Page:Legislative History of the AAF and USAF.djvu/63

 �This Page Declassified lAW EO12958 boards and agencies mcluding the Joint Staff.* Some members objected to the bill on the ground that it dd not define the authority and functions of the Central Intelhgence Agency, leaving too much power to the President in determining its duties and functions. They preferred a civilian direc- tor for the Agency and felt that its powers should be rigidly defined and limited. n The majority of the provisions of the went through as originally drawn, or most wth only slight changes m phrase- ology. There were, however, several import- ant provisions of the original bill which were considerably altered or modified fore they became law. These should receive at least passing mention. Whereas the original S. 753 only required that the Secretary of Defense must be a ramhen, the House bill m its original form declared anyone who had ever held a com- mission ineligible for that office. The final act disqualified only those who withm the past 10 years had been on active duty as commissioned officers. The final act also cut the number of spemal assistants allowed to the Secretary lrom four down to three and consideraMy curladed his power--es- pecmlly m regard to the budgetary and ad- mlrnstrative affairs of the three subsidiary departments. As finally enacted this legislation also contained amendments deftnag in con- siderable detail the functions and missruns of the Navy, mcludinõ naval aviation, and those of the Marine Corps with its air arm. The United States Navy was given generaI responsibility for naval reconnmssance, antsubmarine warfare, and the protection of shippinga responsibhty which was to be defined at the Key West Conference as one oœ the primary œunctions of the Navy. The proposed National Security Courtre1 and the Central Intelligence Agency also came la for a good deal of modification dur- In the legislative process. The Senate added the Chie Executive to the member- ship of the National Security Council as ß On 2g June i92, Pres[den Truman slgne:I a bill which provided at the commandant of the Marines should have voice on the JCS whenever that group considered policies or sir&logic matters tha "directly concern the ],arine Corps" (New Yor Times, 9 June 195 ) the premding officer. The House concurred and also expressed its preference for a civil- mn as executive secretary of the Council. These changes were accepted in the con- foronce committee which also authorized the appmntment to membership on the Council of the other members of the Presi- dent's cabinet (m addstan to the Secre- taries of Defense and State). That section of the proposed bill dealing wth the Central Intelligence Agency was virtually rewritten by the lower house. The House insisted that timliens as well as com- misstuned officers of the armed forces should be ehgible for the directorship of the CIA, and t specified that m the per- formance of hs duties wth the Agency a military officer appeared as Director should be subject to no controls not also applica- ble to a regular civilian, nor should he exercise any special control with respect to the armed serwces or ay personnel con- nected therewith. Also the powers of the CIA and its Drector were carefully hailed so as to prevent trus orgamzation from constitutmg a threat to the hbertms of the American people. Both the Senate and the House favored an amendment to the original legislation setting up a new budgetary procedure for the National Military Establmhment. Al- though the House and Senate amendments on the sub]ec were dentcal, they were both elimmatcd by the conference com- mittee. Despite these rather important modifi- cations of its origmal promsions the Na- tional Security Act of 1947, once reported out of onumttee, went through the legis- lative processes m a relatively short tme. It finally became law on 26 July 194j = Congress prefaced the Natanal Security Act of 194V with a policy declaration which clearly stated the intentions of law- makers. It stated that it was the of Congress to provide a comprehensive gram for the security of he United States; to provide for the establishment of grated policies and procedures for organizations; to provide three de- alers than Wa years later Oongresg elaborate s,,ern of prineiple and proeedure o be fn the preparation of s military budget THIS PAGE Declassified lAW EO12958