THE  WHITE  HOUSE 
Office  of  the  Press  Secretary 
FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  JANUARY  12,  1982 
STATEMENT  BY  THE  PRESIDENT 
NATIONAL  SECURITY  COUNCIL  STRUCTURE 
I.    National  Security  Council 
The  National  Security  Council  (NSC)  shall  be  the  principal 
forum  for  consideration  of  national  security  policy  issues 
requiring  Presidential  decision. 
The  functions  and  responsibilities  of  the  NSC  shall  be 
as  set  forth  in  the  National  Security  Act  of  1947,  as  amended. 
The  NSC  shall  meet  regularly.   Those  heads  of  Departments 
and  Agencies  who  are  not- regular  members  shall  participate  as 
appropriate,  when  matters  affecting  their  Departments  or  Agencies 
are  considered.. 
The  Assistant  to  the  President  for  National  Security  Affairs, 
in  consultation  with  the  regular  members  of  the  NSC,  shall  be 
responsible  for  developing,  coordinating-  and  implementing 
national  security  policy  as  approved  by  me.   He" shall 
determine  and  publish  the  agenda  of  NSC. meetings.   He  shall 
ensure  that  the  necessary  papers  are  prepared  and  —  except  in 
unusual  circumstances  —  distributed  in  advance  to  Council  members 
He  shall  staff  and  administer  the  National  Security  Council. 
Decision  documents  shall  be  prepared  by  the  Assistant  to 
the  President  for  National  Security  Affairs,  and  disseminated 
by  him  after  approval  by  the  President. 
II.   NSC  Responsibilities  of  the  Secretary  of  State 
The  Secretary  of  State  is  my  principal  foreign  policy 
advisor.   As  such,  he  is  responsible  for  the  formulation  of 
foreign  policy  and  for  the  execution  of  approved  policy. 
I  have  assigned  to  the  Secretary  of  State  authority 
and  responsibility,  to  the  extent  permitted  by  law,  for  the 
overall  direction,  coordination,  and  supervision  of  the 
interdepartmental  activities  incident  to  foreign  policy 
formulation,  and  the  activities  of  Executive  Departments  and 
Agencies  of  the  United  States  overseas.   Such  activities  do 
not  include  those  of  United  States  military  forces  operating 
in  the  field  under  the  command  of  a  United  States  area 
military  commander,  and  such  other  military  activities  as  I 
elect,  as  Commander-in-Chief,  to  conduct  exclusively  through 
military  or  other  channels.   Activities  that  are  internal  to 
the  execution  and  administration  of  the  approved  programs  of
a  single  Department  or  Agency  and  which  are  not  of  such 
nature  as  to  affect  significantly  the  overall  US  overseas 
program  in  a  country  or  region  are  not  considered  to  be 
activities  covered  within  the  meaning  of  this  Directive. 
The  Secretary  of  State  is  responsible  for  preparation 
of  those  papers  addressing  matters  affecting  the  foreign 
policy  and  foreign  relations  of  the  United  States  for 
consideration  by  the  NSC. 
III.   NSC  Responsibilities  of  the  Secretary  of  Defense 
The  Secretary  of  Defense  is  my  principal  defense  policy 
advisor.   As  such,  he  is  responsible  for  the  formulation  of 
general  defense  policy,  policy  related  to  all  matters  of 
direct  and  primary  concern  to  the  Department  of  Defense,  and 
for  the  execution  of  approved  policy.   The  Joint  Chiefs  of 
Staff  are  the  principal  military  advisors  to  me,  the  Secretary 
of  Defense,  and  the  NSC. 
I  have  assigned  to  the  Secretary  of  Defense  authority 
and  responsibility,  to  the  extent  permitted  by  law,  for  the 
overall  direction,  coordination,  and  supervision  of  the 
interdepartmental  activities  incident  to  defense  policy 
formulation. 
The  Secretary  of  Defense  is  responsible_for  preparation 
of  those  papers  addressing  matters  affecting  the  defense 
policy  of  the  United  States  for  consideration  by  the  NSC. 
I V .   NSC  Responsibilities  of  the  Director  of  Central  Intelligence 
The  Director  of  Central  Intelligence  is  my  principal 
advisor  on  intelligence  matters.   As  such,  he  is  responsible 
for  the  formulation  of  intelligence  activities,  policy,  and 
proposals,  as  set  forth  in  relevant  Executive  Orders.   I  have 
assigned  to  the  Director  of  Central  Intelligence  authority  and 
responsibility,  to  the  extent  permitted  by  law  and  Executive 
Order,  for  the  overall  direction,  coordination,  and  supervision 
of  the  interdepartmental  activities  incident  to  intelligence 
matters. 
