LETTER TO THE HONORABLE JAMES INHOFE FROM JOHN H. MOSEMAN RE CESSATION OF FBIS

Created: 6/26/1996

OCR scan of the original document, errors are possible

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(b) (J)

The Honorable James Inhofe United States Senate.

Dear Senator Inhofe:

Recently your office was providedopyetter

addressed to Niles Riddel, Director of the Foreign Broadcast

Information Servicerom Professor Alvin Z. Rubinstein,

University of Pennsylvania. The professor expressed his

dissatisfaction over the cessation of FBIS hardcopy products.

FBIS has responded to Professor Rubinstein's concern. opy

of the letter is enclosed for your information.

Sincerely,

K. Moseman Director of Congressional Affairs

Enclosures

AFP-RCVED FOP RELEASE DATE:6

SUBJECT: FBIS Transition From Hardcopy to Softcopy

2 H

Distribution:

Senator Jesse Helms ncls)

Senator John McCainncls)

Senator John Warnerncls)

Senator Arlen specterncls)

Senator Robert J. Kerreyncls)

Senator Richard G. Lugarncls)

Senator Richard C. Shelbyncls)

Senator Jame3 Inhofencls)

Senator John Glennncls)

Senator John F. Kerryncls)

Senator Charles S. Robbls)

Rep. Floyd spencencls)

OCA Records ncls)

D/OCAnds)

D/FBISnds)

ncls) (ACTION ITEM: )

(ACTION ITEM:

Foreign Broadcast Information Service

16

Professor Alvin Z. Rubinstein University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences Political Sciencelitelcr Hall

Philadelphia,5 Dear Professor Rubinstein:

Thank you for your letter of. We certainly appreciate your views on the importance of what FBIS is doing and can empathize with your preference for hardcopy.

m sure you can understand the challenges FBIS is facing with the rapid advances in technology on the one hand, and reductions in resources on the other. Our customers in the policy and analytical communities of the government have been urging us to make our products available more quickly andore usable form. Regretfully, resource constraints do not allow us both looftcopy environment to meef these needs and maintain our traditional hardcopy production infrastructure,

As you may know, the Department of Commerce's National Technical InformationrlS) serves as the government's broker with the public for FBIS products. For example, NTIS currently makes FBIS information available to the public on Internet via

Professor Alvin Z. Rubinstein

J. Niles Riddel Director

its World News Connection servicef you wish to contact NTIS directly, please do solthough NTIS currently has no plans for hardcopy production after FBIS ceases its hardcopy in December, we will forward your letter to NTIS.

cc: Director of Central Intelligence Senator Jesse Helms Senator John McCain Senator John Warner Senator Alien Specter Senator Robert Kerrey Senator Richard G. Lugar Senatorhelby Senator James Inhofe Senator John Glenn Senator John F. Kerry Senator Charles S. Robb Representative Floyd Spence

eb

UNIVERSITY of PENNSYLVANIA

School of Arts and Sciences Political ScitnceUtslsr Hail Philadelphia.

6

Kr. Mies Riddel, Director FBIS

P.O.i;

Kr. Riddel:

If this letter leads one person interested in intelligence collection snd analysis to ask some questions about the wisdon of relying solely on electronic dissemination of data to interested analysts it will have been th* effort.

Fcr dscades th* Foreign Broadcast InforaationIS) Dailv Reports tarred as tne eyes of intelligence analysts and, of course, academic rtsearchers. viahout' eaa we would have been as handicappederson walkingeavily vcedsd .crestole clenched between the teeth. Hard copy facilitated retention cf

iverse sources.

- should also not* th* invaluable supplement provided by the JPHS translations o* longer, mors serious tnlyses published In languages such as Russi;rj,Arsblc, snd'so on.

nderstand tht *attsr, th-eer. wde. Still, if thetlghperhaps those ccnwrnsd about ? intelligence asy take another look at the succosed benefits of goirsris to go eoaplstaly electronic by the end cf the year, or possibW early inscve is driven by tl* following coMicsrstleat

o the desire of moat consumers in the intelligence community for Inforaation

n as possible; o th* desirt to sar* aoney (financial the aoBsntusi of technological development.

