Miss Knight. Only when a request is specific.
Mr. Coleman. How about category "R", if you will put that in the record.
Representative Ford. May I ask a question first, what is the criteria for the determination as to whether or not a person is a Communist?
Miss Knight. Well, the criteria are based on the information that we get from the investigative agencies regarding his activities and membership in the Communist Party.
I think that it would help you very much if, for instance, I would spell out what the lookout file actually is and how it operates in the Passport Office and just what the categories mean to us. This would only take a minute and I think this would clarify things.
Mr. Coleman. I have picked out the categories that I think you would have to consider, and that is the reason I put the question to you.
Miss Knight. The purpose of the file is rather important because it is twofold. Its principal role is to identify the applications which require other than routine adjudication in determining an applicant's eligibility for passport services. The second role of the file is to identify certain incoming applications and to insure expeditious action on them.
As background, I think it is important to know, that prior to 1955 the lookout file was part of a master index comprising 20 million 3 by 5 inch cards.
Mr. Dulles. 20 million?
Miss Knight. 20 million. Within this voluminous file were 600,000 pink slips. Now these were known in those days as "catch cards," and these were withdrawn in 1958 to establish the nucleus of the present lookout file.