The  Director  of  Central  Intelligence  is  responsible  for 
the  preparation  of  those  papers  addressing  matters  affecting 
the  intelligence  activities,  policy,  and  proposals  of  the 
United  States  for  consideration  by  the  NSC. 
• 
V.   Interacencv  Groups 
To  assist  the  NSC  at  large  and  its  individual  rr.er.bers 
in  fulfilling  their  responsibilities,  interagency  croups  are 
established  as  described  herein.   The  focus  of  those  interagency
groups  is  to  establish  policy  objectives,  develop  policy 
options,  make  appropriate  recommendations,  consider  the 
implications  of  agency  programs  for  foreign  policy  or  overall 
national  security  policy,  and  undertake  such  other  activities 
as  may  be  assigned  by  the  NSC. 
A.    The  Senior  Interagency  Group  —  Foreign  Policy 
(SIG-FP) 
To  advise  and  assist  the  NSC  in  exercising  its 
authority  and  discharging  its  responsibility  for  foreign 
policy  and  foreign  affairs  matters,  the  SIG-FP  is  established. 
The  SIG-FP  shall  be  composed  of  the  Director  of  Central 
Intelligence;  the  Assistant  to  the  President  for  National 
Security  Affairs;  the  Deputy  Secretary  of  State  (Chairman); 
the  Deputy  Secretary  of  Defense  or  Under  Secretary  of  Defense 
for  Policy;  and  the  Chairman,  Joint  Chiefs  of  Staff. 
Representatives  of  other  Departments  and  Agencies  with 
responsibility  for  specific  matters  to  be  considered  will 
attend  on  invitation  by  the  Chairman*. 
When  meeting  to  consider  arms  control  matters,  the  Group 
will  be  augmented  by  the  Director,  Arms  Control  and  Disarmament 
Agency. 
The  SIG-FP  will: 
1.  Ensure  that  important  foreign .policy  issues 
requiring  interagency  attention  receive  full,  prompt, 
and  systematic  consideration; 
2.  Deal  with  interdepartmental  matters  raised 
by  any  member  or  referred  to  it  by  subordinate  inter- 
agency groups,  or,  if  such  matters  require  higher-level 
consideration,  report  them  to  the  Secretary  of  State 
for  decision  or  referral  to  the  NSC; 
3.  Assure  a  proper  selectivity  of  the  foreign 
policy/foreign  affairs  areas  and  issues  to  which  the 
United  States  applies  its  efforts; 
4.  iMonitor  the  execution  of  approved  policies 
and  decisions;  and 
5.  Evaluate  the  adequacy  and  effectiveness  of 
interdepartmental  overseas  programs  and  activities. 
A  permanent  secretariat,  composed  of  personnel  of  the 
State  Department  augmented  as  necessary  by  personnel  provided 
in  response  to  the  Chairman ' s  request  by  the  Departments  and 
Agencies  represented  en  the  SIG-FP,  shall  be  established.
B.    The  Senior  Interagency  Group  —  Defense  Policy 
(SIGrDP) 
To  advise  and  assist  the  NSC  in  exercising  its 
authority  and  discharging  its  responsibility  for  defense 
policy  and  defense  matters,  the  SIG-DP  is  established. 
The  SIG-DP  shall  consist  of  the  Director  of  Central 
Intelligence;  the  Assistant  to  the  President  for  National 
Security  Affairs;  the  Deputy  or  an  Under  Secretary  of  State; 
the  Deputy  Secretary  of  Defense  (Chairman) ;  and  the  Chairman, 
Joint  Chiefs  of  Staff.   Representatives  of  other  Departments 
and  Agencies  with  responsibility  for  specific  matters  to  be 
considered  will  attend  on  invitation  by  the  Chairman. 
The  SIG-DP  will: 
1.  Ensure  that  important  defense  policy  issues 
requiring  interagency  attention  receive  full,  prompt, 
and  systematic  consideration; 
2.  Deal  with  interdepartmental  matters  raised 
by  any  member  or  referred  to  it  by  subordinate  inter- 
agency groups,  or  if  such  matters  require  higher-r level 
consideration,  report  them  to  the  Secretary  of  Defense 
for  decision  or  referral  to  the  NSC;  and 
3.  Monitor  the  execution  of  approved  policies 
and  decisions. 
