13. National Security Decision Memorandum 2531

TO

  • The Secretary of Defense
  • The Secretary of the Treasury
  • The Attorney General
  • The Deputy Secretary of State
  • The Director of Central Intelligence
  • The Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

SUBJECT

  • Membership of the National Security Council Intelligence Committee

The President has decided that the membership of the National Security Council Intelligence Committee shall include an Under Secretary of the Treasury.2 The NSCIC, as established by the President’s memorandum dated November 5, 1971, subject: Organization and Management of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Community,3 therefore, shall comprise the following:

  • The Attorney General
  • The Deputy Secretary of State
  • The Deputy Secretary of Defense
  • The Director of Central Intelligence
  • The Under Secretary of the Treasury
  • The Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (Chairman)

As stated in the President’s November 5, 1971 memorandum, the NSCIC “will give direction and guidance on national substantive intelligence needs and provide for a continuing evaluation of intelligence products from the viewpoint of the intelligence consumer.”

Henry A. Kissinger
  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–246, Policy Papers, 1969–74, National Security Decision Memoranda, NSDM 253. Secret.
  2. On November 23, 1973, Colby forwarded to Scowcroft a draft letter to Shultz inviting Department of the Treasury participation on the NSCIC “in view of the importance of foreign economic intelligence.” (Ibid., Box H–302, Miscellaneous Institutional Files of the Nixon Administration—NSC System, Proposal to Add Treasury to the NSC) Shultz informed Colby in a memorandum of January 23, 1974, that he intended to nominate Under Secretary of the Treasury for Monetary Affairs Paul A. Volcker as his representative. (Ibid.)
  3. See Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. II, Organization and Management of U.S. Foreign Policy, 1969–1972, Document 242.