Sharing Secrets With Lawmakers: Congress As a User of Intelligence

Sharing Secrets with Lawmakers: Congress As A User of Intelligence

Snider, L. Britt

CIA: Center For The Study of Intelligence

"Ground rules on intelligence-sharing were agreed to in the 1970s, but none were written down, and over time these understandings often gave way in the continuing tussle between the overseers and the overseen. Twenty years later, the system still operates without formal rules of the road.'' Information covered includes How intelligence-sharing with Congress has evolved, What distinguishes Congress as a consumer of intelligence, How intelligence-sharing works at present, the Impact of intelligence-sharing with Congress, Problems and Pitfalls, and Recommendations.

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Diane Pub Co.

This is a study of the CIA's relationship with Congress. It encompasses the period from the creation of the Agency until 2004-the era of the DCIs (directors of central intelligence) . This study is not organized as one might expect. It does not describe what occurred between the Agency and Congress in chronological order nor does it purport to describe every interaction that occurred over the period encompassed by the study. Rather it attempts to describe what the relationship was like over time and then look at what it produced in seven discrete areas. The principal objective in undertaking this study was not so much to describe as to explain-to write something that would help CIA employees better understand the Agency's relationship with Congress, not only to help them appreciate the past but to provide a guide to the future.

The Agency And The Hill: The CIA's Relationship With Congress, 1946-2004

History

Americas

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

When Cole A. Devereaux, the senior United States Senator from South Carolina and a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, dies in an airplane crash in the northeastern part of the state in June, 1997, his wife, Elinor, is appointed to fill out the remainder of his term.  Once embarked upon her new responsibilities, she becomes aware that her husband had had a far closer relationship with the Chinese government than she had appreciated heretofore, and, indeed, comes to suspect that he may have been blackmailed into doing their bidding, perhaps even placing one of their agents on the committee's staff.  While not wanting to sully her husband's memory or jeopardize her chances of running for his seat in her own right at the next election, she concludes she has no alternative but to report her suspicions to the committee.  The Late Senator Devereaux is a novel that uniquely combines life in the Senate with a spy story.  It is also about how things that come to light about people after their death can affect the perceptions and feelings of the family and friends they leave behind.

The Late Senator Devereaux

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

This is a study of the CIA’s relationship with Congress. It encompasses the period from the creation of the Agency until 2004—the era of the DCIs. When Congress created a new position in December 2004—the director of national intelligence—to supersede the director of central intelligence (DCI) as head of the US Intelligence Community, it necessarily changed the dynamic between the CIA and the Congress. While the director of the Agency would continue to represent its interests on Capitol Hill, he or she would no longer speak as the head of US intelligence. While 2008 is too early to assess how this change will affect the Agency’s relationship with Congress, it is safe to say it will never be quite the same. This study is not organized as one might expect. It does not describe what occurred between the Agency and Congress in chronological order nor does it purport to describe every interaction that occurred over the period encompassed by the study. Rather it attempts to describe what the relationship was like over time and then look at what it produced in seven discrete areas. I took this approach for several reasons. First, I found that telling the story in chronological sequence tended to obscure the lessons of the past, rather than illuminate them. Taking everything at once and bringing it forward made it more difficult to discern what was happening. The forest obscured the trees, if you will. Moreover, not everything that transpired in the course of the relationship can be considered historically significant. Even if it were possible to recount every interaction that took place between the Agency and Congress over the 58-year period covered by this study (and it isn’t), readers would be wasting their time delving into it. “Slicing and dicing” the subject matter in this way, however, did inevitably lead to a degree of duplication. I tried to deal with this problem by limiting the explanatory material in each chapter to that which was necessary to understanding the points being made in that chapter, even if the same explanatory material were also needed (to a lesser or greater extent) to understand the points being made in other chapters. Hopefully, the reader will bear this in mind (and remain tolerant) where the duplication occurs. An element of subjectivity was also involved in choosing the examples used in the study. Several factors influenced my choices here. First, I wanted to confine myself to episodes that were historically significant and/or would best highlight the issues identified. I also chose episodes, where possible, that had some prior public context. Without it, not only would more explanation be required, but the chances of having it declassified would be practically nil. My intent was to produce an unclassified study, something that could be read by Agency employees outside the office. Readers may be surprised to learn that this created less of a problem than one might expect, since most of the significant interaction that has occurred between Congress and the Agency involves matters that have previously been disclosed in some manner. The reader should not expect to find, however, detailed descriptions of the episodes chosen for the narrative. In order to keep the study to a manageable length, I deliberately tried to distill the descriptions of the events I chose into readable summaries. What I am principally concerned with here is the congressional involvement in these episodes, not with what the Agency did or did not do that prompted Congress to become involved. Indeed, books have been written about many of the episodes described here. I am not attempting to replicate what is already in the public domain with respect to the Agency’s past, but rather to describe how the Agency engaged with Congress with respect to its past. Readers who want more detail concerning the Agency’s activities alluded to in the study will need to consult other sources.

