CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000100090001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 22, 1998
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: June 28, 1966
• Content Type: SUMMARY

t~NGRESSIONAL RECORD
Sanitized - Approved For a *e, IA-RDP75-
FOIAb3b
.Pa ECUI nT SrNATOI OnnooN ALLOrr, Verrn*NS ; nmplee of the manipulation of newsworthy st llatlons. Our government denied that,
or 1"OnrIGN \VARR, GRAND JUNCTION, Coto., fact. Some are relatively minor, but they are such [lights had been made. LAW, con-
JuNr. in. 1960 infr sctlone just the same against the people's fronted with evidence, it was forced to re-
I am particularly picascd to be here today, right to honesty from their government Om- tract the denial and apologize to General
a part of the state where I have always WS. DeGaulle's government.
cen made to feel most welcome and epcnk- When the Washington Poet reported that In late summer of 1D65, the Prime Minister
ig to a group of which I rim both n member there would be an excise tax cut of 04 billion, of Singapore, Lee K ew, charged that
nil nn admirer. And, I might add, that my, the word was llnmodlntoly spread that this Some years earlier CiA. gent had offered
dmlration for this group reached Its peak was false. George Reedy, then Press Secre-- ill`s $3:3--fiilllrSi r Me-brotrght 95,
that time when we were all embarked terry to the President said "that figure bears Immediate ilenlat from .the U.S.-Ambassador
i nn All-out effort to retain the fine Veter- no relationship to any decision that has been to Malaysia, "James D. Bell, followed within
is' faculty here In Grand Junction. Your. made." A few months later, Mr. Johnson .hours by an official denial from -?State'-D '
ntrlbutlon to that effort was, In no small asked Congress to cut excise taxes by $3.964', partment spokesman, Robert J. McCloskey,
billion. who Raid: "First, we Are surprised at these
mocati, on directly of the responsible order r to close to close for ththee hospital oWhen the Washington Star reported that statements attributed to' Prime Mlnlster,Lce
seen Ur
re And that facility now stands, operates, the President would recommend a three per- Wh.h respect to the allegations of CIA,In-
cI grows ns a memorial to the dedication of cent average pay Increase for fed-ral workers, r volvements, we, deny that"httegatlolt
i and nil the other Veterans organizations It was claimed this was erroneous. Yet, a Almost Immediately, Prime Minister Lee
'e in this great State. I know how much short time later, the Frosident proposed a prod uced^a letter of apology from Secretary
it help meant because I was right In the three-percent average pay Increase for federal. Rusk dated April,.15.?-.l901 -(four-and
ck of that fight myself, and I salute and workers. ' me-itaffars earlier) which said. In port:
nk you for all the assletnnce you gave me. Six days before the November 1964 election,'. "I Am deeply distressed to learn that cer-
'lie word "credible," to defined, by Webster, Labor Secretary W. Willard Wirtz Announced tain officials of the United States govern-
'worthy of belief .. . reliable." Now let that unemployment had reached a three- ment have been found by your Government
risk you a question. How much Infer- year low during October and that the num- to have been engaged In Improper activities
ion are, you, as citizens, getting out of ber of, unemployed had declined by two, In Singapore, I want you to know how
hington today on Viet Nam or any million since January of 1001. Then, after much I regret that this unfortunate In-
r critical issue , that Is credible, or the eleotlon, Wirtz admitted that his state- eldest occurred to mar, friendly relations
'thy of belief." Or, worse yet, how can ment had coniainrd invalid statistical corn- between our two governments,"
tell . . . In light of recent statements of pa'rlsons bcca u'c the fli;umes were not season- What kind of Impression would you sup-
rnnking officials just what you ally adjusted. PM'ro i" 'plo are Always em- pose this incident left In the other capitols
Id believe, or should not believe? ployed In October than in January and, of th"orld---Certainly not-one-of trtlst_ln
t me give you nn illustration . , , there, according to reazonally adjusted statistics, ' St1F opacity for, truthr`"`~
erred on the front page of the Wnil Street) the Actual dccreare In unemployment waa~ eut,'tFi7ele not all by any means. wo
ial. on April 15, 1DG6 the following: "A not 2,000,000 but 740,000. battalions of Marines had been sent to Da-
ury (Department) memo to Rep. PAT- Most slgnUicantly, no corrections were Nang and Secretaries Rusk and McNamara
lD-Texas) (Department)
made until after el ct.ions and this is then said they would be used only for "local close-
nn In-
I note that confessed 'you'll note we distortion a_. 1!s worst because of the d11G- In security" and, In McNamara's words,
purposely not answered the question ex- culty a re rt r or the public , would "not tangle with the Viet Cong"
n n very indirect way,'" would have In at-tempting to learn the correct Yet, only two months later, a U.S. Military
lie not of great significance In Itself, the' figures and gnat any Achievements in their' spokesman In Saigon said these troops would
inl note which was most certainly not proper perspcctive, "render combat support, which Includes, U.'