A  permanent  secretariat,  composed  of  personnel  of  the 
Department  of  Defense  augmented  as  necessary  by  personnel 
provided  in  response  to  the  Chairman's  request  by  the 
Departments  and  Agencies  represented  on  the  SIG-DP,  shall 
be  established. 
C.    The  Senior  Interagency  Group  —  Intelligence  (SIG-I) 
To  advise  and  assist  the  NSC  in  exercising  its 
authority  and  discharging  its  responsibility  for  intelligence 
policy  and  intelligence  matters,  the  SIG-I  is  established. 
The  SIG-I  shall  consist  of  Director  of  Central  Intelligence 
(Chairman) ;  the  Assistant  to  the  President  for  National 
Security  Affairs;  the  Deputy  Secretary  of  State;  the  Deputy 
Secretary  of  Defense;  and  the  Chairman,  Joint  Chiefs  of 
Staff.   Representatives  of  other  Departments  and  Agencies 
will  attend  on  invitation  by  the  Chairman  when  such  Departments 
and  agencies  have  a  direct  interest  in  intelligence  activities 
under  consideration.
When  meeting  to  consider  sensitive  intelligence  collection 
activities  referred  by  the  Director  of  Central  Intelligence, 
the  membership -'of  the  Group  shall  be  augmented,  as  necessary, 
by  the  head  of  each  organization  within  the  Intelligence 
Community  directly  involved  in  the  activity  in  question. 
When  meeting  to  consider  counterintelligence  activities, 
the  Group  shall  be  augmented  by  the  Director,  Federal  Bureau 
of  Investigation  and'  the  Director,  National  Security  Agency. 
The  SIG-I  will: 
(1)  Establish  requirements  and  priorities  for 
national  foreign  intelligence; 
(2)  Review  such  National  Foreign  Intelligence 
Program  and  budget  proposals  and  other  matters  as  are 
referred  to  it  by  the  Director  of  Central  Intelligence; 
(3)  Review  proposals  for  sensitive  foreign 
intelligence  collection  operations  referred  by  the 
Director  of  Central  Intelligence; 
(4)  Develop  standards  and  doctrine  for  the 
counterintelligence  activities  of  the  United  States; 
resolve  interagency  differences  concerning. the 
implementation  of  counterintelligence  policy;  and 
develop  and  monitor  guidelines,  consistent  with 
applicable  law  and  Executive  orders,  for-the  maintenance 
of  central  counterintelligence  records; 
(5)  Consider  and  approve  any  counterintelligence 
activity  referred  to  the  Group  by  the  head  of  any 
organization  in  the  Intelligence  Community; 
(6)  Submit  to  the  NSC  an  overall  annual  assessment 
of  the  relative  threat  to  United  States  interests  from 
intelligence  and  security  services  of  foreign  powers 
and  from  international  terrorist  activities;  including 
an  assessment  of  the  effectiveness  of  the  United  States 
counterintelligence  activities; 
(7)  Conduct  an  annual  review  of  ongoing  sensitive 
national  foreign  intelligence  collection  operations  and 
sensitive  counterintelligence  activities  and  report 
thereon  to  the  NSC;  and 
(8)  Carry  out  such  additional  coordination  review 
and  approval  of  intelligence  activities  as  the  President 
may  direct.
A  permanent  secretariat,  composed  of  personnel  of  the 
Central  Intelligence  Agency  augmented  as  necessary  by 
personnel  provided  in  response  to  the  Chairman's  request 
by  the  Departments  and  Agencies  represented  on  the  3IG-I, 
shall  be  established. 
D.    Regional  and  Functional  Interagency  Groups 
To  assist  the  SIG-FP,  Interagency  Groups  (IGS) 
shall  be  established  by  the  Secretary  of  State  for  each 
geographic  region  corresponding  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
geographic  bureaus  in  the  Department  of  State,  for  Political- 
Military  Affairs,  and  for  International  Economic  Affairs. 
