Hughes-Ryan Act
Encyclopedia
The Hughes-Ryan Act is a 1974 United States federal law that amended the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961. The Act was named for its co-authors, Senator Harold E. Hughes (D-Iowa) and Representative Leo Ryan
(D-CA). The Act required the President of the United States
to report all covert operation
s of the Central Intelligence Agency
to one or more Congressional committees within a set time limit.
This amendment addressed the question of CIA and Defense Department
covert actions, and prohibited the use of appropriated funds
for their conduct unless and until the President issues an official "Finding" that each such operation is important to the national security and submits these Findings to the appropriate Congressional committees a total of six committees, at the time, growing to eight committees after the House and Senate "select committees" on intelligence were established.
The legislation was meant to ensure that the intelligence oversight committees within Congress were told of CIA actions within a reasonable time limit. Senator Hughes, in introducing the legislation in 1973, also saw it as a means of limiting major covert operations by military, intelligence, and national security agents conducted without the full knowledge of the president.
.
A series of troubling revelations started to appear in the press concerning intelligence activities. The dam broke on 22 December 1974, when The New York Times published a lengthy article by Seymour Hersh
detailing operations engaged in by the CIA over the years that had been dubbed the "family jewels." Covert action programs involving assassination attempts against foreign leaders and covert attempts to subvert foreign governments were reported for the first time. In addition, the article discussed efforts by intelligence agencies to collect information on the political activities of US citizens.
These revelations convinced many Senators and Representatives that the Congress itself had been too lax, trusting, and naive in carrying out its oversight responsibilities.
The first legislative response was enactment in 1974 of the Hughes-Ryan Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961.
In 1978 Congressman Leo Ryan, an author of the Hughes-Ryan act, was assassinated in Guyana
, just prior to the Jonestown
massacre of the Jim Jones
colony.
The passage of the act posed four fundamental implications for executive power as it relates to covert action
. First, the Act established ultimate accountability of the President for all covert action conducted by the CIA. As a result, this removed most vestiges of "plausible deniability" on the part of the President in case the action were to be exposed to the public or political rivals. Third, the act fundamentally expanded circle of "witting" persons in Congress leading to a dramatically higher risk of exposure through leaks in the event of Congressional opposition. Fourth, assuming these three features stand, the passage of the Act created both de facto
and de jure
Congressional veto power. This power could be used constitutionally, whereby the Congress could simply refuse to fund the covert action in question, either through withholding of funds or through leaking the issue to the press.
Foreign Assistance Act
The Foreign Assistance Act is a United States Act of Congress. The Act reorganized the structure of existing U.S. foreign assistance programs, separated military from non-military aid, and created a new agency, the United States Agency for International Development to administer those...
of 1961. The Act was named for its co-authors, Senator Harold E. Hughes (D-Iowa) and Representative Leo Ryan
Leo Ryan
Leo Joseph Ryan, Jr. was an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served as a U.S. Representative from California's 11th congressional district from 1973 until he was murdered in Guyana by members of the Peoples Temple shortly before the Jonestown Massacre in 1978.After the Watts Riots...
(D-CA). The Act required the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
to report all covert operation
Covert operation
A covert operation is a military, intelligence or law enforcement operation that is carried clandestinely and, often, outside of official channels. Covert operations aim to fulfill their mission objectives without any parties knowing who sponsored or carried out the operation...
s of the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
to one or more Congressional committees within a set time limit.
This amendment addressed the question of CIA and Defense Department
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
covert actions, and prohibited the use of appropriated funds
Appropriation bill
An appropriation bill or running bill is a legislative motion which authorizes the government to spend money. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending...
for their conduct unless and until the President issues an official "Finding" that each such operation is important to the national security and submits these Findings to the appropriate Congressional committees a total of six committees, at the time, growing to eight committees after the House and Senate "select committees" on intelligence were established.
The legislation was meant to ensure that the intelligence oversight committees within Congress were told of CIA actions within a reasonable time limit. Senator Hughes, in introducing the legislation in 1973, also saw it as a means of limiting major covert operations by military, intelligence, and national security agents conducted without the full knowledge of the president.
