Miss Knight. There was no question raised. There was never a question at that time.
Mr. Coleman. It was never a question because your Office never looked at the file.
Miss Knight. Not at the file, but his application was checked over the lookout cards.
Mr. Coleman. Yes.
Miss Knight. Oswald didn't owe money to the Government, and he was not involved in fraud or criminal activity. So, in retrospect, I feel that Oswald could have had a catch card inserted in the lookout file under a very broad and undefined category which is right here, as number "R" and that is, "Individuals whose actions do not reflect credit to the United States abroad," but for practical reasons this category is very narrowly construed in view of the hundreds of U.S. citizen bad-check artists, the drunks, the con men, the psychotics who travel worldwide, and so forth.
My office is deluged with requests from irate U.S. citizens returning from abroad asking us to do something about some of the people they find traveling overseas.
We have no such authority, and we are not in a position to determine the good or bad behavior of U.S. citizens here or abroad.
(At this point, Senator Cooper entered the hearing room.)
I think it is a debatable question as to whether Oswald fell into this broad category of "R" and finally there was no request in the file from any Government agency or any area of the Government for a lookout card on Oswald for this reason or any other reason at the time that his 1963 passport was issued.
Mr. Dulles. Who finally determines whether a lookout card should be made? Would you determine that or in your office?