Each  IG  shall  be  comprised  of  the  Director  of  Central  Intelli- 
gence; the  Assistant  to  the  President  for  National  Security 
Affairs;  the  Chairman,  Joint  Chiefs  of  Staff;  the  appropriate 
Assistant  Secretary  of  State  (Chairman) ;  and  a  designated 
representative  of  the  Secretary  of  Defense.   Representatives 
of  other  Departments  and  Agencies  with  responsibility  for 
specific  matters  to  be  considered  will  attend  on  invitation  by 
the  Chairman.   The  IG  for  International  Economic  Affairs  will, 
in  addition  to  the  above  membership,  include  representatives 
of  the  Secretary  of  Treasury,  the  Secretary  of  Commerce,  and 
the  U.S.  Trade  Representative. 
IGs  for  arms  control  matters  will,  in  addition  to  the  above 
membership,  include  a  representative  of  the  Director,  Arms 
Control  and  Disarmament  Agency.   Arms  control  IGs  will  be 
chaired  by  the  representative  of  the  Secretary  of  State  or  the 
representative  of  the  Director,  Arms  Control  and  Disarmament 
Agency  in  accordance  with  guidelines  to  be  provided  by 
the  SIG-FP. 
To  assist  the  SIG-DP,  IGs  shall  be  established  by  the 
Secretary  of  Defense  corresponding  to  the  functional  areas 
within  the  Department  of  Defense.   Each  IG  shall  be  comprised 
of  the  appropriate  Under  or  Assistant  Secretary  of  Defense 
(Chairman);  a  representative  of  the  Secretary  of  State;  the 
Director  of  Central  Intelligence;  the  Assistant  to  the 
President'  for  National  Security  Affairs;  and  the  Chairman, 
Joint  Chiefs  of  Staff.   Representatives  of  other  Departments 
and  Agencies  will  attend  on  invitation  by  the  Chairman. 
Under  and  Assistant  Secretaries,  in  their  capacities 
as  Chairmen  of  the  IGs,  will  assure  the  adequacy  of  United 
States  policy  in  the  areas  of  their  responsibility  and  of 
the  plans,  programs,  resources,  and  performance  for  implementing 
that" policy.   They  will  be  responsible  for  the  conduct  of 
interagency  policy  studies  within  the  areas  of  their 
responsibility  for  consideration  by  the  SIG. 
The  Regional  IGs  also  shall  prepare  contingency  plans 
pertain.mg  to  potential  crises  in  their  respective  areas  of 
responsibility.   Contingency  planning  will  be  conducted  in
'  .*  *■ 
coordination  with  the  Chairman  of    whe  Political-Military 
IG,  with  the  exception  of  the  military  response  option  for 
employment  of  forces  in  potential  crises,  which  will  remain 
within  the  purview  of  the  Department  of  Defense  and  will  be 
developed  by  the  Joint  Chiefs  of  Staff. 
To  deal  with'  specific  contingencies,  the  IGs  will  establish 
full-time  working  groups,  which  will  provide  support  to  the 
crisis  management  operations  of  the  NSC.   These  groups  will 
reflect  the  institutional  membership  of  the  parent  body,  together 
with  such  additional  members  as  may  be  required  to  respond  to 
the  contingency  with  the  full  weight  of  available  expertise. 
To  assist  the  SIG-I,  IGs  shall  be  established  by  the 
Director  of  Central  Intelligence.   The  IG  for  Counter- 
intelligence shall  consist  of  representatives  of  the  Secretary 
of  State;  Secretary  of  Defense;  the  Director  of  Central 
Intelligence;  the  Director,  Federal  Bureau  of  Investigation; 
the  Assistant  to  the  President  for  National  Security  Affairs; 
Chairman,  Joint  Chiefs  of  Staff;  the  Director,  National 
Security  Agency;  and  a  representative  of  the  head  of  any  other 
Intelligence  Community  organization  directly  involved  in  the 
activities  under  discussion.   The  IG  for  Counterintelligence 
will  be  under  the  chairmanship  of  the  representative  of  the 
Director  of  Central.  Intelligence  or  the  Director,  Federal 
Bureau  cf  Investigation  in  accordance  with  guidelines  to  be 
provided  by  the  SIG-I. 
The  operational  responsibility  or  authority  of  a  Secretary 
or  other  Agency  head  over  personnel  from  the  Department  or 
Agency  concerned  serving  en    IGs  —  including  the  authority 
to  give  necessary  guidance  to  the  representatives  in  the 
performance  cf  IG  duties  --  is  not  limited  by  this  Directive.