BRIEFING OF CONGRESSWOMAN MARGARET HECKLER (R.-MASS.)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01495R000100180002-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 16, 2005
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: December 29, 1975
• Content Type: MFR

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D/OCI n rl L
December 29, 1975
SUBJECT: Briefing of Congresswoman Margaret Heckler (R.-Mass.)
STAT
1. On December 18, a group consisting of myself, OCI China
political analyst and OER's China Division Chief
participated in a briefing requested by Con resswoman
garet Heckler (R.-Mass.). We were accompanied by from STAT
the Office of Legislative Counsel. The purpose of fing
was to give an overview of the political and economic situation
in China for a delegation of 12 women members of the House of
Representatives departing for China about December 27. A day or
so before the briefing, Mrs. Heckler requested that Angola also
be covered.
2. The briefing took place in the Capitol in a guest lounge
reserved for women members of Congress. The atmosphere was gen-
erally relaxed, perhaps because of the less formal setting, and
the briefing seemed to go fairly well despite three or four in-
terruptions for voting. Eight of the Congresswomen were 'present
at some point or another during'the briefing, which got off to a
late start (not our fault) and lasted more than an hour. Those
present included Representatives Heckler, Holtzman (D.-N.Y.),
Boggs (D.-La.), Burke (D.-Calif.), Schroeder (D.-Colo.), Spellman
(D.-Md.)', Fenwick (R.-N.J.), and Meyner (D.-N.J.). Our disappoint-
ment was that Bella Abzug (D.-N.Y.) did not show STAT
3. Presumably because of the then ongoing Senate debate,
Mrs. Heckler asked that the briefing begin with Angola. I cov-
ered that part, with some contributions from when
questions touched on China's interest and on whether the Chinese
might raise the subject with the congressional delegation.
thought not.) I went over some background on the three Ango an
liberation movements and the history of Soviet--as well as Cuban,
Chinese and Zairian--involvement, and the various factors behind
CIA INTER'; L USE ONLY
?TAT
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the current military escalation.
at one point
Rep. enwic made an impassioned as to why
Secretary Kissinger had taken the course he did, rather than ap-
peal to the UN or world opinion about increasing Soviet/Cuban
military involvement. Other questions, many of them from Holtz-
man, centered on the popular support for, and "legitimacy" of,
the three Angolan movements and on the character and purposes
of South African intervention.
STAT
4. The China briefing began with the economic picture pre-
sented by He covered primarily China's accomplish-
ments during some 23 years under Communist rule, stressing that
except for'the setbacks of the Great Leap and Cultural Revolu-
tion, progress had been fairly steady. Questions on the economy
revolved around the suitability of the Chinese model for other
underdeveloped countries, and Mike handled these question by
citing the many pluses in the China picture but also the heavy STAT
costs in terms bf efficiency as well as in socio-political terms.
The briefing shifted smoothly to E P-_ s a result of a ques-
tion on provincial economic turmoil. briefing, tailored STAT
around questions posed to her, was oriented largely toward topics
likely to come up during the delegation's visit, including the
status of universities, civil liberties, political reform camps,
personalities and the succession problem, and attitudes toward
women. The briefing proved informal and conversational, and the
House members seemed interested.
5. The briefing ended around 4:00, with an audience that
had dwindled to a hard core of three or four representatives,
some of whom lingered. The men\bers thanked us cordially and
seemed reasonably satisfied. In any event, none of us was given
a rough time and none of us was left droning on to a sleepy
gathering.
cc: ',D/OCI
OLC
C/EAP/OCI
DOER
CA iP IL nt ",L U2c O'rILY
STAT
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