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Calendar No. 91 

81ST CONGRESS } 

1st Session 

SENATE { REPORT 

No. 111 

ENHANCING FURTHER THE SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES 

BY PREVENTING DISCLOSURES OF INFORMATION CONCERNING THE CRYPTOGRAPHIC SYSTEMS AND THE COMMUNICATION INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 11 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 21), 1949.-0rdered to be printed 

Mr. JOHNSON of Texas, from the Committee on Armed Services, 

submitted the following 

REPORT 

[To accompany S. 277] 

The Committee on Armed Services, to whom was referred the bill 

(S. 277) to enhance further the security of the United States by preventing the disclosures of information concerning the cryptographic 

systems and the communication intelligence activities of the United 

States, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with 

amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. 

AMENDMENTS TO THE BILL 

On page 1, line 3, after the word "shall" insert the following words, 

"knowingly and willfully". . On page 2, line 9, strike out the words "the United States or." 

On page 2, line 10, after the word "government" and before the 

comma insert the following words: "knowing the same to have 

been obtained by such processes". 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL 

The purpose of this bill, as amended, is to prevent the revelation of 

important information about the United States communication 

intelligence activities and United States codes and ciphers by persons 

who disclose such information without proper authority, and to prescribe penalties to those knowingly and willfully revealing such 

information. Stated briefly, this bill makes it a crime to reveal the 
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2 ENHANCING THE SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES 

tnethods, techniques, and materiel used in the transmission by this N~tjon of enciphered or coded mesaages. It does not control in any 

}V'8tY. th~ free dissemination of information which might be transmitted 

by code or cipher. Further, it makes it a crime to reveal methods 

used by this Nation in breaking the secret codes of a foreign nation. 

It also prohibits under certain penalties the divulging of any information which may have come into this Government's hands as a result of 

such a code-breaking. The reason for the latter prohibition is to 

prev13nt the indication to a foreign nation that we may have broke~ 

their code ~ystem . . At present two other acts protect this information, but only in a 

limited way. These are the Espionage Act of 1917 (40 Stat. 217) and 

the act of June IO, 1933 (48 Stat. 122). Under the first, unauthorized 

revelation of information of this kind can be penalized only if it can 

be proved that the person making the revelation did so with an intent 

to injure the United States. Under the second,. only diplomatic 

codes and messages transmitted in diplomatic codes are protected. 

The present bill is designed to protect against knowing and willful 

publication or any other revelation of all important information affecting United States coJllillunication intelligence operations ft,nd all 

direct information about all United States codes and ciphers. 

As the matter now stands, prevention of the disclosure of information of our cryptographic systems, exclusive of State Department 

codes, and of communication intelligence activities rests solely on 

the discretion, loyalty, and good judgment of numerous individuals. 

During the recent war there were many persons who acquired some 

information covered by this bill in the course of their duties. Most 

of these individuals are no longer connected with the ~ervices and are 

not now prohibited from mak~ disclosures which can be most 

damaging to the security of the United States. They are subject to 

the temptations of personp,l gain and of publicity in making sensational 

<!isclosures of the personal information within the purview of th\s act. 

The purpose of the bill is well summarized in the quotation from the 

Joint Congressional Committee for the Investigation of the Attack 

on Pearl Harbor, which recommended, on page 253 of the report, that-

* * * effective steps be taken to insure that statutory or other restrictions 

do not operate to.the benefit of an enemy or other forces inimical to the Nation's 

security and to the handicap of our own intelligence age~cies. With this in wind, 

the Congress should give serious study to, among other things, * * * lee;isla~ 

tion fully protecting tμe secufity of classified matter. 

This bill is an attempt to provide just such leKislation fo:i.- only a 

small category of classified matter, a category which is both vital and 

vulnerable to an almost unique degree. 

