The reports of the American Consul, Mr. Blood (available to Senators and Congressmen), contain a more detailed, and complete account of the situation. In addition, he has submitted concrete proposals for constructive moves our government can make. While in no way suggesting that we interfere with Pakistan's internal affairs, Mr. Blood asserts, and we support him, that the U. S. must not continue to condone the military action with official silence. We also urge you read the Dacca official community's open cable to the State Department. It is for unlimited distribution and states the facts about the situation in East Pakistan. By not making a statement, the State Department supports the clearly immoral action of the West Pakistani army, navy and air force against the Bengali people.
In view of the foregoing, and contrary to the assumption of the correspondent, Mr. Rhode, that Senators and Congressmen had these reports, the Committee asked the Department of State to furnish it with reports it had received from its posts in West and East Pakistan, as well as the “open cable" sent by the official community of Dacca. The Department replied that it was unable to accede to the request “without departing from established practice." (The exchange of correspondence is appended to this report.) This refusal is contrary to past practice. There have been a number of occasions when classified reports and messages have been shown to Committee members in the past, especially when it has served the interests of the Department of State to do so.
In the Committee's view, if it does not have access to the type of information requested, it has no basis upon which to exercise independent judgment and therefore is not in a position to carry out its constitutional foreign policy responsibilities. This practice of the State Department in denying information has serious implications, not only for the Senate as a whole, but for the people the Members of that body were elected to represent. Accordingly, the Committee cannot acquire in this practice of denying information to the Committee. In the absence of increased, cooperation in the future, the Committee will find it necessary to develop to appropriate measures to rectify the situation.
COMMITTEE ACTION
S. Con. Res. 21 was introduced by Senator Case (for himself, and Senators Bayh, McGovern. Mondale, Muskie and Saxbe), on April 15, 1971, and was referred to the Department of State for comment on April 21. Subsequently, the following Senators co-sponsored the resolution: Senators Brooke, Church, Eagleton, Hartke, Hatfield, Hughes, Javits, Kennedy, Pearson, Pell, Proxmire, Ribicoff, and Stevenson.
The resolution was discussed briefly during an executive session held on April 30, when Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Van Hollen and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense James Noye tesified on the situation in Pakistan. At that time, Mr. Van Hollen informed the Committee that the Executive Branch had not formulated a position on the resolution. The Committee met in executive session on May 6, and by a voice vote ordered S. Con. Res. 21 reported favorably to the Senate with amendments. Comments on the resolution were received from the Department of State Shortly before the Committee acted.