3cd for Congressman PATMAN's eyes is Another blatant vise of withholding In necessary, fighting."
.omatic of what is coming to be called format-Ion crime to light In 1965 when the Rusk and McNamara were simply left out
:rcdibllity gap." Some, like Congress. Postmaster Generni refused to divulge the on the end of the limb to find their
GERALD FORD (R-Michigan), have said names of persons who were hired by the Post . way back as best they could. And. I might
.he Appellation "credibility canyon" Is Office Department AS summer employees, add, I don't think McNamara, particularly,
e Accurate description of the bureau- Only after repeated and concerted demands has found his way back yet.
Approach to the dissemination of In by many of us In the Congress did the Post- Still another example of the kind of mis-
Lion. master General become convinced that the Information which Is so deteriorating our
distinguished newscaster, Walter Cron- I names of public employees were Indeed In the foreign relations was reported In Look Maga-
managing editor of "CBS Evening public realm. sine in November 1065, Eric Sevareld, re-.
was even more explicit when he told Even the General Accounting Office has' lating Information given him by the late
and Daily Press Association on Febru- documented evidence relating to the gov- Adlal Stevenson shortly before his death,
1060: ", . , the political lie has be. i ernment information problem. In testimony said Stevenson had told him that during
way of bureaucratic life. It has been I before a Congressional Committee In 1004, the Presidential campaign of 1964 U.N.
by the more genteel name of 'news the Comptroller General stated that the GAO Secretary-General U Thant had privately ob-
ment: I tiny here now, let's call it I had found that reports on the Accelerated tamed agreement from North Viet Nam that
Is-lying." f Public Works program had "significantly. they would send an emissary to talk with
Mr. Cronkite said is not really new, over-stated" the number of jobs estimated an American emissary In Rangoon, Burma.
practice of lying to the American to be created by the projects under that- However, the late Ambassador to the U.N.
was publicly announced ... and de- program. In this case, I think the use of the reportedly told Mr. Sevareld, someone in
and in words that anyone can word "significant" was a little weak, for the Washington had Insisted that this attempt
and . , . at a press conference in July ; Comptroller General later stated that the at negotiation be postponed until after the
a high-ranking spokesman for an estimates were overstated by 120%, Presidential elections, and Mr. U Thant re-
lous bureaucracy ... Mr, Arthur 8yl- As a- sidelight, and whether coincidental portedly agreed. Then, when the election
Assistant Secretary of Defense for or deliberate after such is statement from was over, Thant again pursued the matter
,ffalrs. Mr. Sylvester Said: "Look, If the Comptroller General, I don't know, but, because Hanoi was still willing to send Its
uk Any American official is going to there is now a strong likelihood that the man. But, this time, Defense Secretary Mc.
the truth, then you're stupid. Did "teeth" will soon be taken out of the GAO. Namara .. . according to Mr. Stevenson
that?-Stupid." After 45 years as the "watchdog" of the U.S. , ? , flatly opposed the attempt.
It here that such nn attitude on the Treasury, and after countless exposures of The State Departmedt at first denied the
iokesmen in high places In this gov- extravagance, Inefficiency and occasionally Sevareld charge, then again in an about-
Is causing a "credibility gap" that Is ' fraud in the spending of public funds, It face, admitted its truthfulness. Remember,
undc-mining Any efforts we might has now been suggested that the GAO reduce all of this took place during a time when the
penc^ in Viet Nnm. And It under- - both the number and the "harshness" of Its American people were repeatedly being told
y efforts we might make to give re- future audits. Justifiably, dla-ents have been that this nation had explored every posel-
to those nations of the world flied by Republicans And Democrats alike to ' bility for negotiations without any Indlca-
the dangerously Inflationary trends' the House Government Operations Oommit- - tion of Interest from Hanoi.
e in our domestic economy. tee report which Inv recommended this During the third week In May of 1960, the
)efer.eo Secretary McNnmara has action. For, such a Subversion of the ,stab- U.S. Government belatedly acknowledged, If
knowledged existence of the prob. . llshed function of the GAO could easily only Implicitly, two serious Incidents Involy-
?eported by, the Chicago Sun-Times destroy one of the few avenues the taxpay- Ing communist countries which the United
her 6, 1006, the Secretary Admitted, ors has to find out the undiluted facts about States public regrettably learned of first from
the operation of his government. communist sources.
ci Staslco of Is candor, having such that the reason
lty Now, lot's examine some of the interns. The first wne the shooting of a Cuban in-
rrilontde for this Nation's s V lcInMameee is tlonal Incidents which have led to serious fiitrator by a U.S. guard t Guantanamo
int "our credibility woe destroyed." , challenges abroad to the veracity of out naval base. Initially reported by Cuban su-
it every dopnrtment and bureau of ?. government ... thoriuee and immediately denied by the
.1 government there are myriad es? ? '?.In July of 1065, a U,8. Spy plane was do- Pentagon. Latef - In the week, however, the
In an overnight of French atomic In- Pentagon changed Its mind and came for.
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Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R0001000 ma