The Agency and the Hill: CIA’s Relationship with Congress, 1946–2004

Agency, Central Intelligence

This is a study of the CIA’s relationship with Congress. It encompasses the period from the creation of the Agency until 2004—the era of the DCIs. When Congress created a new position in December 2004—the director of national intelligence—to supersede the director of central intelligence (DCI) as head of the US Intelligence Community, it necessarily changed the dynamic between the CIA and the Congress. While the director of the Agency would continue to represent its interests on Capitol Hill, he or she would no longer speak as the head of US intelligence. While 2008 is too early to assess how this change will affect the Agency’s relationship with Congress, it is safe to say it will never be quite the same. This study is not organized as one might expect. It does not describe what occurred between the Agency and Congress in chronological order nor does it purport to describe every interaction that occurred over the period encompassed by the study. Rather it attempts to describe what the relationship was like over time and then look at what it produced in seven discrete areas. The study is divided into two major parts. Part I describes how Congress and the Agency related to each other over the period covered by the study. As it happens, this period conveniently breaks down into two major segments: the years before the creation of the select committees on intelligence (1946–76) and the years after the creation of these committees (1976–2004). The arrangements that Congress put in place during the earlier period to provide oversight and tend to the needs of the Agency were distinctly different from those put in place in the mid-1970s and beyond. Over the entire period, moreover, the Agency shared intelligence with the Congress and had other interaction with its members that affected the relationship. This, too, is described in part I. Part II describes what the relationship produced over time in seven discrete areas: legislation affecting the Agency; programs and budget; oversight of analysis; oversight of collection; oversight of covert action; oversight of security and personnel matters; and the Senate confirmation process. It highlights what the principal issues have been for Congress in each area as well as how those issues have been handled. Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, 2008.

The Agency and the Hill: CIA's Relationship with Congress, 1946-2004

This is a study of the CIA’s relationship with Congress. It encompasses the period from the creation of the Agency until 2004—the era of the DCIs. When Congress created a new position in December 2004—the director of national intelligence—to supersede the director of central intelligence (DCI) as head of the US Intelligence Community, it necessarily changed the dynamic between the CIA and the Congress. While the director of the Agency would continue to represent its interests on Capitol Hill, he or she would no longer speak as the head of US intelligence. While 2008 is too early to assess how this change will affect the Agency’s relationship with Congress, it is safe to say it will never be quite the same. The study is divided into two major parts. Part I describes how Congress and the Agency related to each other over the period covered by the study. As it happens, this period conveniently breaks down into two major segments: the years before the creation of the select committees on intelligence (1946–76) and the years after the creation of these committees (1976–2004). The arrangements that Congress put in place during the earlier period to provide oversight and tend to the needs of the Agency were distinctly different from those put in place in the mid-1970s and beyond. Over the entire period, moreover, the Agency shared intelligence with the Congress and had other interaction with its members that affected the relationship. This, too, is described in Part I. Part II describes what the relationship produced over time in seven discrete areas: legislation affecting the Agency; programs and budget; oversight of analysis; oversight of collection; oversight of covert action; oversight of security and personnel matters; and the Senate confirmation process. It highlights what the principal issues have been for Congress in each area as well as how those issues have been handled.  From the back cover:  Excerpts from The Agency and Hill: "This is a study of the CIA’s relationship with Congress. It encompasses the period from the creation of the Agency until 2004—the era of the DCIs." "Looking back over the Agency’s early history, it is remarkable how often the idea of a joint committee on intelligence was offered up in Congress as the panacea to the existing oversight arrangements." "The Agency’s fortunes on Capitol Hill to some degree have always been a function of how the committees with responsibility for the Agency perceived the DCI: the greater the level of trust, the greater the level of comfort in terms of how the Agency is operating. But especially during the early years, when so much of the interaction between the Agency and the Congress was informal and personal, how the DCI was perceived on the Hill was a key factor in setting the terms of the relationship."

The Agency and The Hill: CIA's Relationship with Congress, 1946-2004

<p>A study of the CIA's relationship with Congress. It encompasses the period from the creation of the Agency until 2004 - the era of the DCIs.</p>

Congress and the CIA (Intelligence and Counterintelligence Studies Series)

Nova Science Pub Inc

Contains a study of the CIA's relationship with Congress. It encompasses the period from the creation of the Agency until 2004, the era of the DCIs, the Directors of Central Intelligence. Includes black and white photographs, an index, and a bibliography.

Biographies & Memoirs

Central Intelligence Agency

Center for the Study of Intelligence

True Crime

www.Militarybookshop.Co.UK

Military

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Books by Snider, L. Britt

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Sharing Secrets with Lawmakers: Congress As A User of Intelligence

Sharing Secrets With Lawmakers: Congress As a User of Intelligence

The Agency And The Hill: The CIA's Relationship With Congress, 1946-2004

The Late Senator Devereaux

The Agency and the Hill: CIA’s Relationship with Congress, 1946–2004

The Agency and the Hill: CIA's Relationship with Congress, 1946-2004

The Agency and The Hill: CIA's Relationship with Congress, 1946-2004

Congress and the CIA (Intelligence and Counterintelligence Studies Series)

The Agency and the Hill: CIA's Relationship with Congress, 1946-2004

The Agency and the Hill: CIA's Relationship with Congress, 1946-2004