[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 59 (Tuesday, May 12, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E836-E837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1999

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                    HON. JUANITA MILLENDER-McDONALD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 7, 1998

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3694) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 1999 for 
     intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the 
     United States Government, the Community Management Account, 
     and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability 
     System, and for other purposes:

  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Chairman, I rise to express my support 
for H.R. 3694, the Intelligence Authorization for FY 1999. However, my 
support is not without serious reservations, for I remain deeply 
concerned about allegations that have been raised regarding CIA 
involvement in drug trafficking in South Central Los Angeles and 
elsewhere. While I applaud Chairman Porter Goss, Ranking Member Norm 
Dicks, and the rest of the House Permanent Select Committee for 
convening a public hearing following release of Volume One of the 
Central Intelligence Agency Inspector General's report in response to 
the San Jose Mercury News' series ``Dark Alliance'', I have made my 
views about the shortcomings in this report known to the Committee and 
to the Agency. I am aware that Volume Two of the Inspector General's 
report, which deals with the more substantive issues regarding the 
extent of the relationship between the intelligence community and the 
Nicaraguan Contra resistance, has been provided to the Select Committee 
in classified form. I understand that it is being reviewed by the 
Central Intelligence Agency to determine whether any or all of it may 
be declassified. And, we are still awaiting release of Inspector 
General Michael Bromwich's report on the allegations of wrong doing 
that may have occurred within branches of the U.S. Department of 
Justice.
  However, I would like to take this opportunity to strongly urge 
C.I.A. Director George Tenet and Chairman Goss to do everything 
possible to declassify as much information in the report as possible as 
its subject matter goes to the heart of the issues raised by my 
constituents in the public meetings I convened following publication of 
the San Jose Mercury News series. I also urge Attorney General Janet 
Reno to release the I.G.'s report at the earliest possible opportunity. 
Failure to make

[[Page E837]]

this information public feeds the skepticism of the hundreds of 
consitutents in my District and throughout the nation who still want 
answers and who are encouraged by the Committee's expressed commitment 
to make public as much information as possible.
  Furthermore, to fully appreciate our government's efforts to fight 
the scourge of narcotics, the public must understand its intricacies, 
including the role of interdiction and intelligence. Public release of 
the reports, followed by public hearings, and ultimately the conduct by 
the Committee of its own inquiry, will assist my constituents to 
evaluate the role the Central Intelligence Agency played in balancing 
competing nations priorities. Such a process will also give Members of 
Congress, as policy makers, the information necessary to make informed 
decisions about handling such issues in the future.
  Consequently, I and my constituents continue to eagerly await the 
public release of the reports by the Inspectors General of Justice and 
CIA. I reiterate my hope that the Select Committee will give their 
content, methodologies and findings the scrutiny they deserve and in a 
similar spirit of openness, make themselves available to my 
constituents to respond to any questions these reports generate. I 
believe such openness is critical to restoration of the credibility and 
public trust necessary to allow intelligence gathering activities, 
which by their nature are secretive, to coexist with democracy