CONVERSATION WITH MR. SAMUEL GOLDBERG, LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT TO SENATOR CHARLES MCC. MATHIAS (R., MD.)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP74B00415R000200020160-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 2, 2005
• Sequence Number: 160
• Publication Date: July 8, 1971
• Content Type: MFR

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OLC 71-0657
8 July 1971
SUBJECT: Conversation with Mr. Samuel Goldberg, Legislative
Assistant to Senator Charles McC. Mathias (R., Md.)
1. At his request I met with Mr. Goldberg today to talk informally
about the ramifications of Senator Cooper's bill (S. 2224) to amend the
National Security Act to require the Agency to keep the Congress informed
regarding intelligence information collected by the Agency as well as the
Agency's analysis of this information. Senator Mathias supported the
bill which Senator Cooper introduced on 7 July. Senators Symington,
Fulbright, and Javits also expressed their support of the bill. I made it
clear to Goldberg at the outset that in discussing the bill and the debate
on it on the Senate floor, I was expressing purely personal opinions and
not any official CIA position.
2. I told Mr. Goldberg that I was concerned that this legislation
would erode the effectiveness and objectivity of the Agency's reporting
as it would result inevitably in disclosures of our most sensitive informa-
tion by some of the many persons who would become privy to it. As our
discussion continued for about an hour, the following points emerged:
a. Contrary to statements which were made in the
discussion in the Senate, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
is given detailed area intelligence briefings by the Director of
Central Intelligence. (I indicated that recently the Director has
gone much farther than this, but our Directors have always
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briefed the Foreign Relations Committee and other congressional
committees on intelligence information which is of interest to
them in carrying out their responsibilities. Specifically, we
brief the Foreign Relations Committee on intelligence information
having to do with Foreign policy matters. We brief the Armed
Services Committees on matters pertaining to foreign military
forces and military weapons systems as well as information on
the apparent policies of the various governments and their
leaders in the foreign policy field. We brief the Joint Committee
on Atomic Energy on foreign nuclear energy programs and
weapons systems which might be associated with the use of
nuclear warheads. We brief the Science and Space Committees
on foreign space programs and scientific advances and keep other
committees informed to a lesser degree on matters within their
areas of interest. )
b. I pointed out that if the Congress was to function on
a committee system, members should rely on the judgment and
integrity of their colleagues who serve on the various committees
on matters within their committee jurisdiction. It also should
be the, responsibility of those congressional committees to keep
other members of the Congress informed (through whatever means
appropriate) on matters within their jurisdiction.
c. We discussed the feasibility of Administration briefings
of both the leadership of the Congress and of the members individually
and in groups. I mentioned that in the past the Director has partici-
pated as an intelligence briefer in these White House congressional
briefing sessions.
d. I pointed out the tremendous security problem that
would be posed by the dissemination of intelligence information
and analyses to members of the Congress and members of their
personal staffs. At a bear minimum this would mean that 535
members and at least 535 personal staff members would have
access to finished intelligence. Drawing on a comment made by
Allen Dulles some years ago, I said that a secret shared by over
a thousand people wouldn't remain a secret very long.
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e. We discussed the fact that the very objectivity in
which the Agency is presently held in high regard could well
be sacrificed by pressure from individual members who might
.attempt to influence the Agency to produce conclusions which
would favor the particular position of any given member. I
cited as an example the current Middle East situation on which
feelings run very high.
3. Mr. Goldberg acknowledged that some of these points could be
troublesome but his general feeling was that they were not as serious as
we in the Agency might believe. He feels that White House briefings
could go a long way toward eliminating the problem and acknowledged
that the dissemination of written documentation would create problems.
He suggested that the dissemination of information to individuals could be
handled by oral briefings rather than by the use of written material. I
said this would put a tremendous burden on the Agency's facilities if we
were to try to keep 535 members and their staff personally briefed.
STAT
4. We naturally reached no solution to this problem, but Mr. Goldberg
said he appreciated my taking the time to discuss the situation with him and
felt that it had been helpful. He said he was anxious to come up with a
reasonable position on this subject which he could present to the Senator
and still seemed to feel that this could be accomplished through personal
oral Agency briefings. I told him I was sympathetic to the fact that most
members presently must rely on the news media for all their information,
but I felt there were other solutions which would not entail the security
problems which I felt were inherent in the Cooper proposal.
Assistant egiS a ive Uounsel
Distribution:
Original - Subject
1 - Chrono
OLC /GLC:mmc (19 July 1971)
STAT
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