CIA WATCHDOG? TRIMBLE DIFFERS WITH FULBRIGHT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000700540020-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 4, 2006
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: April 27, 1964
• Content Type: NSPR

__RKAX:iA 1 n e ~n rho inn . r-
on
t
b y ee ns apparently destined, like all s ommi tee which he heads,
its predecessors, for failure, but it revives a number of should have had a chance to examine the prospective di-
intriguing points. rector of an agency that in effect makes foreign policy.
Sev
era
Gazette Washington Bureau I Of John McCone as President Kennedy's choice to head
The latest Congressional move to bring the Central the CIA. Fulbright was not opposed to McCone but felt;
Intelligence Agenc to h 1 ? !;that the Foreign Relati
C
b..w rain aLU 4L U4J?: ___-__-- .. _.. ........ .
jectionable legislation. A formal decis ..ion.. , on the matter is , in CIA policy matters -lave assurances that the . agency, +
regarded as a " futile: gesture since` a majority of the does not operate indopendeiltIy and is strictly subject to
committee, reportedly is ,against the resplutions.t ;,,... executive control. His inference was if the CIA gets in
hot water, it was sent in.
agencies. making a full defense, contend that if the United States
Most of the proponents have already testified on be. is going to maintain *an espionage apparatus, its very na-
half of'the committee proponents
idea. The opponents have yet ture demands that it be cloaked. Besides, they say, they
to be heard and while the hearings are in. recess, the: are fully 'satisfied that the CIA is doing a good job and
best information is the resolutions have been quietly , con.! their colleagues should take their word for it. .;a
sif,?netl to thn 'P,.7.,,, P4..,,.....u_ . c\wt nnhr 1-4- v..,.,T. tt, ., .tom.. r~ _ _ __ . . ."
nine IIouse members and nine senators, to overseeothe p.~ 't'hese insiders, who always. preface their arguments
erations of the CIA and all other federal intelligence with the explanation that secrecy precludes them from
a
Peso lit ens have been vitro-i rt S.
duced in the House and are now before the Rules Com-
mittee for `consideration. They all would create a Joint! Insiders Sa xsuie
Congressional Committee on Intelligence corr d f
0 00 ";
o erryvilIe is a closer check on the CIA. It has long mouldered in its
member of the House Rules Committee which is currently
P
considering legislation designed to tighten Congressional early ?rave.
control over the supersecret agency. Senator J. William Opponents of any further Congressional inroads into 1
Fulbright is involved by association merely because he; the CIA sanctum are mostly those. lawmakers who al-
has long been a critic of CIA aloofness and sacrosanctity. . ready have access to its every secret. They are those
Trimble and Fulbright disagree in the affair at hand.; ranking mi tubers of the Armed Services and Appropria-
The basic issue is whether or not Congress will have i tions Committees in both- houses who sit as special .CIA
I amore direct hand'in guiding the affairs of the CIA, as it I s nand- ittees to 'authorize and pass on its operation and.;
does every other government agency. Genuine legislative; financing.
concern over the problem is intermingled, as usual, with , Once the agency wins the approval of these subcom-
elements of ax-grinding, politics and pride. And there are ! mittees, Its appropriations are "hidden" in other money l
two fairly well defined schools of thought. bills that reach the floor.of both houses. Thus the legisla-
tivo requirements are satisfied.by full Congressional ap-
~~~~~~ proval of money of the CIA but only the handful on the
special subcommittees know what It is for and how much,
No less than 19 identic
l 1 i
c-
,
i
n n f uG B aL1rGl atL,1;~:it own version of a bill that would have given Cong
s 11 ly: Representative James W Trimble
The proponents, whose number includes Fulbright,
have repeatedly argued that the CIA is not sufficiently
...,61100.LViraa iJ,%JJ itLe ule personal
feelings of those involved. Proponents of a joint watchdog
committee are' miffed not only by what they regard as
'the CIA's untouchable attitude but also because they are
not privy to such intriguing business. On the other hand;
those who are privy are somewhat jealous of their pro-,4.
rogative.
Trimble, who belongs really to neither school, comes A
,(closest probably to the dispassionate approach. '
"I don't see very much need-for this (joint committee)
bill,'.' he says. "The CIA has to be a secret organization
is?going to. function. The, more
people You let in on
'its tl 1' ~
oneratio
ns
.
, ie css secret it A. -we I -lit lust, as well
~17nt l,av~e. it If -4vei-yl~ody--vets-,to! polio-ai~>iria its opera-
-lions.''.,. '. .:,., .. .. .. _.
Approved-For Release 2006/08/09: CIS,-RD.P75-001498000700540020-7
flow- A,nSwerab ..':' ' t
is therefore too free to "get away" with too many things' J
Laming and carrying out foreign policy, all behind an,-`
? indignant c'__'- -
,as the Bay of Pigs fiasco and some less cut and dried.
!South Vietnam activity. They carp that the CIA too often'
.overruns the confines of its intelligence-gathering frame-'?
work, and summarize that its whole concept and ima
e
g
:is undemocratic anyway.
Fulbright has been silent this time, but twn yea,-c,
years prior to that
Fulbright introduced ]
i