[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 24 (Tuesday, March 10, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1709-S1710]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO MR. FRED HITZ

 Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, on the occasion of the retirement 
of Fred Hitz as the Central Intelligence Agency's first Presidentially-
appointed Inspector General, I want to offer my comments and 
congratulations. Since the position of an independent Inspector General 
for the CIA was created at my initiative in the FY 90 Intelligence 
Authorization Act and since I have come to know Fred Hitz during my 
tenure as Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, it 
is fitting that I recognize his contributions.
  By way of background, it became clear during the Iran-Contra 
investigations that the Central Intelligence Agency lacked an effective 
Office of Inspector General which not only could conduct thorough and 
objective internal investigations of CIA activities, but even more so, 
could exercise authority and independence to ensure that its 
investigative recommendations regarding individual accountability and 
systemic shortcomings would be followed through and implemented. The 
proposal to create a Presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed 
independent Inspector General was met with fierce resistance by the 
Administration and the Director of Central Intelligence. Nonetheless, 
in light of the revelations from the Iran-Contra affair, the Congress 
recognized the need for such an office. In my mind, the establishment 
of an independent Inspector General for the CIA was the most effective 
piece of legislation to derive from the Iran-Contra affair.
  It was in this atmosphere that Fred Hitz was nominated by President 
Bush in 1990, confirmed by the Senate in October 1990 and sworn in 
November 1990. The Congress wanted a strong-willed and independent 
individual who was knowledgeable of CIA's mission, history and 
activities and who had the fortitude and skills to identify, 
investigate and report wrongdoing when he saw it and how he saw it. 
Over the past seven years Fred Hitz has accomplished this mandate with 
honor and diligence in a sea of controversial investigations.
  One of the most important, if not the most important, of the 
investigations undertaken by Fred Hitz was that of the Aldrich Ames 
case which provided the Intelligence oversight committees and the 
public details of Ames' treachery and insight into CIA. In addition, 
Fred Hitz has been fearless in taking on difficult and controversial 
issues such as the role of intelligence in the BCCI and BNL scandals, 
human rights abuses in Guatemala and Honduras, allegations of drug 
trafficking by the Contras, the compromise of CIA operations in Paris, 
and CIA involvement in providing assistance to a Presidential campaign 
contributor. The Senate Intelligence Committee has not always agreed 
with Fred's judgements in these matters; it never has questioned his 
integrity.
  Upon the completion of Fred's fifth year as CIA's Inspector General, 
Senator Bob Kerrey and I led a bi-partisan resolution in the Senate to 
commend Fred for his leadership and achievements.
  In his lifetime, Fred Hitz has made an important contribution through 
his public service. As an attorney who graduated from Harvard Law 
School, he could have remained in the private

[[Page S1710]]

sector and reaped handsome financial rewards. He chose instead to 
invest over 20 years in public service, and the United States 
government and his country have been the chief beneficiaries.
  Fred entered public service by teaching law in Nigeria and in 1967 he 
entered the CIA. From 1974 to 1978 he served in the Office of the 
Secretary of Defense, as a Senior Staff Member for Energy Policy in the 
Office of the President and as Director of Congressional Affairs at the 
Department of Energy. In 1978 he returned to the CIA where he served as 
Legislative Counsel to the Director of Central Intelligence and later 
as Deputy Director of the Europe Division in the Directorate of 
Operations.
  In my view, Mr. Hitz completes one of the most demanding assignments 
in the federal government--Inspector General of the Central 
Intelligence Agency. He has journeyed through the shoals of hawks and 
doves, public reporting and security demands and admirers and 
detractors by sailing a straight and visible course with honesty, 
dignity and truthfulness. His efforts have made the Central 
Intelligence Agency more accountable and thus more in consonance with a 
Congressional view of the rightful role of intelligence and secrecy in 
a democracy. For these qualities, Fred Hitz will be missed and I wish 
him smooth sailing in his new teaching career.

                          ____________________