a senior Agency official could
see the Senator at 10:00 concerning the fact sheets which were prepared
by the Department of Defense and which were submitted to us for review
this past weekend. He said the Senator wanted assurance from an Agency
official that the information in these documents reflects the position of the
intelligence community. General Cushman designated Mr. Duckett and
Mr. Bruce Clarke and I accompanied them.
2. When we arrived at Senator Stennis' office we found that
Admiral Lawrence, Deputy Director, DIA, and Colonel James Brower,
OSD Legislative Liaison Officer, were present, along with
The Senator asked essentially what Mr. Spell had indicated, i. e. ,
whether the information in the DOD papers represented a coordinated
position. The Senator was assured that the figures were taken from the
appropriate national intelligence estimates and Admiral Lowrance named
the USIB participants. We suggested, however, that the Senator not
make any mention of NIE's in his floor statement since this would attract
attention to the estimates as such and might possibly result in a demand
that the estimates themselves be placed in the classified record. The
Senator saw the wisdom of this and agreed that the best approach would
be to indicate that the information in his statement represented the
coordinated position of the intelligence community. Ho would then specify
the composition of the intelligence community.
3. The Senator reviewed the material briefly and asked several
times if there were any items in it that we would prefer to have deleted.
Mr. Duckett suggested that the Senator might want to omit any discussion
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4. Senator Stennis said he proposed to indicate in his statement
that the information he was giving in closed session was from sensitive
sources jt-rhich he would debiine to discuss), pointing out that any public
discussion of this information could result in the drying up of these
sources. The Senator also expressed concern that members of the Senate
might take this opportunity to try to solicit information about CIA. and its
budget, but he indicated that he plans to stand firm to a position not to
discuss those points at this time.
5. During the session, which was both friendly and informal,
Mr. Duckett made it clear that he was authorized to speak for the Director
and expressed the Director's position that he was neither for nor against
the Safeguard program but was concerned only with providing the best
possible intelligence information on which the policyznakeers could base
their judgments. Mr. Duckett went on to point out the difference between
the Director's position and that of the Secretary of Defense in this regard.
6. We also alerted Senator Stennis to the fact that he might be
confronted with different figures by members of the mate, who received
Committee briefings at different points in time, with an apparent disparity
beetweon the figures given them and those presented by Senator Stennis.
It was pointed out that the situation has changed in recent weeks and
months and will continue to change; therefore, he should point out that
the figures which he is using are current as of this date. The Senator
appreciated the importance of this point.
7. The meeting lasted approximately one hour and fifteen minutes
and ended with the Senator expressing his very deep appreciation for the
time and assistance of those present. 25X1A
Dspu.
Legislative Counsel
Distributions
Original ~ Subject (Stennis)
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