CIA, UNDER FIRE, DESERVES COUNTRY'S APPRECIATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000200310029-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 3, 1999
• Sequence Number: 29
• Publication Date: March 15, 1964
• Content Type: NSPR

Sanitized - Approved For Relea
LINT, MICH.
JOURNAL
. 10 5,023
eS. 10,920
Front
page
other
. Pago
.#AR1
spa otbi? (j indoaz'
. STATINTL
r-.
In aie House, he said, these subcom-
r- --E :iZr: has been such a rash of at2
mittees are headed by Carl Vinson and
:cls on the Central :hrtelligonce ; Clarence Cannon; in the Senate they
;cncy in recent months 'that Sen.l arc hc,ded by Richard B. Russell and
iwmas J. Dodd, D-Conn., felt cornC i l .;cyder,.
polled, to speak on the subject in the. se men," he said, "are among
Senate recently, y, and what he had to. say. most knowledgeable and conscienti-
ntion.
des " erves atteBaiting the CIA," Sen. Dodd said, le;'sl?tors our nation has produced;
" .'...ost seems to have achieved the -ac; _ for one, am willing to abide by
< i.uec of a popular pastime. 1.h-heir judgment on matters which, for
He added, "It is a highly dangerous reasons of security, cannot be revealed
pastime because .the CIA is one of the to all members of Congress." i
essential elements of our security." That isn't all, of course, the senator.
There also is "something unbecom- points out.
ing" about the pastime, because the CIA The act creating the CIA makes ' it,
cannot defend itself, he said. "Attacking clear that the agency operates under;
the CIA, indeed,: is something like beat- ti i; .::lion of the National Security
in,, a man who has his arms tied be-, C', and as an arm of the council.
hind his back. For reasons of national `I';;c director of the CIA sits in the Nu-
security, the agency cannot confirm oP tional Security Cou:,cil, and he or his,: deny published reports, true or false, deputy meet as many as 30 times a
favorable or unfavorable. It cannot alibi. ver;r with various members of Congress.
It. cannot ' explain. It cannot answer ; en. Dodd recalled the time our U2
even the most outrageously inaccurate plane was downed in Russian territory
charges." in, May of 1960. Many people jumped
to the conclusion that the CIA had
THE SENATOR SAID that perhaps b"en operating on its own, without the
the most popular charge against the CIA
authorization of the 'President orCon-
is that it operates completely without gross Xt was c1aimc a that the U2 j
congressional oversight or supervision. flights were endanger ru g the seCullty(
It is this charge that has given rise to.. of the nation when, in fact, Sen. Dodd
clamor for a congressional watchdog points out, they had defended us against'
committee. the possibility of a surprise missile at
"This charge," Seri. Dodd said, ' is . tack.
totally and demonstrably untrue," and Speculation over lack of authoriza-
tion proceeded to prove his statement. for`..the flights., was ended when,
Actually, the senator said, the CIA Fresideni I;i~lrgwcr nncan4e l "rat
probably is one of the most. supervised he ;,ad pe~soi ally at,ii> nw't'a thr 1'? -o-
agencies in the federal govornment. gram. ` 11
In both the House of Representatives,
and Senate, he pointed out;. there are
special subcommittees that oversee the'
activities of the CIA.
Contnue'cX
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000200310029-8
 Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000200310029-8
GIVEN LESS PUBLICITY.. at .i)ie
time, however, were remarks ljy Rep.
Cannon in the House soon after .the U21
incident. Cannon told the House:.'
"The plane was on an espi'inage mis
sion authorized and supported by money'
provided under an appropriation recom
mended' by the House Committee on' =
Appropriations and passed by Congress.:
. "Although the members of the House
have not generally been informed on the
subject, the mission was one of a series
and part of an 'established program
with which the subcommittee in charge
of the appropriation was familiar, and
of w h i c h it had been fully apprised
during this and previous sessions."
Sen. Dodd does not suggest that the
CIA should be immune to criticism be-
.cause of the sensitive nature of its'
operations. He says no government
agency should be immune to criticism.
However, he does believe that there
has been too much sensationalism, too
many inaccuracies, and too little concern
for the nation's. sec arity. He cites es-
pecially one report which charged that'
a CIA man in Viet Nam refused to.
carry out instructions of the U.S. a.n-
bassador, a charge which Dodd says
proved to be a. tissue of lies.
THE SENATOR BELIEVES that
members of Congress, especially, should
be careful in malting charges, and that
they should be made only on the. floor,
of Congress, where debate and rebuttal
would -be possible.
"We should also take into account,"
the-senator said; "the fact that every.
critical statement, whether accurate or
inaccurate, will be picked up by the
special bureau of the Soviet secret
police whose task it is to discredit the
CIA. .."
The late John F. Kennedy un-
doubtedly expressed the feelings of;most
Americans when, in addressing CIA
personnel in, November, 1961, he said:
" .. I am sure you realize how import-
ant is. your work, how essential it is-
and, in the long sweep of history how
significant your efforts will be judged.
So I do want to express ? my apprecia-
tion to you now,. and I am confident]
that, in the future you will continue to
merit the appreciation of our country,
as you have in the past."
MAR 1 5 1964
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000200310029-8