WEBSTER SWORN IN AS DIRECTOR OF CIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-01448R000301310022-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: May 27, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

05-27 ? 7 WED 07:52 BURRELLES NEWS CLIs=.
sl Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/24: CIA-RDP99-01448R000301310022-7
BALTIMORE SUN
MAY 2 7 1987
Webster sworn in as director of CIA
.7"" By Julie Johnson
Washington Bureau of The Sun 3 A
LANGLEY. Va. -- FBI Director
William H. Webster, pledging to car-
ry out covert assignments around
t he globe with "fidelity to the Consti-
i Litton." was sworn in yesterday as
the new head of the Central Intelli-
gence Agency.
President Reagan, in brief re-
marks in which he praised the CIA
drici its intelligence role. decal%
that the United States "cannot sur-
vive . . . without a vigorous intent-
aenre agency capable of acting swift-
ly and in secret."
The president said Mr. Webster
-- a former prosecutor and federal
Appellate court judge ? was "step-
ping up to the leadership of an insti-
tution that by Its very nature is a
likely subject of controversy. Yet it Is
also irreplaceable.
"So long as I am president. I will
never consent to see our intelligence
capability undermined." Mr. Reagan
told an audience of hundreds of In-
telligence experts and CIA employ
erg, at a ceremony beneath overcait
-iltits on the lawn of agency head-
quarters here.
Mr. Webster, 63. ending nine
years as the director of the FBI, said
it was "difficult . . . to leave the De-
partment of Justice after so many
years."
He pledged to work closely with
Congress and to follow the letter of
the law in carrying out CIA's covert
operations.
"We will work with the congres-
sional committees which must act in
secret matters as surrogates for the
Congress and the American people.
and we will be worthy of their trust."
he said.
Mr. Webster said that the CIA
"will diligently carry out our assign-
ments around the world, however
difficult, with fidelity to the Constitu-
tion and the laws of our beloved
country, so help us God."
He added a salute to the numer-
ous officials whom he called the 'un-
seen soldiers of democracy." who re-
mained Indoors to protect their ano-
nyrnity. listening to the ceremony on
an audio speaker.
Mr. Webster took the helm
Cit?fl_omintelllgence veterarr=ceert--t
d4-34mits,wlio had been acting C1X-
r."-"-dietCtOr since February. when Wil-
liam J. Casey resigned after under-
going surgery to remove a train tu-
mor. Mr. Casey died earlier this
month.
Mr. Gates, who at one point wai
nominated by the president to sue
ceed Mr. Casey. withdrew his name
from consideration amid question:.
about CIA involvement In the Iran.
contra affair, which has strained re-
lations with Congress.
Mr. Webster, who is recognized
for having restored public confi-
dence in the FBI. Is widely respected.
After prolonged hearings, he was
confirmed May 19 by the Senate ins
94-1 vote.
His confirmation hearings. initial-
ly expected to be swift and glitch-
free, ran into brief difficulty when it
was disclosed that he had been told
as early as last Oct. 30 that U. Col.
Oliver L North. the fired National
Security Council aide, could be tar-
geted in a criminal probe because of
his role in assisting the Nicaraguan
contra rebels.
In testimony. Mr. Webster also
disclosed that he had been told Colo-
nel North had warned the FBI that
an investlgatIon it had initiated into
the activities of Southern Air Trans-
port could thwart secret negotiations
aimed at gaining the release of U.S.
hostages In Lebanon
le 1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/24: CIA-RDP99-01448R000301310022-7