SPIES OUT IN THE LIGHT FOR REAGAN BILL-SIGNING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505410036-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 10, 2010
• Sequence Number: 36
• Publication Date: June 24, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/10: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505410036-9
ART T CLE IT FT,
ON PAGE .-SA
WASHINGTON TIMES
24+ JUNE 1982
BY A WASHINGTON TIMES STAFF WRITER
President Reagan was able to slip into the
grounds of the Central Intelligence Agency
by heliicnstrr yesterday and sign a bill
design..d to protect the identify of its
extremely secret agents.
The visit gave Reagan and a f ' ' ,Members
of the press a rare opportunity observe
carefully the campus-like atmosphere of the
age;rcy as well as actually see thousands of
sp! sitting on a hillside, their features
she; rply delineated in a bright, morning sun.
Normally, spies only appear at Washington
eoc!ctail parties in subdued lighting.
They were gathered in the sun in a natural
amphitheater to hearth e president and watch
him sign the bill into law. The legislation
provides a $50,000 fine and a 10-year prison
term for government employees who have
had authr 'i'r,ed acct- to the names of covert
agents un;: then dii !fie them. For those out-
side of government - scholars and :'eperters
included-conviction could bring a >' 6,000 fine
and a four-L mar sentence.
The measure male: it a crime t' disclose
the ;rune of a covert agent even i the infor-
mation is obtained from public cccords.
The agency is located somewhere above
the Potomac River on a road which leads,
eventually, to Mount Vernon.
Visitr)rs yesterday noted a number of dying
trees in the parking lots, a barbed wire fence,
the Army Band in concert before noon and a
remarkable resemblance between C.TA
employees and those who labor in the Corn-
merce Department downtown.
The president spoll:a_ in secret to ag pricy
officials inside the headquarters building -
wherever that migh' be - and then burst
out from the cold and made a speech.
He was received enthusiastically - spies
can melt into a crowd by applauding with
everyone else - andhe said he was speaking
to heroes.
"These men and women," Reagan said,
"these heroes of a grim twilight struggle are
those of you who serve here in the Central
Intelligence Agency."
"We are grateful to you," he said at another
point. "We thank you. We are proud of you."
The preside-a said enactment of the Intel-
ligence Identities Prow; Act is "clear
evidence of the value this nation places on
its intelligence agencies and their person-
nel. It is a vote of confidence"
Reagan warned that the ei-n ahead is
"fraught with danger." He told the spies: "His-
tory shows that it is precisely when totali-
tarian regimes begin to decay from within, it
is precisely when they feel the first stirrings
of domestic unrest that they seek to reas-
sure their own people of their vast and
unchallenaeable power through imperialistic
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/10: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505410036-9