CENSORSHIP ACCORDS SIGNED BY THOUSANDS, STUDY SHOWS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100020091-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 17, 2012
• Sequence Number: 91
• Publication Date: June 14, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/17: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100020091-9
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE
77
NEW YORK TIMES
14 June 1984
Censorship Accords Signed
By. Thousands, Study Shows
tDAVID BURNHAM
dat tb Ytta New Port lima
WASHINGTON, June 13 - More dismayed at the findings."
than 120,000 employees now working Senator Charles McC. Mathias Jr.,
for the Federal Government have Republican of Maryland, a leader in
agreed in writing that for the rest of, the Senate group opposed to prepubli-
their lives they will submit for censor- cation review, said the "G.A.O. report
ship any speech, article or book they I makes it clear that the issue of lifetime
produce that concerns the sources and censorship agreements is not dead."
methods of intelligence gath ering. 'Progam Not Needed'
The disclosure that tens of thousands Mr. Mathias added, "The executive
have civilian and military employees branch without any significant degree
signed required censorship agree- I of consultation with Congress has put in
meets came four months after er strPresi- ong place a program of censorship that is,
withdraw opro a prompted
proposal l for for on the basis of what we know now,
dent Reagan Ronseagan t t in Congress
not needed."
a somewhat broader censorship re-: demonstrably According to testimony before the
quirement. Senate Governmental Affairs Commit-
to Commit-
Ail employees with access to certain tee, the prepublication review require-
intelligence secrets have been required qui ment was first imposed by the Reagan
t sign censorship p agreements since nce Administration in early 1981. Until
early 1981 under what was then a new f then officials
iven access to a special
g
interpretation of an existing Prsiden- , category of classified information had
posed on any official who was about to there had been a sharp increase m e
write or talk about "any information number of articles and books being re-
concerning intelligence activities, viewed by the Reagan Administration
sources or methods." in the past year or so. It said that the
The requirement that had been in Defense Department reviewed 2,784 ar-
place since 1981 has slightly different ticles and books in 1981, 6,457 in 1982
language. The existing requirement and 10,088 in 1983.
imposes lifetime censorship on any At the time Mr. Reagan withdrew the
material concerning "intelligence new censorship proposal in February,
sources or methods" of intelligence and left the existing requirement in
gathering. It does not include . the place, several Administration officials
phrase, "any information concerning said the suspension was aimed at elimi-
intelligence activities." nating a potential political problem
rs,.cod by widPCnread criticism of the i
tial executive order. Those required to been asked to sign an agreement say-
sign include most top policy-makers as only that they would not disclose it. agencies said 34 of these instances
well as a number of clerks, secretaries -1- _-,,,
,,1e, were not submitted to the Justice De.
, b
pos
y
43 Agencies Respond to Survey time censorship would have been im- The accounting office report said
th
The number of individuals who have
signed the censorship agreement was
made public today in a report prepared
by the General Accounting Office, an
investigative arm of Congress. The re-
port, based on replies provided by 43
separate agencies, was prepared at the
request of the chairmen of the House
Government Operations Committee
and the House Postal Office and Civil
Service Committee.
Because of th_e s ial requirements
of 1FieT_ r -worn the survey did not in-
.1ude f.E Central Intelli_ gongs Aged
or the ~Taiiona_ecun_ iy genA cy.
Among other agencies that did not re-
spond to the survey as of Dec. 31 were
the Justice Department, the Depart-
ment of Energy, the Office of Manage-
ment and Budget and five other agen-
cies.
Representative Jack Brooks, Demo-
crat of Texas, chairman of the Govern-
ment Operations Committee, said in a
statement that he was "shocked and
Anodatad F.
Senator Charles MCC. Mathias Jr.,
a leader in the group opposed to
Government censorship of materi-
als written by Federal employees.
The accounting office said another One official said the White House
reason the total number of people who hoped "to remove it as a sore spot, a
had signed such an agreement was in- source of controversy" in an election
those officials who had signed agreee- Mr. Brooks has introduced
lobs. meet from i irrt& any p epnblica-
The accounting office also said that ion review re wrement and r'ecrnd
-
the responding agencies had reported a an s uirements en in effect
total of 43 instances in 1983 when classi- ~ucJr ~e --
ov e L 2 A.-ring
exce t f_oremvT,
fled information was disclosed. The the N.S.A.
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/17: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100020091-9