U.S. SHOULD LIMIT SOVIETS TO CUT SPYING, LEAHY SAYS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302330060-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 10, 2012
• Sequence Number: 60
• Publication Date: July 22, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/10: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302330060-8 STAT
ARTIrLE APPEARED WASHINGTON TIMES
ON PAGE 2- ~-r 22 July 1985
U.S. should limit Soviets
to cut spying, Leahy says
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., yesterday
renewed his call for limiting the number of
Soviet and Eastern bloc personnel in the
United States as a way to reduce espionage
activities.
Sen. Leahy, vice chairman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee, said there are more
than 1,000 Soviet spies in the United States
and not enough has been done to deal with the
problem.
"We all say we gotta watch out for spies, but
nobody really does take it seriously," Mr.
Leahy said in an interview on ABC's "This
Week with David Brinkley."
The senator noted that the administration
is willing to spend $1.5 billion on a Navy bat-
tleship but "won't spend a relatively paltry
sum on rechecks of people with security
clearances."
"That's how somebody like the Walkers get
through;' Mr. Leahy said in a reference to the
recent arrests of John Walker, his son
Michael, brother Arthur, and a friend, Jerry
Whitworth, for allegedly selling U.S. naval
secrets to the Soviet Union.
Each held at least a secret clearance while
in the Navy, but only one of the four had ever
been re-investigated to maintain his
clearance - a process that is supposed to
occur every five years.
Mr. Leahy predicted that Soviet espionage
"will continue and expand"
An amendment to the present State Depart-
ment authorization bill would limit Soviet per-
sonnel stationed in the United States to the
number of U.S. government personnel posted
in Moscow and Leningrad.
If passed by Congress, it would immedi-
ately cut back the number of Soviet personnel
here, Mr. Leahy said. He added that the State
Department had opposed the measure for
unspecified reasons.
Earlier this month, President Reagan told
his weekly radio audience that there are 2,500
Soviet personnel in the United State and that
percent percent were known or sus-
t intelligence officers. Besides Sov et
personnel, there area additional to
1,500 Soviet bir : personnel with the same
estimaeedpee'rce?s to .
The propose : law "doesn't mean you're
going to stop spying in here ... but you can
certainly cut down the numbers of those who
have diplomatic immunity and give the FBI a
fighting chance;' Mr. Leahy said.
Former KGB officer Stanislav Levchenko,
who was also interviewed on the program,
agreed with the senator.
A former recruiter for the KGB in Japan,
Mr. Levchenko said curbing the number of
Soviet personnel in the United States "would
be a great help in reducing the scale of Soviet
espionage activities"
Mr. Levchenko said the KGB does
"research work" before recruiting potential
agents, "studying all possible targets in this
country and other free world countries."
"The KGB continuously collects informa-
tion on new possible targets through already
existing agent networks all over the world;'
Mr. Levchenko said.
When a prospective spy is finally
approached by the KGB with the idea of
recruitment, his background, talents and
problems are already known, Mr. Levchenko
said.
In a related matter, Gen. Richard Stilwell
said the Pentagon is proceeding with plans to
cut in half the number of U.S. military and
civilian personnel with access to classified
information.
Gen. Stilwell, who directs a Pentagon Secu-,
rity Review Commission, called the security
clearance issue "a large and complex prob-
lem" particularly in the era of high technol-
ogy.
He said the Soviet Union is estimated to be
"85 percent dependent" on U.S. technology for
the development of its weapons systems.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/10/10: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302330060-8