HOUSE, IN SECRET, REPORTEDLY HEARS COVERT ACTION CRITICISM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000707310010-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 12, 2011
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: July 20, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000707310010-4 STAT
A tt ''.R= BOSTON GLOBE
20 July 1983
~pry TT7e strong Republican opposition and t atthat amendment has been vio-
Hou e. in seere ..repartedl\7 the risk of major defections from fated." said Boland recently. He
j, conservative Southern delegations has criticized the effectiveness of
hears (Avert action criticism such as Florida's. "It looks like a the operation in meeting its stated
close call, really," said Boland. goal of interdicting arms ship-
Bv David Rogers While most of yesterday's four- ments from Nicaragua to leftist
Globe Staff hour meeting was intended as a guerrillas in El Salvador.
WAS HGTON - The House. beginning debate on a classified briefing by the Intelli- Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.). a mem-
resolution to cut off covert milita -v aid to Nicaraguan gence committee for members, ber of the Intelligence Committee.
insurgents. went into.a rare closed-door session yester- some of the speakers drew ap- said there is "hard" evidence that
day in which opponents of the Administration's police plause, reflecting the continued these shipments have been les-
cited a recently completed CIA study criticizing the offer partisanship seen earlier in com- send. But according to sources,
riveness of the operation, sources said. mittee votes. the National Intelligence Estimate
The National Intelligence Estimate, dated June 3C, is "The applause was partisan.**. report reflected a consensus within
one of the most detailed, high-level analyses yet within said a liberal Democrat later. -1 intelligence branches like the ` A
the intelligence community, and the critical tone of the guess-it was,predictable but it's not and the Defense Intelligence Agea__
n-
classified document is seriously damaging to the Admin? good' - -cy seriously g lbe
--From the outset'of the covert op- gram's effectiveness.
wib'k
istra lion's case, the sources said. eration - in the first year of the Ad- ...: " 'lt4iss some very, :very--sung
The four-hour closed-door meeting yesterday marked ?ministration- leading -members of 1. stuff, .said one source. it npoi*ed--.
only the third time in more than -a century that the "the Intelligence-Committee have + ly provided the framework :for*"
House has gone into secret session, questioned the operation. As the in- strong attack by Rep: Leel4amilton-
and' the resolulien is an unprecedented chat- surgent forcehas'grown, so has the fD-Ind.). a -member of `M3e-intend=;
Vienge to President Ronald Reagan's policy in-
Central America.
No votes on the resolution are expected tintil
next week, but there appears to be increasing
unity in the Democratic leadership behind the
resolution to cut off aid. which is sponsored by
Rep. Edward P. Boland (1)-Mass.). chairman of
the House Intelligence Committee, and Rep.
.Clement Zablocki (D-Wis.); chairman of the For
eign Affairs Committee.
"When it comes down to it, I will be with Boo-
land-Zablocki," said Majority Leader Jim
Wright (D-Texas). After participating in private
talks with the Administration over the past
month. Wright said there is a "remote" chance
that a compromise can be reached before the
House vote.
"It is really a question of what we want to be
as a country. ' said Wright in one of his sharp-
est criticisms vet of the covert aid. "Do we want
to be sneaky country or a straightforward coun-
;iry.... We ought to tell the truth."
A united party leadership will strengthen Bo-
iand'c hand on the floor, but the Springfield
Democrat is faced with what appears to be
controversy surrounding It. Ar :genc a and. -Foreign Affai i oim1t- "
part of a classified annex to the tees, whotook the lead~withSo1and
1983 Intelligence Authorization In supporting the resolution.''?'
Act, Congress attadhed language Young represented theeVpposi-
last year to prohibit any aid for the Lion on . the .GOP side with-. Rep.
purpose of overthrowing the San- Henry Hyde (R-11Q. a member of the
dinista regime. The same restrie- Foreign Affairs Commtttee.` . -~
Lion was made law in December as 'Though attendance -dwindled
an amendment '.to an appropri- after the first two hours, members
rations bill. said 'that dose to two-thirds-of the
Though-the Administration has House was present to bear the
said the operation is within the opening remarks.
law, the insurgents have made no
secret of their hope to overthrow -Minority Leader Robert Micbel
the government, and Reagan him- (R-111.) dismissed reports last week
self has referred to the anti-Sandin- that the CIA is preparing for a force
Ista guerrillas based in Nicaragua between 12.000 and 15,000, but'
and neighboring Honduras as yesterday an aide acknowledged
"freedom fighters." that the numbers had " credibil.
"I have no doubt in my mind Ity."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000707310010-4