CIA BILL: THE NEED IS NOW...

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00845R000100160059-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 14, 2010
• Sequence Number: 59
• Publication Date: September 15, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Lf
By EDWARD P. 8OLAND >? _
In the past several years the in-
.te ligence activities of the U.S. gov-
ernment have been exposed to the
light of public scrutiny to a degree
never before -witnessed. in this or
any other country.
Presidential' commissions,\con-
gressional committees, judicial deci-
sions, investigative reporters 'have
all, at one time or another, given us
a detailed glimpse of the day-to-day
practices of our intelligence agen-
cies.
. free exchange of ideas o- the issues of the d
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/14: CIA-RDP90-00845R000100160059-6
BOSTON HERALD-AMERICAN
15 September 1980
The operating heart of any such
service is the use of undercover
agents and officers overseas to col;
lect intelligence information. Ob-
viously, if the names of these people
are spread upon the public record,
their usefulness is ended and the ef-
fectiveness of the clandestine serv-
ice is. diminished.
In the past few years, that is
precisely what has been occuring. A
small number of Americans, includ-
ing some former intelligence agen-
cy-employees, have been engaged in
a systerriatic effort to destroy the
ability of our intelligence agencies
to:, collect information secretly by
disclosing the names of overseas un-
dercover intelligence agents. Not
only are legitimate intelligence ac-
tivities thwarted, but the careers of
dedicated intelligence officers are
disrupted, service morale is lowered,
the taxpayer's- money;- is wasted, and.
- perhaps most important - lives
are directly placed in danger.
In my opinion and,;'I: think, in
the opinion of.the overwhelming
:majority of the American people,
unauthorized disclosure of the
names of undercover intelligence
agents is a pernicious act.that
serves no useful informing function
whatsoever. It does not alert us to
abuses; it does not further civil lib-
erties; it does not bring clarity to is-
sues of national policy; it does not
enlighten public debate; and it does
not contribute`one.iota to the goal
of an educated and, informed elec-
torate. .
Whatever the motives of those
engaged in such. activity,. the only
result is the complete disruption of
our legitimate intelligence collec-
tion..programs programs that
bear. the,.unprimature of ..the Con-
giess, the President, and the Amer-
ican.people. Such a: result,benefits.
no one. but. our.. adversar s..,.;
To an unfortunate degree, some
of these practices were found want-
ing - wanting in temrs of their
compatibility with American values,
morals, laws, and constitutional pre-
cepts.
We have now, I believe, taken
the painful but. necessary steps to
bring a halt to such practices and to
insure that they do not occur again.
All of this has not taken place
without rancor, divisiveness, and?
heated debate among our people
and-within the government.
Significantly;' ho;,vever, both
sides of the debate have always pro
ceeded on the unquestioned assum-
that it is- both necessary and
ption
proper for this country to possess-a'
clandestine intelligence service'
An effective clandestine service
is especially important to American
interests in these troubled times. As.
recent events demonstrate, it'is' as
vital to our 'security to possess some
insight_into the :thought processes
of seemingly obsure religious fig-
ures as it is to'know the location of
Soviet missile-launchers. Technical
systems which are purchased, quite
properly, at significant. cost to 'de-__
termine the latter are-of little use in
gleaning the former. In such areas,
the nation must rely on our clandes-
tine service..
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release
STAT
Later this.'-month legislation to
combat such disclosures will be de-
bated on the floor of the House of
Representatives. Under consid-
eration will be H.R. 5615. The. In-
telligence Identities Protection Act,
a' bill which has been reported fa-
vorably, after several days of hear-
ings, by the House Permanent Se-
lect Committee on Intelligence,
which I chair, and the House Judi-
ciary Committee.
This bill would make it. a crime
to disclose any information that
identifies covert United States in-
telligence agents. Different penal-
ties and elements of proof are es-
tablished depending on whether the
defendant was a present or former
government employee who acquired,
his information from authorized ac-
cess to classified information, or
whether the defendant derived the
information disclosed from non-
The publishers of the "COVER
ACTION INFOR?I ATION BULLE-
TIN", and similar groups,, contend
that they. fall into the latter rate--
gory.- They claim they ca-
discover-the identities of our undercover
agents by diligently studying pre-
viously published diplomatic lists
and biographical registers and com-
paring and. collating the informa-
tion contained therein with other
publicly available information. Hav-,I
ing had no access to classified infor-
mation, the'f claim it'is unconstitu-.~
tional to prohibit their disclosures.
In recent days, many news-
papers, while denouncing such arti
cles, have also stated that the. pro-.
posed legislation violates the First
.Amendment.:I respectifully dis
agree. H.R. 5615 is a. carefully,,
crafted limited solution to.an'? ur-
gent or grave problem: It. responds.
to an evil the government clearly
'has a right to, prevent; it is narrow
and precise in its scope so.as to giye--
nntiee''of`. itc {nmarnnf;ong?' and.'it