For a foreigner coming into the United States, who might be of suspicious character, coming here for espionage, subversion, assassination and other acts of violence, we would, and we do exchange this information immediately with the FBI.
Representative Ford. But in this particular case, Oswald in the Soviet Union, whose responsibility was it to transmit the information, whatever it was, to the Central Intelligence Agency?
Mr. McCone. Well, it would be the State Department's responsibility to do that. Whether there really exists an order or orders that information on an American citizen returning from a foreign country be transmitted to CIA, I don't believe there are such regulations which exist.
Mr. Helms. I don't believe they do, either.
Mr. McCone. I am not sure they should.
Representative Ford. It wouldn't be your recommendation that you, the head of Central Intelligence Agency, should have that information?
Mr. Dulles. In a case of an American defecting to a Communist country, shouldn't you have it?
Mr. McCone. Certainly certain types of information. What we ought to be careful of here, would be to rather clearly define the type of information which should be transmitted, because after all, there are hundreds of thousands or millions of Americans going back and forth every year, and those records are the records of the Immigration Service, the Passport Division.
Mr. Dulles. I was thinking of a person who having defected might, of course, have become an agent and then reinserted into the United States and if you were informed of the first steps to that you might help to prevent the second step.
Mr. McCone. Well, certainly information on defectors or possible recruitments should be, and I have no question is being, transmitted.