Statement of Adm. Stansfield Turner, U.S. Navy, nominee for Director of OTHER MATERIAL Adm. Stansfield Turner's responses to February 28, 1977, written interroga- Personal and financial information provided by the nominee_. Letters to Chairman Inouye from CIA General Counsel, Anthony A. Lapham, February 17, 1977, February 18, 1977, and April 11, 1977- (III) NOMINATION OF ADM. STANSFIELD TURNER TO BE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1977 U.S. SENATE, SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE, Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:04 a.m., in room 235, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Daniel K. Inouye (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Inouye, Goldwater, Bayh, Stevenson, Hathaway, Huddleston, Biden, Morgan, Hart, Moynihan, Case, Garn, Mathias, Chafee, and Lugar. Also present: William G. Miller, staff director; Michael J. Madigan, minority counsel; Audrey Hatry, clerk of the committee; and Harold Ford, Anne Karalekas, Sam Bouchard, Charles Kirbow, Stan Taylor, Jean Evans, Daniel Childs, Spencer Davis, Martha Talley, Edward Levine, Michael Epstein, Mark Gitenstein, Walter Ricks, Thomas Connaughton, and Thomas Moore, professional staff members. The CHAIRMAN. Today the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence begins its hearings to consider the nomination of Adm. Stansfield Turner to be Director of Central Intelligence. Timely and accurate intelligence is a major means of preserving the peace and constitutes our first line of defense. For these reasons alone the post of Director of Central Intelligence is one of the most important in the U.S. Government. Accurate intelligence and rigorous analysis of that information will play a critical role in the forthcoming strategic arms limitation talks, the possibilities for peace in the Middle East, and the viability of the NATO alliance. In all of our relationships throughout the world, our national intelligence system will play an invaluable part. The national intelligence system requires a leader that will be able to direct the activities of many highly complex organizations in the national intelligence community such as the National Security Agency, elements in the Department of Defense, as well as CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the counterintelligence activities of the FBI and the intelligence functions of the Departments of State, Treasury, and a number of other Departments and agencies. The position of the Director of Central Intelligence requires a man with the ability to manage, to set priorities, and allocate resources. In order to carry out this task he must have the clear authority and support of the President of the United States, the Congress, and the people. The most important duty of the Director of Central Intelligence and the purpose of the vast and complex national intelligence system of the United States is to provide the President and the national leadership, both in the executive and legislative branches, with the best information and analysis of that information available to the U.S. Government. Independence of mind, mature judgment and an analytic bent, are qualities that must be possessed by the Director of Central Intelligence if he is to fulfill his mandate. It will be the task of the Director of Central Intelligence to assure that our national intelligence system is not only effective but that it will work under the Constitution and the law. Without question, the overriding purpose of the national intelligence system, as indeed of all our agencies of government, is to protect and enhance the liberties of all Americans. This committee has made every effort to work together with both President Ford and President Carter and the intelligence community to set in order problems that have emerged in recent years. A close working relationship between the Director of our national intelligence system and the committee is vitally important if that important work is to continue. There must be trust between the legislature and the executive branch if our national security policies are to have support, and if the public is to have the confidence that necessarily secret activities of the United States are being conducted in conformity with the Constitution and the law and with the purpose of strengthening our free democratic society. The Chair wishes to recognize the ranking Republican Member, Senator Goldwater. Senator GOLDWATER. Thank you. Admiral, I recall with great pleasure our visit to the South Pole a few years ago, and if you are going to remain an admiral and want to do it again sometime, I will go with you. You know as well as I know that the dual position of Director of Central Intelligence and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency is a tough assignment, perhaps the hardest of all the jobs in government. The job carries unusual responsibilities and requires unusual qualifications. It demands the ability to manage, set priorities, allocate resources, and direct activities that cut across many agencies of the Government. In addition, the Director has to furnish all kinds of information to the President and the Congress that is vital to the peace and welfare of the country, while at the same time maintaining the confidence of the people. Your own experience in handling various command responsibilities in the Navy over the years, plus your intellectual training early as a Rhodes Scholar and later as college president, indicates to me that you are well qualified to handle this difficult assignment. I believe that your appointment as Director of Central Intelligence is one that brings the right man, to the right job, at the right time, and I will be very happy to support you. The CHAIRMAN. I am pleased now to recognize a very distinguished member of the committee, who will in turn introduce the nominee. I would like to introduce and recognize Senator Stevenson. Senator STEVENSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, my colleague Senator Percy could not be here this morning, and has asked me to express his regrets and to also offer to your record a statement. I trust that statement will be entered in the record. The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, so ordered. [The prepared statement of Senator Percy follows:1] Senator STEVENSON. Mr. Chairman, the last time this committee acted on a nomination for Director of Central Intelligence, it offered its advice. This time, I believe, is an occasion for consent. It is a great pleasure to introduce to this committee a distinguished Illinoisan, Adm. Stansfield Turner. Admiral Turner's educational background, including a Rhodes scholarship, his thoughtful publications, his energetic leadership of the Naval War College, and his past professional experience with intelligence and policymaking all suggest the intellectual stature and the intellectual integrity this most difficult office begs for. Admiral Turner is a proven executive. He has served with distinction as Commander of the 2d Fleet, and as Commander in Chief of Allied Forces, Southern Europe. Admiral Turner has the President's confidence, it would seem. His record in all suggests the fortitude to tell the President about the world as it is, and not as the President might wish it to be, and an authority that would command access to all policymakers at the highest possible levels. The Admiral's innovations at the Naval War College, his appetite for intellectual combat suggest little patience for habit, not all of which is right in the intelligence community. It would be possible at least for things to change, and for new priorities to be established in the intelligence community, to better reflect all of the requisites of survival in a new era. And, Mr. Chairman, as to his commitments to our national decency and the rule of law, he, like anyone else, can only offer his assurance, as I am certain he will, and also a record that is bereft of any evidence to belie them. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator Stevenson. I am pleased to now welcome to the committee the nominee for the Director of Central Intelligence, Adm. Stansfield Turner. Admiral Turner, welcome sir. Admiral TURNER. Thank you, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Please proceed in any manner you wish, sir. STATEMENT OF ADM. STANSFIELD TURNER, U.S. NAVY, NOMINEE FOR DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE Admiral TURNER. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, I am very pleased to be here this morning and to have the opporunity to express to you some of my views on the conduct of our national intelligence activities, and on the President's decision to nominate me to 1 Senator Percy appeared later at the afternoon session and read his prepared statement, see page 37. |