EXP~ATION OF THE BJLL 

The bill wQuld p:iake it a crime, punis4"hlt} by P.Qt more than 

$10,000 fine, or 10 ye!US' i,mprisonment, OJ," both, to kno~y imd 

willfully r~ve~ two categories of information, u~ely; n) Iworw.-timi 

whlch would p.ullify the efforts of United Sμi.tes ~onμ:nupiqatiQP. in· t~lligence ag~cies, SQ.cl (2) iufo:rmation which wo1,1ld permit fo~aj,g:ij 

~QVeflUilents tQ read the f!ecret official commwrications of the lJJ;lj~ 
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ENHANCING THE SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES 3 

States. Information of the first category is covered by the folloWing 

phrases (qualifying "information"): 

• * * concerning the nature, preparation, or use of any code, cipher, or cryPtogi'il.phic system of * * * any foreign government. * * :Ii concerning the design, construction, use, maintenance, or repair of 

any device, apparatus, or appliance used or prepared or planned for use by • • • any foreign government. * * * concerning the communiilation intelligence activities of the United 

States or any foreign government. * * * obtained by the procesi!es of communication intelligence fl'Olll the 

communications of any foreign government. 

Information of the second category is covered by inclusion of the 

words, "the United States or" in the first, second, and third of the 

phrases quoted above. The bill does not prohibit the publication 

or disclosure of United States Government messages in general. 

In addition, it should be noted that the restrictions on disclosure 

apply only to the types of classified information defined in the phrases 

quoted above. The bill specifies that the classification must be in 

fact in the interests of national security. 

DISCUSSION 

Earlier versions of this same bill (S. 805, 79th Cong.; S. 1019, 

80th Cong.; and S. 2680, 80th Cong.) would have penalized the 

revelation or publication, not only of direct information about United 

States codes and ciphers themselves but of information transmitted 

in United States codes and ciphers. This provision is not included 

in the present version. Under the bill as now drafted there is no 

penalty for publishing the contents of United States GovernmeJ:!,t 

communications (except, of course, those which reveal information in 

the categories directly protected by the bill itself). Even the texts 

of coded Government messages can be published without penalty as 

far as this bill is concerned, whether released for such publication by 

due authority of a Government department or passed out without 

authority or against orders by personnel of a department. In the 

latter case, of course, the Government personnel involved might be 

subject to punishment by administrative action but not, it is noted 

under the provisions of this bill. . The bill, while carefully avoiding the infringement of civil liberties, 

extends the protected field covered by the extremely narrow act of 

June 10, 1933 (48 Stat. 122), the latter being of far too limited application to afford to certain highly secret Government activities the protection which they need. The need for protection of this sort is best 

illustrated by an account of the very circumstances which surrounded 

the enactment of the act of June 10, 1933. In 1931 there had been 

published in the United States a book which gave a detailed account 

of United States successes in breaking Japanese diplomatic codes 

during the decade prior to publication. In 1933 it was learned that 

the same author had already placed in the hands of his publishers the 

manuscript of another book which made further detailed revelations 

of United States success in the breaking of foreign diplomatic codes. 

Immediate action secured the passage by the Congress of the measure 

of June 10, which effectively stopped publication of the second book. 
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4 ENHANCING THE SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES 

Unfortunately, the first book had done, and continued to do, irrepar .. able harm. It had caused a furor in Japanese Government circles, 

and Japanese diplomatic codes had been changed shortly after its 

appearance. The new codes were more complex and difficult to solve 

than the old ones, and thnmghout the years from then until World 

War II not only the Japanese diplomatic cryptographers but the 

military and naval cryptographers as well were obviously devoting 

more study to cryptography than they ever had before. In 1934 they 

introduced their first diplomatic machine cipher. Year by year, their 

codes and ciphers improved progressively by radical steps, and United 

States cryptitnalysts had more and more difficulty and required more 

and more time to break them. It can be said that United States 

inability to decode the important Japanese military communications 

in the days immediately leading up to Pearl Harbor was directly 

ascribable to the state of code-security consciousness which the revela .. tions of a decade e0;rlier had forced on Japanese officialdom, 

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENTS 

There are appended letters from the Secretary of Defense and the 

Secretary of the Navy to the chairman of the Senate Committee on 

Armed Services recommending enactment of this bill: 

The honorable the CHAIRMAN OF THE 

United States Senate. 

THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, 

Washington, December SJ, 1948. 

COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES, 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Attached is a letter addressed to you by the Acting 

Secretary of the Navy recommending the enactment of a proposed draft of legislation, also attached, bearing the title "To enhance further the security of the 

United States by preventing disclosures of information concerning the cryptographic systems and the communication intelligence activities of the United 

States." 

This legislation has been approved by me for inclusion in the National Military 

Establishment legislative program for the Eighty-first Congress, first session, and 

responsibility for handling it on behalf of the Establishment has been placed in 

the Department of the Navy. 

Sincerely yours, JAMES FoRRESTAL. 

THE DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, 

Washington, December es, 1948. 

The honorable the CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES, 

United States Senate, Washington, D. C. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: There is transmitted herewith a draft of a proposed bill 

"to enhance further the security of the United States by preventing disclosures of 

information concerning the cryptographic systems and the communication intelligence activities of the United States." 

The purpose of the proposed bill is to insure further the military security of the 

United States by providing that the unauthorized disclosure by any person of 

classified information concerning the cryptographic systems and the communication intelligence activities of the United States shall be a statutory offense. 

During the war it was necessary to make a great many matters of a confidential 

nature accessible to a considerable number of service personnel and employees 

who have since been severed from their wartime duties and who may fail to safeguard official information which is within their knowledge. Existing laws do not 

adequately protect the security of information of this character and it is considered 

of utmost urgency and importance from the standpoint of national security that 

legislation be enacted which will fully protect the security of classified matter. 

The Joint Congressional Committee for the Investigation of the Atte.ck on Pearl 
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ENHANCING THE SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES 5 

Harbor recognized this fact and in its report recommended that Congress give 

'8erious study, among other things, "to legislation fully protecting the security of 

classified matter" (p. 253). 

The proposed bill represents the combined views of the Army, Navy, Air Force, 

Central Intelligence Agency, and the Department of State, as to the legislation 

whic,h is necessary to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of such classified 

information. The Navy Department is sponsoring this legislation on behalf of all 

of the foregoing organizations. The proposed bill is identical with S. 2680 (80th 

Cong., 2d sess) as reported from the Armed Services Committee. 

Earlier versions of the proposed legislation (S. 805, 79th Cong. and S. 1019, 80th 

Cong.) would have penalized the revelation or publication not only of direct 

information about United States codes and ciphers themselves but of information 

transmitted in United States codes and ciphers. This provision is not included 

in the present version. 

The proposed bill extends the protected field covered by the extremely narrow act of June 10, 1933 (48 Stat. 122, 22 U. S. C. 815), which act is of far too limited 

application to afford to certain highly secret Government activities the protection 

which they need. The proposed legislation does not in any way control the free 

dissemination of information which might be transmitted by code or cipher unless 

the information has been obtained by clandestine interception and cryptanalysis. 

At present, there are two acts affording limited :protection to cryptographic 

information. These are the Espionage Act of 1917 (50 U.S. C. 31 et seq.), and 

the above-mentioned act of June 10, 1933. Under the Espionage Act, unauthorized revelation of information can be penalized only if it can be proved that the 

person making the revelation did so with the intent to injure the United States. 

Under the 1933 act, only diplomatic codes and messages transmitted in diplomatic 

.codes are protected. The proposed legislation is designed to protect against 

publication or any other revelation, regardless of intent, of all important information affecting United States communication intelligence operations and all direct 

information about all United States codes and ciphers. 

The Navy Department, in conjunction with the Army, Air Force, Central 

Intelligence Agency, and the Department of State, strongly recommends the 

.enactment of the proposed bill. 

An identical report has been submitted to the Speaker of the House of Repre- ·sentatives this date. 

The Navy Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that 

there is no objection to the submission of this proposed legislation to the Congress. 

Sincerely yours, 

( ) 

w. JOHN KENNEY, 

Acting Secretary of the Navy.