SENATE FAVORS PENALTIES FOR NAMING SPIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000303460005-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 12, 2010
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: March 18, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/12 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000303460005-2
.~-R d tLJ,?' P.E pity
ON FAG JJ.
AsmtiaeedPft" , ulaluNr u.a }gieuigenre-a ciumsy ana,pangerou$1y utitiedes
: " ^y operations. Many of those who sup-' ? sary incursion-Iptathe liberties of 311
}VASHV GTON ~~- The Senate-ported that version e p sled dissat Americans? and~the ,zeal shame-is.
clearedt the way Sesterday. for- ap- isfaetion with thettiea il) 'that viasj that most peopleisimply don't under:
provaf'of legislation under'wliich approved. stand why.','_,., jotirnalisrs and government officials Charles Novi tz .presid"nt of Sigma
Biden'"said.. federal` prose t -r s
cutom
could-be jailed or fined for publicly .Delta Chi, an organizatig n of journal-?j? should be required to show th
at a
disclosing the names of covert Amer. ists, said it was uncon itutional and:`': reporter deliberately set out to Iim-
ican intelligence agents ! .,would have a chiilin effeet-on the"?,;pair or impede" legitimate intelli
The.-proposal is strongly supported reporting of U S activities4overseas gence operations. Another supporter
by..President Reagan as atmeans of. This bill strikesatth2 rghtot:~tmeii 4' of the stricter-stared-ard;Seri Daniel
preventing terrorist attacks on CIAO cans to monitortheir$ovet-rtment." , . P - ;11o nihan (D.,-N:Y.), said, "We are
ants .overseas. But,-it has been Jack Landau,director ofthe Re not enacting this bill to-ease--the.
condemned by some senators , jour porters Committee for Freedom of burden of USattorneys."_.:
nalism societies and'.the American the Press, complained that, "this bill . Biden also-expressed fear that a
.Civil Liberties Union as a direct at alows for the prosecution and jailing..- reporter might be prosecuted for
as k on the free-press provisions-o(: of news reporters and authors for exposing ,CIA abuses. Recently,: for
the First Amendment. identifying agents or their--sources example, .the New York Times de..
The Agent Identities Bill, approved even ?i.f the agent; or the; source is-. tailed the activities of?former Cl.
by the }louse last fall, was first prop -ibreaking federal law, or is.violating + agents FrancisE. Terpmland Edwin Y..:
posed four years ago when former' ti Presidential policy, or even if their Wilson, who setup a secret private
CIA officers such-as Philip Agee be namescoine.from public records. arms-sel I i ng opera r ion in Libya''
gait naming names-and locations-of- "The First Amendment,"_said.Lan- r "i want the press going there in-
undercover intelligence agents. as dau, "only' permits the conviction=:: tending to expose those people,"
part of a campaign to limit or abolish J and jailing of news people for pub-,. Biden said. - .1
covert o
er
t::...
b
h
Cl - .._ -:
- ? -. - - -
p
a
s
y t
e
lishi
But the debate teas broadened since ' ' sect, immediate and irrepa'ablelnju-;w
.then, and enactment`.:of the measure ' -: ry.to the national security,, and does,
has been delayed for months by dis- nor':permit prosecutions fqr discios-..
agreement over how difficult it -'-ing formation-. which
`is. merely _;
should be for a'prosecutor, to build a embarrassing or causes some discom--
case against a reporter who named,a fort . to' theBovernment"
,coyert agent in print.. Bruce Sanford a Sigma Delta phi
The.Senate resolved that issue yes- attorney c6ll'e4;..the bill "a rude.
terday, voting 55.39 to approve a ver-` =- k ;:
sion that would allow a journalist to -,
be convicted only if a jury-had rea-.
'
son to believe that the identification
of an .agent would disrupt intelli-
gence operations. A final vote on the-
legislation was delayed, probably....
until today.
'}. A competing version, recommend-
ed-by the Senate-Judiciary-Commit.
tee and Spn. Joseph Biden'(D.;'De};),
i would have gone further requiring a
,jury to conclude that a reporter'in-
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
18 MARCH 1982
Chaffee (R., R.I.), sponsor of the ver-
sion that was approved, said the leo '
illation would not 'permit prosectr
Lion of journalists who exposed ille-
gal or improper actions by the'.CIA.'
lie also said "You can kick the tar-out
of the CIA" without specifically.iden
lifying clan destirrtagent ,.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/12 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000303460005-2