ACCESSION NUMBER:265602

FILE ID:POL207

DATE:02/02/93

TITLE:CONGRESSIONAL REPORT, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2 (02/02/93)

TEXT:*93020207.POL

CONGRESSIONAL REPORT, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2



(Woolsey/CIA)  (220)

WOOLSEY FOCUSES ON ECONOMIC INTELLIGENCE

James Woolsey, President Clinton's choice to head the Central

Intelligence Agency (CIA), told Congress February 2 that the new

administration will examine sharing economic intelligence with American

companies.



Woolsey said during his confirmation hearings before the Senate Intelligence

Committee that the end of the Cold War leaves behind such dangers as

regional conflicts, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,

terrorism, and environmental decline.



However, he told the senators, "the hottest current topic in intelligence

issues" is economic spying.  What is clear, said the nominee, is that the

U.S. government should engage in economic counter-espionage -- advising

American private businesses about economic spy threats from foreign

businesses and governments.



But using the intelligence apparatus to spy on foreign firms is not

desirable, he declared.



Less clear is whether it should be used to supply American business with

routinely-acquired information about those firms, said Woolsey, calling the

decision "fraught with complexities, legal difficulties, foreign policy

difficulties and the rest."



Panel members lauded Woolsey, who has held a number of senior U.S.

government posts, and predicted his rapid confirmation by the full Senate.

The committee is expected to vote February 3.



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