Enclosed is a summary of the position I am taking on the current impasse
involving termination payments under the Angola program. Hopefully, I
will be given an opportunity to present it to the Defense Subcommittee
prior to the Easter recess.
In that connection, if the occasion presents itself, it would be most
helpful if the President could cover this matter with any of the members
of the Subcommittee. (Membership list attached).2
In the event I am unable to persuade the Subcommittee of the merits of
our position, it may be necessary for the Administration to proceed
without their approval. There appears to be no question of the legality
of such action and it is imperative that we fulfill our obligations.
I would welcome any suggestions on the attached draft.
Enclosure
STATEMENT ON AGENCY EXPENDITURES FOR ACTIVITIES IN
ANGOLA
As you know, this is a matter that I stepped into while it was in
mid-stream. I mention this only to explain that since I had no
personal knowledge of this covert action program as it originally
developed, it was necessary for me to be briefed on it and the
developments leading up to the enactment of the Tunney amendment
after I was nominated to the position of Director. We have, of
course, taken some steps since I took office, and I have been
assured that the steps which we have taken during my tenure were
proper and not inconsistent with the Tunney amendment or any other
provision of law.
I think we are all generally familiar with the thrust of the Tunney
amendment, Mr. Chairman, but let me read the exact language since we
are being held to a strict interpretation of precisely what the
Tunney amendment stated or implied. As enacted, the amendment
states:
“$205,600,000, none of which, nor any other funds
appropriated in this Act may be used for any activities
involving Angola other than intelligence gathering . .
.”
I think it is clear from this wording that this amendment applies
only to funds appropriated under the Defense Appropriation Act for
FY 1976, the bill to which it
was a floor amendment.
Let me point out that eight Committees of Congress, including this
Subcommittee, were briefed (in accordance with the Hughes/Ryan amendment to the
Foreign Assistance Act), on the President’s Finding with regard to
Angola and the fact that the Agency had committed funds in
furtherance of that authority and determination. It was stated in
those briefings that the funds involved included $31.7 million from
the Agency Reserve which had been approved for expenditure in
furtherance of that Presidential determination. Those funds were
taken from the Reserve account prior to the enactment of the Tunney
amendment and therefore certainly were not funds appropriated under
the Department of Defense Appropriation for FY 1976.
[Page 473]
As a matter of fact, I have reviewed the House and Senate debate on
the Tunney amendment and there were numerous references in that
debate to the fact that funds had already been committed, including
the $31.7 million, to that program. I think it is clear from that
debate that the issue was whether any additional funds should be expended for that program. You
will recall, it had been proposed that [1 line not
declassified] for future activities in Angola and this was
a central issue in the debate on the Tunney amendment. It became
clear that the Congress wished to terminate the program without
those additional funds being reprogrammed and spent, and, of course,
that reprogramming action was never taken. However, I am not aware
of any suggestion, in the discussions in the floor debate or in
Director Colby’s meeting
with this Subcommittee on the 22nd of January of this year that
enactment of the Tunney amendment would require withdrawal of any of
the $31.7 million. In fact, I believe those discussions made it
clear that the $31.7 million had been committed or designated for
that program.
As I believe you know, we have spent no funds beyond the $31.7
million that was under discussion at that time. In fact, we were
able to divert some of those funds from military support, for which
they had originally been designated, to pay for necessary expenses
involved in the termination of our covert action program. It is our
opinion that our actions have been within the letter and spirit of
the Tunney amendment, and I have been so advised by my General
Counsel all along the way. As a matter of fact, in diverting some of
these funds from the purposes for which they had been committed or
designated, we have not only used them for terminating the program
in Angola, [1½ lines not declassified]
We will be happy to review with the Subcommittee the precise
expenditures which have been made and committed from that $31.7
million, but my greatest concern in this whole matter is the
question of our credibility with this Subcommittee. I don’t want any
dispute or misunderstanding between me and our oversight committees
if it is humanly possible to avoid it. I regret that such a
situation has developed and I want to resolve it as quickly as
possible. We have issued instructions that no further expenditures
are to be made pending a determination on the matter with the
Subcommittee. As you know your Investigations Staff is reviewing
this issue and our Reserve account generally. I am anxious to know
their findings. We will do everything we can to facilitate that
review.
