LETTER TO HENRY J. HYDE FROM RICHARD HELMS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90B00017R000200340015-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 1, 2011
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: March 24, 1987
• Content Type: LETTER

Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/01: CIA-RDP90B00017R000200340015-0
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SAFE E 12 COMPANY
INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING
March 24, 1987
The Honorable Henry J. Hyde
U.S. House of Representatives
House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Mr. Hyde:
You indicated that you would be interested in any
comments I might have about H.R. 1013.
This bill proposes to tighten up certain reporting
requirements on new covert actions undertaken by the Central
Intelligence Agency. In so doing it demands that Presidential
"findings" be 'in writing" and that a copy of the written
"finding" be furnished to certain members of Congress and to
the Vice President, Secretaries of State and Defense, and the
Director of Central Intelligence. At the rate written docu-
ments of the Executive branch appear in the newspapers these
days, I would have thought that this requirement almost consti-
tutes a guarantee that no action would long remain "covert."
When a written finding is sent to a Senator, a Congressman, or
a Cabinet officer, how many individuals on their staffs actually
see this document? Quite a few, I would surmise. Put another
way, this legislation would further insure that with the
inability of the Executive and Legislative branches to identify
"leakers," "covert action" as an option in support of U.S. foreign
policy is doomed. This is not necessarily because future Presi-
dents and Directors would be unwilling to take the chance, but
because the experienced officers who must carry out such oper-
ations would not wish to become involved in what they would
inevitably regard as a "no win" situation.
It strikes me that rather than focus on H.R. 1013, the
Senate and House of Representatives might better exert their
energies on the adoption of a Joint Committee along the lines
you have proposed. The Tower Commission Report contains the
most recent recommendation for establishing such a Joint Com-
mittee. Last year's report of the Vice President's Task Force
on Terrorism contains a similar recommendation. Cord Meyer in
his column of March 13, 1987 in the Washington Times argues the
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case in favor of a Joint Committee. Under date of December 9,
1985 I sent you a letter supporting your original bill. I
feel even more strongly in favor today and repeat what I wrote
to you at that time.
This past weekend Senator David Durenberger, former Chair-
man of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, was quoted
in the Washington Post as having exposed during a speech in
Florida an alleged American intelligence operation in Israel.
Equally egregious classified information leaks come from the
Executive departments. If the Executive and Legislative branches
of our government cannot reach an appropriate balance on the
issue of congressional oversight and the mutual confidence
implicit in it, the security of intelligence information acquired
for the United States of America is indeed in serious trouble.
Let us hope that the Congress will see the wisdom of making
this collaboration easier by moving toward a Joint Committee with
a small staff. This would reduce the number of individuals
privy to intelligence secrets, thus making it less contentious
for the two sides to work in harmony.
Sincerely yours,
Richard Helms
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