LETTER TO MR. WILFRED H. ROMMEL FROM GEORGE L. CARY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP76M00527R000700210007-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2001
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: September 26, 1974
• Content Type: LETTER

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OLC 74-2075
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20505
2 6 SEP 1974
Mr. Wilfred H. Rommel
Assistant Director for Legislative Reference
Office of Management and Budget
Washington, D. C. 20503
Dear Mr. Rommel:
Enclosed is a proposed report to Chairman Holifield,
House Government Operations Committee, in response to a request
for our recommendations on H. R. 15577, which clarifies certain
exemptions from the disclosure requirements of the Freedom of
Information Act, and provides guidelines and limitations for the
classification of national defense information.
Advice is requested as to whether there is any objection to
the submission of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's
program.
Sincerely,
SIGNED
George L. Cary
Legislative Counsel
Enclosure
Distribution:
Orig - Addressee, w/encl
mil- Subject, w/encl
1 - OMB Liaison, w/encl
1 - OLC Chrono, w/o encl
1 - DFM Chrono, w/encl
OLC:DFM:cg (23 Sep 74)
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20505
Honorable Chet Holifield, Chairman
Committee on Government Operations
House of Representatives
Washington, D. C. 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
This is in response to your request for our views on H. R. 15577,
which clarifies certain exemptions from the disclosure requirements
of the Freedom of Information Act, and provides guidelines and limita-
tions for the classification of national defense information.
This Agency fully supports the objective of H. R. 15577 of
increasing the disclosure of Government information. Wherever possible,
we do disclose information publicly. For example, we publish unclassified
daily transcripts of foreign radio broadcasts and monthly lists of foreign
government officials. We regularly brief Congressional committees and
when possible have released transcripts of these briefings after appro-
priate screening. An Agency program instituted pursuant to the Freedom
of Information Act and Executive Order 11652 has brought about the
declassification of thousands of documents. Most of these are over
twenty-five years old.
Although we are eager to provide as much information as we can
on an unclassified basis, the Central Intelligence Agency is not a public
information agency. It was established to provide the intelligence and
assessments required for the President's national defense and foreign
policy decisions. Our ability to provide accurate and precise foreign
intelligence to the President, the National Security Council, and to the
Congress depends heavily upon the acquisition and maintenance of
productive sources and effective methods of collection and analysis.
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Preservation of these sources and methods is absolutely dependent on
their secrecy. I believe it was for this reason that Congress, in the
National Security Act of 1947, as amended (50 U. S. C. A. 403) directed
that.
". . . The Director of Central Intelligence
shall be responsible for protecting intelligence
sources and methods from unauthorized
disclosure. "
As former Chairman and a current member of the Joint Committee on
Atomic Energy you have received much highly classified information
which was acquired from sensitive intelligence sources and methods,
some of which are human sources. I am sure you can appreciate that
a strategically placed individual in a foreign government would not
cooperate with this Agency if there were any possibility that the
information he provided in confidence might be declassified without
his approval.
H. R. 15577 limits the classification of information in the national
defense to one designation, "Secret Defense Data," and provides a very
stringent test for the classification of such material. Only material
which, if disclosed, would adversely,affect the ability of the United States
or an ally to protect itself against hostile action may be so designated.
An intelligence document can reveal Intelligence Sources and Methods
and warrant protection even though the substantive information conveyed
does not jeopardize the defense of the United States or an ally. Thus,
the criteria for protection of "Secret Defense Data" under H. R. 15577 is
not sufficiently broad to protect Intelligence Sources and Methods.
The Central Intelligence Agency, as the central repository for
all foreign intelligence information, originates, receives, and files
hundreds of thousands of documents yearly. Under H. R. 15577, these
documents would be automatically declassified two years after classifi-
cation unless the Director of Central Intelligence personally justifies in
writing the continued protection of each document. It would be an
impossible burden for the Director to personally review every classified
document biannually, yet the review cannot be waived, and cannot be
delegated. Because of the sheer volume of classified information we
maintain, this Agency and I personally simply could not operate under
this arrangement.
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Replacing current classification levels with the single designa-
tion "Secret Defense Data" would significantly increase the cost of
protecting and controlling classified material. In order to ensure the
protection of particularly sensitive information under H. R. 15577, it
would be necessary to handle all classified information with the highest
controls and safeguards, presently used for only Top Secret material.
Also, our costs of investigating personnel for security clearances would
rise. Many contract personnel have access to only Confidential or
Secret information and the security clearance processing is less
rigorous for access to these levels of information. If the only classifi-
cation permitted is "Secret Defense Data, " we would have to conduct our
most thorough and expensive background investigation for all employees.
Of course, Congress may decide that the advantages of a single classifi-
cation outweigh these increased costs.
H. R. 15577 grants the Comptroller General broad authority to
oversee the Agency's classification program. This authority would
raise a question of statutory conflict with the Director's responsibility
to protect Intelligence Sources and Methods.
In summary, H. R. 15577 would have a deleterious effect on the
pursuit of this Agency's mission, because it would provide inadequate
protection for vital Intelligence Sources and Methods and its requirement
to review all classified information biannually would create an impossible
administrative burden. I must, therefore, oppose enactment of H. R. 15577
in its present form. If the bill is given favorable consideration, it is
requested that the Central Intelligence Agency be granted a full exemption.
The Office of Management and Budget advises there is no
objection to the submission of this report from the standpoint of the
Administration's program.
Sincerely,
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