STATEMENT OF HONORABLE JIM WRIGHT SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE LEGISLATION PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90B00017R000200340013-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 1, 2011
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: April 1, 1987
• Content Type: MISC

Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/01 : CIA-RDP90B00017R000200340013-2
For information contact:
Wilson Morris 225-2204 Charmayne Marsh 225-8040
STATEMENT OF HONORABLE JIM WRIGHT
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION
PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE
April 1, 1987
Thank you for this opportunity. I have come to support the Intelligence
Oversight Amendments of 1987 introduced by Chairman Stokes.
The bill makes two very simple changes in the statutes. Both are clearly
consistent with what Congress intended originally. If the language proposed today
by Mr. Stokes had been in the law, it is quite probable that the national
embarrassment of the entire "Irangate" episode would have been avoided.
The Stokes bill (H.R. 1013) modifies Section 662 of the Foreign Assistance
Act to require that all covert action "findings" be in writing. These written
findings would have to be provided to the House and Senate Intelligence
Committees, the Director of Central Intelligence, and the statutory members of
the National Security Council prior to the initiation of the proposed covert action.
The bill would retain a provision of existing law which, in certain circumstances,
permits the required prior notice to be given to eight specified Congressional
leaders, rather than to the full membership of both Intelligence Committees.
H.R. 1013 would also amend Section 501 of the National Security Act to
tighten up the present language calling for notification in a "timely fashion" when
prior notice is not given. Only in extraordinary circumstances affecting the vital
interests of the United States, and only where time is of the essence, the bill
would permit the Congressional notification to be deferred for "not more than 48
hours" after the initiation of the intelligence activity or the signing of the finding
under Section 662.
Mr. Chairman, this is a bill that should not have been necessary. As someone
who served ex-officio on the Select Committee on Intelligence for nearly ten
years, I can state from experience that when the present legislation was enacted,
the Congress intended that it be notified before any covert actions took place.
When we used the term "timely fashion" in the law with regard to those
extraordinary circumstances when time did not permit prior notification, the
Congress meant a couple of days, not more than ten months.
The colossal misjudgments made by the Administration in the arms deal
with Iran confirm the need for this new legislation. Had the President notified the
Congress as to what he was intending to do in Iran, he might have gained a clearer
understanding of the risks involved. Had the Congress received prior notification,
it is certain that some of us would have advised against that unfortunate policy.
The U.S. government just might have been spared this embarrassing and costly
episode which continues to undercut our foreign policy.
Mr. Chairman, I commend your leadership in holding prompt hearings on this
important matter. I know that you are planning the expeditious action that this
issue warrants.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/01 : CIA-RDP90B00017R000200340013-2