WHAT PUBLISHERS CAN EXPECT FROM PENDING INTELLIGENCE LEGISLATION

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Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP90-00806R000100010034-2
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RIPPUB
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K
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3
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December 22, 2016
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September 2, 2010
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34
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Publication Date: 
May 30, 1980
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OPEN SOURCE
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 30 May 1980 What Publishers Can Expect from Pending.Intelligence Legislation Congress has given up efforts to write a comprehensive new charter for the U.S. intelligence community this year. For publishing interests, what is likely to emerge is preservation of the status quo. Congressional leaders now intend to pass simple legislation spelling out House and Senate committees' rights to oversee the intelligence agencies, but leave alone the laws that guarantee the public's access to unclassified in- telligence material and preserve the CIA's right to use journalists and schol- ars in undercover work. Although the Senate Intelligence Committee had to limit the scope of its bill in order to get it to the Senate floor in this election year, several attempts to amend the measure are anticipated when the full Senate acts late this month or early in June. Some of the likely amendments will be of direct in- terest to the publishing community. As the legislation stands now, there will be no tinkering with the Freedom of Information Act, which allows the public to obtain unclassified informa tion on intelligence activities. Earlier proposals would have exempted in- telligence agencies from the FOIA. __ There will be no proscription on di- vulging the names of intelligence offi- cers or operatives. The original charter proposal would have made disclosure a crime for persons with authorized ac- cess to the names and would have car- ried a possible penalty of five years in prison and a $50,000 fine. In some bad news for publishing in- terests, the new legislation makes no mention of the CIA's use of journalists, clergy and scholars in its intelligence- gathering work. That means those groups would continue to rely on the administration in power to formulate guidelines for the use of such groups or individuals as covers for the in- telligence community. Current CIA policy is that journalists cannot be used except when specifical- ly authorized by Central Intelligence Director Stansfield Turner. Clergy may be used only on an unpaid basis. There are no limitations on the use of academ- ics. 806R000100010034-2 , It became clear as inc e Intelligence Committee wrangled over what to in- clude in the charter that the various proposed amendments were so contro- versial the bill stood no chance of pas- sage this late in an election year. Chairman Birch Bayh (D., Ind.) worked out an agreement with two committee members, Sen. John Cha- fee fee (R., R.I.) and Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D., N.Y.). They agreed not to offer their amendments in committee so that at least the oversight section of the legislation could have a chance for passage. Chafee is sponsor of a proposal that would ban the divulging of agents' names. Moynihan is sponsoring an amendment that would prohibit the CIA from using journalists, clergy and academics in its operations and would not even allow its agents to pose as members of those professions. Moynihan has said that he still in- tends to offer his amendment on the. Senate floor. Neither Chafee nor Moynihan was expected to succeed on the Senate floor, however. In the House, meanwhile, action on a charter has been held up pending final Senate action. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Edward P. Bo- land (D., Mass.) indicated to PW that he was not sympathetic to the publish- ing industry's concerns with the char- ter. "Our committee would be interested in the proposal to add the [ban on the] identification of agents" to the charter, he said, and also to exempt the CIA from FOIA. On the use of journalists, clergy and academics, he said, "I see no objection to using that class on a -voluntary basis. They can be very im- portant sources for intelligence gather- ? ing. No champions appeared in the Sen- ate Intelligence Committee to lead a charge for excluding the CIA from the , FOIA. Heavy lobbying against such an i exemption by academic and civil rights groups during hearings. earlier this year may have convinced the committee not to exempt the CIA from the act. The Authors League, Association of American Publishers, and P.E.N.'s Freedom to Write' Committee were 'among groups testifying in favor of re- strictions on the CIA's use of people in certain professions and against a CIA exemption from the FOIA. HOWARD FIELDS Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00806R000100010034-2 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00806R000100010034-2 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 18 April 1980 Groups Protest Aspects of Proposed CIA Bills Voicing the strongest objections to any legislation that would remove the CIA and other intelligence agencies from public and scholarly scrutiny, Kirk- patrick Sale, vice-president of P.E.N., testified March 25 before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Also expressing fears over proposed in- telligence legislation were representa- tives from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Organization of American Historians and several church organi- zations. In an earlier action, John Hersey, president of the Authors League, had asked for legislation that would "un- equivocally prohibit the CIA (and other agencies) from using journalists and professional authors of books and magazine articles to gather information or perform other intelligence serv- ices." The Authors League position was outlined in a letter to Sen. Walter D. Huddleston (D., Ky.), who in- troduced the proposed National In- telligence Act of 1980. The Senate committee is expected to begin line-by-line consideration in the middle of this month of the Huddleston bill as well as of a similar one proposed by Senators Patrick Moynihan (D., N.Y.) and Malcolm Wallop (R., Wyo.). In still another action protesting as- pects of the proposed bills, 150 organ-, izations and individuals circulated a! letter to senators and representatives on the relevant committees, express- ing opposition to provisions that would substantially exempt intelligence agen- cies from the Freedom of Information Act. Among the national organiza- tions sponsoring the letter are the As- sociation of American Publishers and P.E.N.'s Freedom to Write Com- mittee. The provisions t , objects "represent a radical change in government policy and would severely limit the disclosure of information to the public. They would damage serious historical and journalistic research and I ... informed public debate." Noting that the FOIA "in its pres- ent form provides ample protection for information that is properly classified or which reveals intelligence sources or methods," the group concludes: ,It is imperative that the Freedom of Infor- mation Act not be sacrificed as part of a hasty or ill-considered reaction to cur- rent international tensions." Representing P.E.N.'s 1700 writers and editors at the Senate hearing, Sale declared: The works that have been produced as a result of FOIA access have been absolutely essential, we be- lieve, in giving the American people a better idea of the true nature of its gov- ernment and enabling them to assess its foreign and domestic policies." Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00806R000100010034-2 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP9O-00806ROO0100010034-2 OZ PAG$ g2/ 'ibe:eq~nst was mods in a??btts! 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(and other Zbs used as inteillpmoe cin) t pmt .,..: has lens been a seasitive su. siasd andm books and mapzine imL Then have bees at arudw to gather intbrmatioa or Pee6 times that acme maioe saws orS faemothsriaaWgatuoeserviees." dm haw mahmUned coofldentbtl that Sams reiatio.ps with the C.I.A.. althous h "mq playa final cab as C.IA ream- - .mat of these alleptions have been dmiedbytheorpmiztiaosiaquestlon. Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP9O-00806ROO0100010034-2