TIGHTENING INTELLIGENCE SCRUTINY

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP90-00965R000604900015-0
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RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
May 4, 2012
Sequence Number: 
15
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
April 2, 1987
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
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PDF icon CIA-RDP90-00965R000604900015-0.pdf89.91 KB
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STAT Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000604900015-0 WASHINGTON POST 2 April 1987 Tightening Intelli'ence Scrutiny Proposal for Change Sparks Sharp- Debate at House Hearing By`'David' $ ~ Q'ttaway ' Washington Poet Staff Writer The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence began hearings yesterday on a bill that would require the president even in extraordinary circumstances to no- tify Congress within 48 hours of any "significant" covert activity and to provide in advance to the Senate and House intelligence committees a copy of each directive authorizing any operation. The bill, introduced by the com- mittee chairman, Rep. Louis Stokes (D-Ohio), and by Rep. Edward P. Boland (D-Mass.), a former chair-, man, provoked sharply conflicting reactions about the wisdom of changing existing law, which allows the president in certain cases not to give prior notice and to inform Con- gress later, "in a timely fashion." The bill was introduced in re- sponse to President Reagan's fail- ure, for well over a year,.to notify anyone in Congress of his secret initiative to Iran. It is cosponsored by all Democrats of the House in- telligence committee and 49 other House Democrats. The committee debate yesterday appeared to mark the start of an agonizing reappraisal of whether congressional oversight of White House-initiated covert activities has broken down and of what changes, if any, should be made. Appearing before the panel's sub- committee on legislation yesterday were House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.) and House Minority Lead- er Robert H. Michel (R-111) who took strongly opposing views on the issue. Wright said that "the colossal misjudgments" made by the admin- istration in the Iran arms deal con- firmed the need for what he called two "very simple changes" in the statutes govering prior notification of covert actions and the presiden- tial directives-called "findings"- that approve such operations. "We must define what constitutes 'timely notice,' " Wright told the subcommittee. Michel sharply disagreed, warn- ing that the proposed new require- ments are "the functional equivalent of a foreign' policy straitjacket" for the president and would weaken his hand in dealing with the Soviet Union. "What I question is the wisdom of Congress, acting in the emotion of this Iran-contra affair, placing re- strictions upon the very institution of the presidency itself, restrictions that are in my view constitutionally dubious and strategically danger- ous," Michel said in a prepared statement. The Stokes-Boland bill would change Section 662 of the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act to require the president to send a copy of each written "finding" signed by him "pri- or to the initiation of such opera- tion" to the Senate and House in- telligence committees, the vice president, the secretaries of state and defense, and the director of central intelligence. Two former CIA directors, Adm. 4, Stansfield Turner and William E. 1 C a so es Tied yg av. both , warning against any hasty changes in the existing law. Citing President Reagan's new commitment in his March 4 address to the nation to make the congres- sional oversight process work, Turner suggested that "at this par- ticular moment, discretion on the part of Congress may be the better part of valor." In a directive issued Tuesday to implement the recommendations made by the Tower commission, Reagan ordered that the National Security Council study what steps should be taken to ensure "that all requirements of law concerning co- vert activities, including those re- quirements relating to presidential authorization and congressional no- tification, will be addressed in a timely manner and complied with fully." Colby testified that the machinery for tufcient congressional oversight o covert activities already existed if it was used properly. The hearings are to continue Wednesday, when administration witnesses are scheduled to appear. Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000604900015-0