ASSISTANT TO THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE 3050 DEFENSE PENTAGON WASHINGTON, DC 20301-3050 14 JUN 1994 Mr. Dan Guttman Executive Director White House Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments 1726 M Street, N.W. Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20036 Dear Mr. Guttman: On behalf of the Honorable John Deutch, this is in response to Dr. Faden's letter of 3 June concerning our collaborative effort to tell the story of the government's role in human radiation experimentation. As a part of this process, we are committed to ensuring that, as soon as possible relevant classified documents are identified, declassified and made available to your committee and the public. We share your concern about the timeliness of the document declassification process and we will continue to work with your committee to expeditiously declassify appropriate documents. In this regard, your request for a three week response period, for declassifyiiig and releasing the material or determining that certain portions remain classified, has merit. However given the involvement of multiple agencies in the declassification process, a three week response will not be possible in all cases. Nevertheless -- in spite of processing impediments, e.g., multiple agency involvement, time/distance constraints, etc. -- within reason, we will work closely with your staff on a case-by- case basis to meet your three week timetable. Alternatively, to ensure that the committee has timely access to relevant documents during the declassification process, it would be prudent to have some members of the commitee authorized to review classified materials as an interim measure. Rest assured we remain committed to the expeditious declassification of relative documents and a full accounting to the American people. Sincerely, Gordon K. Soper Principal The Secretary of Energy Washington. DC 20585 June 10, 1994 Ruth R. Faden, Ph.D., MPH Chair, Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments 1726 M Street, N.W., Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20036 Dear Dr. Faden: Thank you for your letter of June 3, 1994, asking that the Department of Energy expedite the declassification of records concerning the Government `s role in human radiation experiments. The Department of Energy fully supports the activities of the Committee and will ensure that there is timely document declassifiction. I would like to provide you with information regarding the procedures we are using for the review and declassification of these records. Upon receipt of the documents, the Office of Declassification will survey them to determine optimum review requirements. The documents will be reviewed and declassified or classified information will be marked for deletion. The documents will then be returned to the appropriate Department of Energy program office for preparation and shipment to you. Please be advised that some portions of the document may contain information from other agencies or may have originated entirely from other agencies. These documents will be separated from the remainder of the collections and sent to the respective agencies for review, and thus not impede your receipt of the remainder of the documents. We will urge the other agencies to promptly review the requested documents so we can provide them to you as quickly as possible. I have instructed the Office of Declassification to assign the highest priority to the review of the documents of interest to your committee. They have assured me that, except in unusual circumstances, they will meet your request for completion of reviews within three weeks. This assurance is based on the volume of documents requiring review not exceeding three linear feet per week. Please let me know if tee Advisory Committee requires any additional assurances. Sincerely, Hazel R. O'Leary Central Intelligence Agency Washington, DC 20505 9 June 1994 Dr. Ruth R. Faden, Chair Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments Suite 600 1726 M Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 Dear Dr. Faden: Please be assured that the Central Intelligence Agency will spare no effort to respond in a timely fashion to Advisory Committee requests for documents relevant to its work. We understand the importance and the urgency of your task and will do all we can to assist your panel. After an extensive search of CIA records--a search that has required thousands of man-hours to screen millions of documents--we have found nothing to indicate that this Agency ever deliberately exposed anyone to ionizing radiation for experimental or operational purposes. Our search continues, however, and we will immediately apprise the Advisory Committee of any findings that indicate the CIA played a role in human radiation testing. Very respectfully, William O. Studeman Admiral, U.S. Navy Deputy Director of Central Intelligence DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health Washington, DC 20201 June 15, 1994 Ruth R. Faden, Ph.D., M.P.H. Chair Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments 1726 M Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 Dear Ruth: I am writing in response to your June 3, 1994 letter to Secretary Shalala in which you ask that Committee requests for declassification be addressed within a three week time period. I wish to assure you that DHHS security officers will give these requests the hightest priority and will either declassify and release documents or determine that portions must remain classified within this three week time frame. I also wish to let you know that so far, NIH, CDC, FDA, and the Office of the Secretary have informed me that they have no classified documents relating to human radiation experimentation. Sincerely, D.A. Henderson, M.D., M.P.H. Senior Science Advisor THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS WASHINGTON JUNE 14, 1994 Ruth R. Faden, Ph.D., MPH Chair Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments 1726 M Street, N.W., Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20036 Dear Dr. Faden: We are pleased to respond to your letter of June 3, 1994, requesting our support in your efforts to smooth the flow of information from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to your staff, particularly in the area of declassification of records. Let me assure you at the outset that this Department intends to cooperate to the fullest extent possible in your endeavor to carry out your responsibilities under Executive Order No. 12891. With respect to classified records under Executive Order No. 12356 (and its predecessors) regarding national security information, we note that to our present knowledge VA maintains little, if any, such records. It is my understanding that VA has no authority to create classified records but that VA does, on occasion, receive classified records from other Federal agencies in the areas of emergency medical preparedness, telecommunication security and law enforcement. Nevertheless, to the extent that we do find classified radiation records under Executive Order No. 12356 or its predecessors that relate back to the periods your staff is intereste