Foreign Relations of the United States, 1917–1972, Volume VIII, Public Diplomacy, 1969–1972

163. Letter From the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (Fulbright) to the Director of the United States Information Agency (Shakespeare)¹

Washington, March 1, 1972

Dear Mr. Shakespeare:

I am enclosing a copy of Mr. Ablard’s letter of February 28 to Mr. Robert Dockery of the Committee staff concerning the status of the Country Program Memoranda prepared by the United States Information Agency.² I understand from Mr. Ablard’s letter that the Memoranda are regarded as “internal planning or working documents” and as such, the Agency believes that “it would not be appropriate to provide these documents to the Committee.”

As you know, the “Agency in Brief 1972” publication³ describes this material in the following way:

“These CPM’s (Country Program Memoranda) are designed to integrate USIS planning and resource allocation with overall U.S. objectives in the country. The CPM’s encompass total Agency resources devoted to the country, including media products and materials supplied from Washington.” (p. 19)

I believe this information would be of interest to all Members of the Committee and of particular assistance to them in connection with the Agency’s authorization hearings, beginning March 20.⁴

In view of this, I am requesting that the Agency reconsider its decision and agree to make this information available to the Committee. I should appreciate hearing from you on this matter at your earliest convenience and, hopefully, no later than March 10. If the original decision is maintained, I should like to know what the Agency’s legal authority is for withholding this type of information from the Congress.

Sincerely yours,

J.W. Fulbright

1. Source: National Archives, RG 306, Associate Directorate for Programs, Subject Files of Basic Operating Documents, Entry P–100, Basic Documents 1972. No classification marking. Kopp sent a copy of the memorandum to Towery under an attached March 16 routing slip. (Ibid.) Hoffman initialed the top right-hand corner of the memorandum.
2. In the February 28 letter to Dockery, Ablard explained that an “evaluation” of the CPMs and USIA Planning Papers “reveals that they are substantially in the nature of internal planning or working documents which are in many cases unapproved and in raw form.” He stated that, as a result, “it would not be appropriate to provide these documents” to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Agency would be able to provide “a summary of the approved country objectives, activities to implement them, and principal USIA audiences” as well as “an oral briefing on a country-by-country basis.” (Ibid.)
3. The “Agency in Brief” publications were produced annually by USIA’s Management Division and provided background information about USIA’s history, organization, and programming.
4. For the record of the hearing, see USIA Appropriations Authorization, fiscal year 1973: Hearing Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-second Congress, second session on authorization of appropriations for the United States Information Agency, fiscal year 1973, March 20, 21, and 23, 1972. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1972)