SOVIET DIPLOMAT CUT CONSIDERED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505380063-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 12, 2010
• Sequence Number: 63
• Publication Date: June 30, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/12 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000505380063-3
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ABTICLS
ON PAGE A=
WASHINGTON POST
30 June 1985
Soviet Diplomat Cut Considered
'sL _
Reagan Says 40% of Soviets Here May Be Spies
By Ruth Moon
w.w.va For srs wrar
President Reagan, warning of the increasing
"number and sophistication" of espionage activ-
ities by the Soviet Union and its allies, yesterday
called for reducing the number of Soviet diplo-
mats permitted in the United States as one way
to combat spying.
In his first major statement on the submit
since the arre is 0 our Navy men on espionage
charges. Romp no die UMWd bUMS 111114
"reduce the aise of the m threat
we're up against in this cmmtm" He aid that 30
to 40 rcent o the 2,500 Soviet officials in Tie
United -States are known or suspected intelli-
ence officers "and all can be called upon the
The State Department in the past has opposed
various congressional proposals for parity be-
tween the number of Soviet diplomats in the
United States and the far lower number of
American diplomats in Moscow.
But Reagan, citing the Soviets' "huge advan-
to " said in his weekly radio address that his
two m andisi to steps to accom-
a balance between the ttwo. and to tter
control f intelli agents working at
the U.N. who have used that organization as a
8DV nest."
EffiRmh he did not mention the Walker case
directly, Reagan said, "We need to deal severely
with those who betray our country" and to rec-
ognize "that spying is a fact of life."
Rea said officials have 'developed a He of
telli-
things to be wiximplished in the Mgt"
a securi area- and that he had direc-
-CO implement TSeu mnproy
te4 l,aDl[ICL officers the rNrv.c-
ments and reforms in every one of these areas
on a priority basis."
Reagan said another priority to combat spying
was to "improve our own counterintelligence
and learn from the mistakes of past restrictions
which un y hampered us."
Reagan said the apparent increase in espio-
nage was prompted by Soviet fear of American
know-how. "As the West pulled ahead, the So-
viets embarked on a major effort to catch up by
stealing or buying what they need, from classi-
fied information on American satellites, reports
on future weapon systems, including our combat
aircraft bombers, to our most advanced technol-
ogies from high-tech areas hike Silicon Valley in
California," he said.
"Besides espionage against our most sensitive
secrets, theft of the high technology upon which
our defense depends, the Soviets have intensified
what they call 'active measures'-propaganda
and disinformation meant to mislead Western
governments and their citizens, subversion, forg-
eries and covert action," Reagan added.
He said that Soviet journalists and scholars
who appear on television programs "should at
least be identified for what they are-propagan-
dists whose appearances and statements are to-
tally controlled by the Communist Party."
It would be "an " tice to the CIA and a
grave mistake.- Rea :Ei~
the , which he called a *political lice
eration mission is to shield the n
vet dictatorshijA~gj any internal challenge, to
wed en and the United States ... and
to advance the t quest for power to destroy
freedom."
Rep. Claude Pepper (D-Fla.), delivering the
Democratic response, said the Democrats
"strongly support the president in protecting the
security of our country, not only against terror-
ism but against espionage as well."
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/12 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000505380063-3