Ihe doji^ of the. ir.ts;Usance ccasualy/ forticoks sr.acc.pt tnd-aneerstand the ntsd for obtaining data ASAP. hetfc* *Ml^18 SWT Vrff STOP rTOUCHS THT fiffi

SePC-ts? trictly from the perspective of analysis of data,licit assumption underlying the justification of going tlactronie In terms cf soesd is that day-old data can b* discarded or need not be conaMer-d. One* th, ana^/st has set- tne electronic daU, the assumption goes, he aoves on, and yesterday'sslevant. The fiscal In such an argument are obvious.

ans t0 eond lco'< at data frcn th* oast,CSCata u= fro* the ecaputer. this, too,loser look, is il easisr scan (jtrdr nU material on sssrali or .is it easier to do to sXectreniesUyl -n. which method provides the analystrcader- of the 'within which the data is to b* evaluated? electronic*ven and lepeadstrtaay turn out to be "foci's gold."

Ii* dssirgy. Iv*gseveral millionntoollar-figure approximation from anyons I've spoken with, and soIs vague (deliberately?). So* many positions ars being "saved" through Probably no more than that. illion defense budget isonsequent! saving? ouldn't evsnighterear for that money.

Administrators may have to cut their budgets, but certainly analysts and ar-alyticallv responsible officials cannot, surely, think about the manifold issues thai face the intelligence Ctssssinlty and skimp or. data-collection andl7$is. The argument has been nads toshould the government in effect subsidise the academic community by continuing to put out hard copies of FBIS Reports? The answer is simple: because the academics constsiute another line of intelligence collection and analysis; they publish results that have some relevance for the intelligence community; they help place* developments in perspective; and because they are helpful, at tlae, as prospective short-tsrszloyees and occasional consultants. The research done by academics who have over the decades relied or FBIS and other such publications has been useful for government. In the future, the, role of the acacer-i; wiU be aore important than during the

Cold War, because academics willgreater ability to conduct field research and

maka assessment on the basis of personal connections that may contravene what the analyst limitedomputer console and to material translated by "BIS.

Tenchological momentum, "echnology is not all bad, but neither is it the ansuer to all problems. an see in my computer-literate students that the computer IKES 1ct tfECESSARI'r. LEO TC BETTER TKDTSING, TO HOKE AXALTTICALOR TO BETTER VaZtQC. The computer merely provides faster ways of manipulating material and of churning out neatly appearing papers. The notion, being foisted on unsuspecting administrators, by technology firms such as Lotus that electronic mail canchool the need to eve- have to bother with paper again is another bit of fool's gold.

The analystwhS has to dependail, which doesn't always work as it is supposed to since main frames gethe analyst who relies on tht computer and never brousea through regional newspapers or journals or who never looks at PBS material that is not of immediate concern; the analyst who thinks that signalling the computer for informstionpecific issue will bring all the relevant material to the console; the analyst who expects toecessary perspective on the special issues that are of immediateof these ars being shortchanged by the management decision that is being made.are the implications of going electronic ton ths training of sr.al

In the immediate and long yri ths most deprived may b* the varyo most need the assessments.

I'll stop. If anyone gets thishank you for your patience. Do think about the implications of stoat FBIS is bent on. They do affect secturityprofoundly.

c: ohn Dentea* Sirsctor ofnet rely

sse helmsSenator John McCain Senator John Warner

Ssnstorpecter,chairman Comm.on

Hon.ro'"sor

Bob Ktrry, Senatoren. Richard Lugar (IS) Sen. Richard Shelby (at) Sen. James Inhofe/mf(Ckla) Sen. John Glenn J Sen. John F. Kerry (HA Sen. Charles Robb (VA)

TO

D/OCA vij

of ReouesTun 96

to Sens Helms, McCain, Warner, Specter, Kerrey, Lugar, Shelby, Inhofe, Glenn, Xerry, Robb, and Rep Spence

re: FBIS1 Transition from Hardcopy to Softcopy

ACTION ITEM: S]

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Riddel

DIR/FBIS

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Review and Signature on)

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Original document.

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