Office of the Historian

236. Letter From Director of Central Intelligence Hillenkoetter to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget (Webb)0

Washington, December 15, 1948.

Dear Mr. Webb: In accordance with the letter of the President, dated 6 November 1948, regarding proposed agency legislative programs for the coming session, and my reply to you of 29 November 1948,1 I am forwarding herewith the text of proposed legislation for the Central Intelligence Agency.2

This proposed bill is substantially the same as S. 2688 (Report No. 1302) which was passed by the Senate on 19 June 1948. A similar bill, H.R. 5871 (Report No. 1853), was unanimously approved by the Armed Services Committee of the House of Representatives, but was not passed when lack of time in the closing hours of the session prevented its being called up. Bureau of the Budget approval of last year’s draft was contained in a letter to me from Mr. Elmer B. Staats, Assistant Director of the Bureau of the Budget, dated 6 April 1948. The full concurrence of the Comptroller General was contained in his letter to you dated 12 March 1948.1

[Page 607]

Reexamination of the provisions of S. 2688 indicates that while it was satisfactory, experiences over the past few months have indicated that certain additions to that bill would be most helpful to this Agency. We have, therefore, included them in the accompanying draft bill. I am also enclosing a detailed analysis3 of the new provisions, so that you may readily see the additions to S. 2688.

Sincerely yours,

R.H. Hillenkoetter 4

Rear Admiral, USN
  1. Source: Truman Library, Papers of Harry S. Truman, Records of the National Security Council, File CIA, Memos for Director, 1948. No classification marking.↩
  2. Neither letter has been found.↩
  3. Dated December 15; see the Supplement.↩
  4. Neither letter has been found.↩
  5. Not printed; see the Supplement.↩
  6. Printed from a copy that indicates Hillenkoetter signed the original.↩