CIA's relationship with the United States Congress

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There have been various arrangements to handle the Central Intelligence Agency's relationship with the United States Congress.

Contents

The formal liaison began some time before the 1960s, with a single position named the 'legislative liaison'. This later became the 'legislative counsel'. In the 1960s, an actual office was created for this purpose - the Office of Legislative Counsel.

In the 1970s, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) ramped up its congressional-liaison staff to deal with the large number of investigations coming from the Congress. It was the era of the Rockefeller Commission, the Church Committee, and the Pike Committee, all of which requested large amounts of information from the agency.

In the 1980s, there were several reorganizations and renaming of the office. Near the end of the 1980s, the office was renamed the Office of Congressional Affairs and has kept that name, as of 2009. [1]

In the early 2000s (decade), the relationship became more intense, with debates about the Global war on terror and controversies surrounding it. For example, the CIA planned a secret program in 2001 but did not inform congress until much later. [2]

Timeline

This time line is based on information found in Snider, The Agency and the Hill, Chapter 4 (available online, see below under 'sources'). It lists the liaison, or the head of the liaison office, along with brief mentions of some significant events, reorganizations, and name changes.

1980s and Charlie Wilson

During much of the 1980s a unique and unusual relationship evolved between Congress and the CIA in the person of Texas congressman Charlie Wilson from Texas's 2nd congressional district. Using his position on various House appropriations committees, and in partnership with CIA agent Gust Avrakotos, Wilson was able to increase CIA's funding the Afghan Mujahideen to several hundred million dollars a year during the Soviet–Afghan War. Author George Crile would describe Wilson as eventually becoming the "Agency's station chief on the Hill". He eventually got a position on the Intelligence Committee and was supposed to be overseeing the CIA. [4]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Snider, The Agency and the Hill, Chapter 4
  2. ↑ http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/07/investigation-of-secret-cia-program-turns-into-political-brawl.html
  3. ↑ Snider, Chapter 4
  4. 1 2 George Crile, Charlie Wilson’s War: the Extraordinary Story on the Largest Covert Operation in History (New York: Grove Press, 2004), 25-6.
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