SENATE UNIT VOTES TO HALT MOSCOW CHANCERY FUNDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504530003-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: May 1, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

. Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504530003-5
ARTICLE APPJAR.ED
ON PAGE It -3
1 May 1987
Senate Unit Votes to Halt
nds
Moscow Chancery Fu
`Except ... to Demolish the Building'
By Helen Dewar and Molly Moore
Wa:4higton Neat Staff Wrin m
The Senate Appropriations Com-
mittee voted without dissent yes-
terday to halt all spending for the
new U.S. Embassy chancery in
Moscow "except as necessary to
demolish the building."
The committee also voted to ban
the Soviet Union from occupying its
new chancery in Washington until
the new U.S. chancery is ready for
occupancy in Moscow. The vote
included provisions that the Soviets
"provide prompt and full reimburse-
ment" for damages in connection
with the Moscow construction.
The committee's action followed
approval Wednesday by the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence of
recommendations that the U.S.
chancery be demolished and rebuilt
because the Soviets have compro-
mised U.S. security by implanting
listening devices in the structure's
floors and walls.
The funding ban, proposed by
Sens. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.)
and Lawton Chiles (D-Fla.) in sep-
arate resolutions, was included in a
$9.3 billion supplemental appropri-
ations bill that covers a wide variety
of programs for the fiscal year end-
ing Sept. 30.
A top-ranking State Department
official told the Senate Foreign Re-
lations Committee yesterday that
the United States should not demol-
ish its new chancery in Moscow, but
should consider erecting a separate
smaller office in which to conduct
classified work alongside the new
chancery.
Ronald I. Spiers, undersecretary
of state for management, also
strongly criticized the Marines for
their involvement in security
breaches at the Moscow embassy.
Two Marines have been charged
and a third arrested on suspicion of
allowing Soviet agents to enter U.S.
diplomatic compounds in Moscow
and Leningrad. All three men are
suspected of having sexual relations
with Soviet women who later per-
suaded them to participate in espi-
onage activities.
"We never considered that we
needed guards to guard the
guards," Spiers told the committee.
Meanwhile, a Marine hearing of-
ficer yesterday began courtroom
proceedings at Quantico Marine
Base on the espionage charges
against Cpl. Arnold Bracy; 21, of
Queens, N.Y., who is accused of
working with another U.S. Embassy
guard in Moscow in the alleged es-
pionage operation. The Article 32
hearing, the equivalent of a civilian
grand jury hearing to determine
whether there is enough evidence
for a court martial, was recessed
until May 19 at the request of de-
fense attorneys who said they
needed more time to prepare their
case.
Bracy's civilian attorneys said in
an interview after the hearing that
Bracy had never had sexual rela-
tions with a Soviet, woman believed
to be a KGB agent and who inves-
tigators said seduced Bracy into
cooperating with foreign agents.
George E. Hairston, one of the
lawyers, said that when the woman
telephoned Bracy in Moscow he
"reported it promptly" to superiors.
A statement by Bracy implicating
the other security guard, Sgt. Clay-
ton J. Lonetree, was "an involuntary
statement" that he retracted "with-
in minutes," Hairston added.
Marine Corps officials have de-
clined to comment on the case.
In a related matter, the Senate
Appropriations Committee yester-
day abandoned a proposal requiring
that only experienced Marine
guards with a record of "untar-
nished service" in another security
post be assigned to the Soviet
Union or other communist-bloc
countries. Committee members
said the Navy Secretary, James H.
Webb Jr., had objected to the pro-
posal, saying he would prefer that
the problem be handled administra-
tively rather than by legislation.
Attorney General Edwin Meese
III said yesterday the Justice De-
partment is investigating whether
some State Department employes
could be prosecuted under national
security negligence laws in connec-
tion with the security breaches at
U.S. diplomatic posts. Meese told a
Senate Appropriations subcommit-
tee, however, that the Justice De-
partment is not conducting a full-
scale criminal investigation of in-
volvement of State Department
personnel in the security breaches.
Staff writers Sandra Evans,
Howard Kurtz and David B.
Ottaway contributed to this report.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504530003-5