OPM PROPOSED REPORT ON H.R. 4681, THE FEDERAL LIMITATION AND ANTI-CENSORSHIP ACT OF 1984

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86B00338R000300380014-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 18, 2009
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: April 3, 1984
• Content Type: MEMO

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OLL 84-1271
3 April 1984
MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director for Administration
Director of Security
Attn:
/C/SECOM
C/ALD/OGC
C/L&LD/OGC
Chief, Legislation Division
Office of Legislative Liaison
SUBJECT: OPM Proposed Report on H.R. 4681, the
"Federal Limitation and Anti-Censorship
Act of 1984"
1. Attached for your review and comment is the proposed
report of the office of Personnel Management (OPM) on
H.R. 4681, the Brooks bill limiting the Federal Government's
use of polygraph examinations and prepublication review. OPM's
response is limited to commenting upon its responsibilities for
approving the use of polygraph examinations for certain
Executive Branch agencies. As you may know, full Committee
mark-up of the bill by Representative Brooks' Government
Operations Committee has not been rescheduled at this time,
pending further negotiations between the staff of the
Government Operations Committee and the House Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence over the scope of the exemption
provided in the bill.
2. OMB has requested our views on the attached OPM report
by 5 April 1984. I would appreciate receiving your comments on
this report no later than COB tommorrow, 4 April.
Attachment
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unites Mates
Office of
Personnel Management Washington, D.C. 20415
Honorable William D. Ford
Chairman, Committee on Post Office
and Civil Service
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20525
This is in response to your request for comments from the Office
of Personnel Management on H.R. 4681, the?"Federal Polygraph Limita-
tion and Anti-Censorship Act of 1984."
OPM has-government-wide responsibility over the civilian ?? ...
personnel security and suitability program. Although OPM does not
itself administer polygraph examinations, or require prepublication
review, nevertheless, it is charged with investigating Individuals for
access to classified information, and with granting approval for use
.of the polygraph for certain purposes.
The use of polygraph exams in the federal government, and its
:implications on the privacy and rights of employees is not 'a novel
issue. In 1965 President Johnson directed a comprehensive review
of the use of the polygraph in the executive branch, and issued a
memorandum which has since been incorporated into the Federal
Personnel Manual. The memorandum acknowledged the intrusiveness of
the polygraph, and imposed certain restrictions on its use, while,
at the same time, authorizing its usage in criminal and (counter)
intelligence-related operations.
Unlike H.R. 4681, President Johnson's memorandum recognized that
agencies other than the Central Intelligence Agency and the National
Security Agency had "intelligence or counter-intelligence missions
directly affecting the national security." Further, unlike H.R. 4681,
President Johnson's memorandum recognized that certain agencies or agency
components with missions similar to that of the CIA or NSA, require
use of polygraph examinations for supplementary employment screening.
Adequate procedural safeguards were included, and the Civil Service
Commission was granted overall authority to prevent abuse.
,..,:
Co..
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Honorable William D. Ford
OPM, and the Civil Service Commission before it, have used that
authority prudently. Although, in certain respects, President Johnson's
memorandum allowed agencies a greater measure of discretion than provided
either in President Reagan's National Security Decision Directive No. 84
or X.R. 4681, there has not been a single complaint (filed with or brought
to the attention of OPM or the Civil Service Commission) of the type of
abuse and misidentification noted in the (somewhat sensational) "Findings"
of the Act. In the course of the last 19 years, OPM has granted approval
to only 3 agencies for polygraph examinations. This approval was granted
only after proper evidence that the requisite level of examining expertise
existed in the agency, assurances of adequate protections against abuse
or error, and guarantees of comprehensive due process protections for
applicants and employees. The enactment of the Proposed Act would protect
.against "abuses." that do not exist, and would refute the overwhelming evidence
demonstrated by scientific studies, government surveys, and "real life"
experience of the extraordinary effectiveness of polygraph testing as a
screening and investigative tool, when these are restricted to situations
where they are warranted.
In short, OPM is opposed to H. R. 4681. It appears to have been drafted
without regard to any of the vitally important national security considerations
where polygraphs have been found essential by at least 6 presidents. And
_ secondly, its rationale, consisting of the "Findings" in section 2, is entirely
inconsistent with the combined, decades-long experience of federal agencies.
Unless the Congress can establish that such abuses have, in fact, occurred in
the course of many polygraph examinations administered by federal
agencies over this period of time, it would be imprudent to seriously
restrict OPM's authority over the single most effective tool agencies
have to prevent compromise of classified information.
OPM is prepared to participate in a constructive dialogue towards
attainment of.a responsible balance between the rights, privacy, and
protections of federal employees, and the safety and security of the
nation's most sensitive secrets. H.R. 4681 fails badly in that
respect.
Donald J. Devine
Director
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