[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 66 (Monday, April 24, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S5568]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      THE DEATH OF RICHARD E. CURL

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, our Nation lost a valuable member of its 
national security team recently, when Richard E. Curl died at the age 
of 77. Dick Curl was Director of the Office of Intelligence Resources 
in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He was 
not the former Director, not the retiring Director, but very much the 
active Director of that office, even at the age of 77.
  Dick Curl devoted his life to intelligence. He served as a naval 
intelligence officer in both World War II and the Korean war, and with 
the State Department between those wars. And Dick began his work for 
INR in 1952. Overall, he gave his country over half a century of 
service.
  Mr. Curl's obituary states that his work ``involved contact with 
various foreign intelligence services as well as U.S. intelligence 
agencies.'' Suffice it to say that his role was often that of a 
mediator between the two different cultures, explaining the uses of 
intelligence to policymakers and Foreign Service officers while also 
ensuring that the risks and benefits of intelligence operations were 
weighed in light of broader U.S. policy interests that might be 
affected if something went wrong. Much of Dick Curl's career was spent 
teaching the policy and intelligence communities to listen to each 
other.
  The staff of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence knew Mr. 
Curl since at least the early 1980's. They found him a valuable source 
of information and good counsel. Dick Curl will be missed by both the 
committee and his country.


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