Nation: Loosening Reins on the CIA

A new charter should make intelligence gathering easier

In the wake of revelations that the Central Intelligence Agency had spied on Americans at home and tried to assassinate foreign leaders abroad, Congress and the President in the mid-1970s reined in U.S. spy agencies—altogether too tightly. Now, many Senators and Congress men are determined to loosen the hold.

But how much? Last week a Senate intelligence subcommittee answered that question by proposing a new charter that would free the CIA and the nation's four other major intelligence agencies from several onerous restrictions.

The proposed National Intelligence Act of 1980 has Jimmy Carter's strong backing....