History
By the early years of the 1970s, the unpopular war in Southeast Asia and the unfolding Watergate scandal brought the era of minimal oversight to a screeching halt. The Congress was determined to rein in the Nixon administration and to ascertain the extent to which the nation's intelligence agencies had been involved in questionable, if not outright illegal, activities. A major stimulus for the amendment came from 1972 and 1973 hearings of the Senate Armed Services Committee, provoked by Senator Hughes, a member of the committee, into covert military operations in Cambodia, Laos, and North Vietnam in the early 1970s. The committee had found that Air Force and Navy air elements had conducted secret air strikes and falsified after-action reports to conceal the activity. For Hughes and several other senators, the military activity represented a secret war conducted through back-channel communications from the White House directly to field commanders in the Pacific Theater and the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
A series of troubling revelations started to appear in the press concerning intelligence activities. The dam broke on 22 December 1974, when The New York Times published a lengthy article by Seymour Hersh
Seymour Hersh
Seymour Myron Hersh is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author based in Washington, D.C. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine on military and security matters...
detailing operations engaged in by the CIA over the years that had been dubbed the "family jewels." Covert action programs involving assassination attempts against foreign leaders and covert attempts to subvert foreign governments were reported for the first time. In addition, the article discussed efforts by intelligence agencies to collect information on the political activities of US citizens.
These revelations convinced many Senators and Representatives that the Congress itself had been too lax, trusting, and naive in carrying out its oversight responsibilities.
Foreign Assistance Act
The Foreign Assistance Act is a United States Act of Congress. The Act reorganized the structure of existing U.S. foreign assistance programs, separated military from non-military aid, and created a new agency, the United States Agency for International Development to administer those...
of 1961.
In 1978 Congressman Leo Ryan, an author of the Hughes-Ryan act, was assassinated in Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, just prior to the Jonestown
Jonestown
Jonestown was the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, an intentional community in northwestern Guyana formed by the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones. It became internationally notorious when, on November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement as well as in a nearby...
massacre of the Jim Jones
Jim Jones
James Warren "Jim" Jones was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, which is best known for the November 18, 1978 mass suicide of 909 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana along with the killings of five other people at a nearby airstrip.Jones was born in Indiana and started the Temple in...
colony.
The passage of the act posed four fundamental implications for executive power as it relates to covert action
Covert operation
A covert operation is a military, intelligence or law enforcement operation that is carried clandestinely and, often, outside of official channels. Covert operations aim to fulfill their mission objectives without any parties knowing who sponsored or carried out the operation...
. First, the Act established ultimate accountability of the President for all covert action conducted by the CIA. As a result, this removed most vestiges of "plausible deniability" on the part of the President in case the action were to be exposed to the public or political rivals. Third, the act fundamentally expanded circle of "witting" persons in Congress leading to a dramatically higher risk of exposure through leaks in the event of Congressional opposition. Fourth, assuming these three features stand, the passage of the Act created both de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
and de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
Congressional veto power. This power could be used constitutionally, whereby the Congress could simply refuse to fund the covert action in question, either through withholding of funds or through leaking the issue to the press.
See also
- Intelligence Oversight ActIntelligence Oversight ActThe Intelligence Oversight Act of 1980 is a United States federal law that amended the Hughes-Ryan Act and requires United States government agencies to report covert actions to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence . The previous...
- Church CommitteeChurch CommitteeThe Church Committee is the common term referring to the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, a U.S. Senate committee chaired by Senator Frank Church in 1975. A precursor to the U.S...
- Clark AmendmentClark AmendmentThe Clark Amendment was an amendment to the U.S. Arms Export Control Act of 1976, named for its sponsor, Senator Dick Clark . The amendment barred aid to private groups engaged in military or paramilitary operations in Angola....
- Boland AmendmentBoland AmendmentThe Boland Amendment was the name given to three U.S. legislative amendments between 1982 and 1984, all aimed at limiting U.S. government assistance to the Contras in Nicaragua...