H.R. 5164--LEGISLATIVE STRATEGY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP89B00236R000200210004-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 22, 2009
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: September 4, 1984
• Content Type: MEMO

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4 September 1984
MEMORANDUM FOR:' Director of Central Intelligence
THROUGH: General Counsel
Director, Office of Legislative Liaison
SUBJECT: H.R. 5164 - Legislative Strategy
1. H.R. 5164 (the CIA Information Act) is scheduled to go to
the House floor, with Mr. English's (b)(3) amendment, and is
expected to pass the House next week under a suspension of the
rules. We are informed that, when our bill reaches the Senate,
the Department of Justice will attempt to have the (b)(3) amend-
ment removed and the bill sent back to the House. Such an action
is almost certain to kill our bill. '-We are reliably' informed by
HPSCI staff that the HPSCI will not" be willing to try to. persuade
Mr. English to withdraw his (b)(3) amendment.
,2. We recommend the following courses of action:
A. 1. Call Attorney General Smith and impress upon
him the importance of this legislation to
the CIA and seek his agreement to withdraw
his objection to the (b)(3) amendment at the
appropriate time,. (We would be willing to.
delay Senate action on our bill in order to
give DoJ the opportunity to extract conces-
sions from Mr. English's committee on the
government-wide FOIA bill).
2. Request the DoJ to refrain from further
legislative action concerning our legisla-
tion until the Administration has had an
opportunity to decide upon its position.
B. If the Attorney General does not agree to with-
draw his opposition, raise the matter with
National Security Adviser McFarlane and the
Counsel to the President. (The entire issue has
been brought to OMB's attention by letter dated
30 August 1984, which OMB has forwarded to-the
NSC staff and the staff of the Counsel to the
President.)
C. Call Chairman Goldwater and stress the following:.
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(1) The House is about to pass our FOIA legisla-
tion with an amendment that the Department
of Justice opposes;
(2) We understand that DoJ has been working to
gain Senate support to strike the amendment
when the bill reaches the Senate and send
the bill back.to the House.
(3) We strongly believe such action will render
chances of enactment of our bill to near
zero; and
(4) We hope that the Chairman will continue his
strong support of our FOIA bill and work to
prevent action that would jeopardize passage
of the bill during the remainder of this
session.
p. Call Senator Thurmond and stress the following:
(1) The House will pass the CIA Relief Bill with
an amendment opposed by DoJ that will pro-
hibit the government from using the Privacy
Act as an exempting statute under the FOIA.
(2) We have no opposition to the House bill as
amended and believe it should be passed by
the Senate without any changes.
t3), If the Senate strikes the House amendment
and sends the bill back to the House, the
.chances of enactment of our legislation
during the remainder of this Congress will
be reduced to near zero.
(4) It is important that CIA relief legislation
be passed this year since prospects for
enactment during the next Congress are bleak.
Bottom Line
here is no possibility of compromise between CIA and DoJ on
'.the (b)(3) amendment. If our FOIA legislation is to have any
realistic chance of enactment, DoJ must withdraw their opposition
.to this provision as part of our bill. Hopefully, they can be
made to see this and use this opportunity to their advantage in
their negotiations with House Government Operations on S. 774 to
achieve the best legislative package ever possible.
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FOIA LEGISLATION
SCHEDULE OF ADMINISTRATION AND LEGISLATIVE CONTACTS
Administration
Person To Be Seen
Attorney General
Jensen/McConnell
McFarlane
Fielding
Kimmitt
Agency Contact
DCI
It is suggested that Briggs
arrange meetings to brief
Jensen and McConnell prior
to DCI meeting with Attorney
General
Sporkin and
Prior to br' fin McFarlane
will
Sporkin an
have preliminary talk with
Kimmitt
Legislative
Prior to arranging the suggested meetings, it would be
helpful if the DCI would phone Goldwateer anndtThurmondngs with
pirectly. Briggs an and Goldwater, Thurmond, lt
work with 1English's estaff 'in order
o
wil
stice's FOIA bill continues
f J
u
to assure that the Department o
if there is any chance`of
to make progress and to try to see
;Ehgli~,,h backing down on his insistence in including the b(3)
bill
.
amendment in our
there shou
a
By week's end -- Friday/Satur
y and to
strategy session with the DCI, Briggs, Sporkin
s.
r effort
f
ou
ou
evaluate the results o
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