CONGRESS CHECK ON C.I.A. BACKED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP74-00297R000401370014-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 7, 2013
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: February 25, 1956
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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41J Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/07: CIA-RDP74-00297R000401370014-5
tONGRESS CHECK
ON C.I.A. BACKED
.Senate Rules Unit Gives
Strong Support to Bill?
'Hits Excessive Secrecy
By ALLEN DRURY?
Special to The New York Times.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24?The
Senate Rules Committee gave
powerful endorsement today to
the creation of a special "watch-
dog" committee of Congress to
supervise the activities of the
Central Intelligence Agency.
The C. I. A. is theiGovern-
ment's super-secret agency for
gathering information abroad
concerning the strength and in-
tentions of other nations,
In ? a report 'heavy with criti-
cism of C. I. A.'s pres/tnt opera-
tions, the Rules Committee ap-
proved for Senate consideration
a bill by Senator Mike Mansfield,
Democrat of Montana, to create
a special committee. This group
would supervise C. I. A. in the
same way Congress supervises
the Atomic Energy Commission.
The committee would receive
$250,000 for its first year.
The bill is opposed by Presi-
dent Eisenhower and by Allen
W. Dulles, director of the C. I. A.
The President recently created
an eight-man citizen's advisory
beard to study C. I. A.'s activi-
ties and report directly to him
concerning them.
Sees too Much Secrecy
that secrecy "now beclouds
everything about C. I. A.; its
cost, its personnel, its efficiency,
its failures. An aura of superior-
ity has been built -around it. It
is freed from practically every
ordinary form of Congressional
review.
"The C. I. A. has unquestion-
ably placed itself above other
Government agencies. There has
been no regular methodical re-
view of this ,agency, other than
a briefing which is supplied to
a few members of selected sub-
committees."
An equally tart minority re-
port was given by the second-
ranking member of the Rules
Committee, Senator Carl Hay-
den, Democrat of Arizona. He
argued that through these sub-
committees?of the House and
Senate Armed Services and Ap-
propriations Committees?Con-
gress continues to maintain "su-
pervision over the operations of
that agency to an entirely ade-
quate degree."
Senator Hayden said that the
charge that Congress did. not
sufficiently control C. I. A. .ri,-_as
a "mistaken and erroneous as-
sumption."
The Senate Armed Services
subcommittee on C. I. A. heard
Mr. Dulles in closed session this
morning. As usual, it refused to
make public what Mr. Dulles
said. '
Hoover Inquiries Cited
The Rules Committee majority
pointed out that over the last
six years the C. I. A. had been
investigated four times by dif-
rent task forces of the Hoover
Commission. ?
"The substance of the findings
over the spread of these years,"
The Rules Committee based its r
chief argument for the Mansfield'
bill on the secrecy that sur-i
rounds the C. I. A-. It recognized' _
the need for much secrecy in
gathering intelligence but said
there was "a profound differ-I
ence between an essential degree;
of secrecy to achieve a specific!
purpose, and secrecy for the ,
mere sake of secrecy."
The committee pointed outi
it said, "were, generally tIN
same ? that inadequacies and
poor organization existed .ani
had gone uncorrected."
The committee, praised the
President for appointing his own
eight-man Citizens' 'Board on
Intelligence. But it offered these
objections: ?
board will' report . its
Endings directly to the Presi-
'dent. ? No provision is made to
require the board to maintain
Congressional liaison. ? * ? "
2. "The board functions essen-
tially on a schedule of semi-
annual meetings and operates
on a per diem and travel al-
lowance. There is no provision
for a continuous staff ? ?? ?
capable of conducting compre-
hensive surveys. The board is
a part-time survey."
3. "The board will report its in-
formation, good or bad, to the
President, thus strengthening
the already tight control 'ol
the Executive over C. I. A."
The committee noted that Mr,.
Dulles had opposed a Joint Con-
gressional ? committee for fear
that gifficient security would
not be maintained. It cited the
Joint Atomic Energy Committee
as proof that this ? fear was
groundless. ?
"
? _
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/05/07: CIA-RDP74-00297R000401370014-5