EXTENSIONS of REMARKS May 8, 1980 EXTENSIONS of REMARKS
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10672 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS May 8, 1980 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS NATIONAL SECURITY LEAKS potentiaf sources of intelligence infor Some of the stories say this informa mation abroad are reluctant to deal tion is coming out after all of the with our intelligence services for fear people involved have fled to safety. HON. LES ASPIN that their ties Will be exposed on the Maybe and maybe not. But if we are OF WISCONSIN front pages of American newspapers, worried about the cooperatic1n of for IN THE -HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES either because of leaks from Congress eigners, leaks like these would make Thursday, May 8, ,1980 or because sensitive material has been them extremely nervous about cooper leveraged out of the administration by ation. How can the leaker or leakers e Mr. ASPIN. Mr. Speaker, it is time FOIA. know everyone is safe? that we in Congress complain -}ust as We are also being told that, because Mr. Speaker, if foreigners are reluc loudly as those in the administration foreigners are fearful that secrets will tant to cooperate with us, it is the about national security leaks. be leaked, the intelligence agencies fault of our own agencies. Administrations, be they Republican must have the power to blue pencil They should know that the fault is or Democrat, have a predilection for manuscripts written by present and not. in Congress or in the FOIA but in pointing at Congress and bewailing former intelligence officers to make themselves. Recall that despite weeks the fact that the legislative branch sure they don't reveal anything sensi of forewarning, our people rushed out can't keep a secret. tive years after the events. of Saigon leaving filing cabinets filled But the big leaks-the ones with Finally, we have been told· recently with the names of our agents. We gave massive potential for damage to na that it is unacceptable for us to enact North Vietnam a veritable index to tional security-seem always to come legislation mandating that Congress their future cemeteries. When our Em from thE> executive branch. be kept "fully and currently in bassy in Tehran was taken ove}l, sensi This week we have seen a major se formed" of intelligence activities be tive information is said to have fallen curity leak, or rather a series of leaks, cause a leaky Congress would then into the hands of militants. There is the likes of which occur no more than have to be told the most sensitive de now a rumor going about that one of three or four times a decade. What I tails of intelligence sources and meth the helicopters left in the middle of am talking about is a series of stories ods which might then get into the Iran contained a list of the people in that appeared this past week in the press. Tehran who were to be evacuated New York Times revealing details of after the Embassy raid. Blunders of the plans _tor freeing the hostages in The common theme in all of this is that foreign intelligence agencies will this order will make everyone gunshy Tehran. These stories stated that a about cooperating with the United number of agents had been infiltrated not cooperate with us. The CIA has said repeatedly in hearings that it is States on clandestine missions. It is into Iran under the guise of being Eu bad enough to read about your help ropean businessmen and that these perceived abroad that working with U.S. intelligence is too risky because on the front pages of the New York agents- had obtained a warehouse in Times. It is even worse to have Tehran that would serve as the final too many people have access to the iri formation. Savama or Hanoi's gestapo knock on staging area for the penetration of the your door and show you a U.S. Gov Embassy compound. Mr. Speaker, if foreign intelligence ernment document with your name in What makes these leaks so serious is people are reluctant to cooperate with scribed on it. that they deal with what the intelli us, I can now understand why-and it Leaks seldom occur for no purpose. gence agencies guard the most has nothing to do with the FOIA, pre The details of the plans for the Em sources and methods. Armed with publication review, the Snepp decision, bassy raid were clearly leaked to the these stories, the Iranian Government intelligence charters, or the right of press in an effort to save the adminis would be able to go a ,ong way toward Congr~ss to information. tration from looking foolish. The ad fingering those in the country who The headlines scream that agents ministration has been attacked for have been helping us. It is a major entered Iran posing as European busi sending in only 90 men to try -to take breach of security comparable, I be nessmen. That is certain to help us get over a 27 -acre embassy compound. De lieve, to the leaking of the U.S. SALT more cooperation out of European in scriptions of all the infiltrated agents I negotiating position. telligence services. ready to help in Tehran are designed Mr. Spea.ker, these leaks could not I also wonder how many legitimate to show that the plan was far more ha.,ve originated in the Congress. Con European businessmen in Tehran are fully staffed than appeared at fiist gress had been briefed about the de having the soles of their feet whipped glance. The administration is attacked tails of the mission leading up to the right now as Iran's new secret police, for not continuing the mission with decision to abort, but not of the plans Savama, tries to get to the bottom of the five remaining helicopters. The for the takeover of the Embassy. Fur the plans for the raid. leaks are designed to show that the thermore, I ·note that the New York We also relied on help given by Iran helicopters had to carry out more Tim.es itself credits these details to ians, as a host of stories leaked to the people than just the 90~man-rescue "American military officials," a turn press indicate. The story in the New team and the 53 hostages. of phrase that ordinarily means civil York Times specifies that the "Euro -What we are seeing right now is the ians in the Pentagon. The term "offi pean businessmen" obtained a ware worst of all possible types of leaks-a cers" rather than "officials" would house. What do you think is the life leak intended to protect some people normally be used if the ~ources -- were expectancy of any Iranian wh9 has in the administration from criticism, a uniformed. had dealings with any "European busi leak released without consideration For months we have been _lobbied by nessmen" who recently departed from for the effect it might have on human the administration to give_the Central Iran and left an empty warehouse lives in Tehran, a leak that could put a Intelligence Agency exemption from behind? Surely any Iranian with half complete halt to the cooperation we provisions of the Freedom of Informa a brain won't have to think twice have been getting from many foreign tion Act and from the requirement to before declining to help us in the intelligence services and sources of in notify ejght committees of Congress future since he can now figure the formation, to say nothing of the one about covert actions. Officials tell us U.S. Government will help hang him place where we need all the help we that foreign intelligence services and on the front page of the Times. cin get: Iran. e This .. bullet" symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by the Member on the floor. May 8, 1980 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 10673 This is potentially the most damag UNITED STATES MUST CONTINUE Saturn moon, Titan, considered by many ing leak of the decade. TO LEAD IN THE EXPLORATION scientists to be the most likely place in the solar system to find elemental forms of life. Mr. Speaker, we ·are hearing a lot OF OUR SPACE FRONTIERS The pioneer pictures of Saturn are twenty about congressional investigations of to thirty times better than the best that the planning and execution of the raid HON. DON FUQUA have been taken from Earth. itself. I believe we need a congression OF FLORIDA ·Pioneer: 1. Determined that Saturn has a magnetic al investigation about the leaks. I am IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES not looking for a neck to wring. But I field and trapped radiation belts, Thursday, May 8, 1980 2. Measured the mass of Saturn and sever am looking on with shock and dismay al of its moons, that anyone in any administration e Mr. FUQUA. Mr. Speaker, I would 3. Confirmed the presence and measured could deal so lightly with national se like to share with the House the ad the ·magnitude of an internal heat source curity information. dress of our able colleague from Flor for Saturn, and · In conclusion, I have two pieces of ida, Mr. NELSON, before the 17th Space 4. Discovered two additional Saturn rings advice for the administration: Congress held April 30, 1980, at Cocoa and an eleventh moon. Beach, Fla. All during the year just passed, another First, shut up. Do not reveal any Pioneer has been orbiting Venus and using more details through the back door. The Space Congress is an annual meeting of the men and women, both its radar altimeter to map the surface of Any details that can safely be made that perpetually cloud-covered planet.