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p— T e TO “From: R. R. Franck 7 — | 7 AE . me Ogee, (Dr. wt we HIM DS z . : ~ wer beer tr tts ; . bo , Un uT Eb, ¢ . a ee ITED SUATES ‘@ RNMENT ® re . ekib RaAL abort Memorandum oe bf | DATE: 4 5-14 : Mr, Jenkins —— On the afternoon of 4-5-74 Congressman Sikes, who is a Member of the Subcommittee handling FBI appropriations, called Inspector Bowers and stated he wanted to know "if and when" the FBI is going to take some positive action in-captioned case now that the Hearst girl has admitted she is a part of SLA. Bowers told the Congressmen the Director had made | a statement concerning this matter on 4-4-74, and Sikes replied he was aware _ of this but "the statemeni didn't say anything. " He said he feels it is time the FBI stops holding back and takes poSitive action to crack this case and arrest the guilty parties. It was pointed out to the Congressman that we have no ~ definite proof that Miss Hearst was speaking her own mind or if she+had been forced to state that she had joined the SLA. It was pointed out we still have to be concerned with her safety. Congressman Sikes ina rather forceful manner commented that ‘for about two months the FBI has taken virtually no positive action in this case, and he wondered if we were going to wait until Patty Hearst “has a houseful of kids" by the people she has taken up with before the FBI moves. He said the . public is becoming more and more concerned by the lack of action on the part of the FBI. It was explained to the Congressman that there are two concerns ‘ ty . tion B Evo * suyJECT: HEARNAP; COMMENTS OF a nanan CONGRESSM AN ROBERT L. F. SIKES {(D-FLA.} ; » 5 Legal Con, —_- Telephone Rm. Divertoe See’, —— _ expressed by the public--one which he has articulated and one for the safety of . : . Miss Hearst, and that we have to consider all facets, He countered by saying . ° that the FBI's public image is being damaged. He was told that we cannot make investigative decisions on the basis of public opinion or how our actions will . affect our public image; we have to make our decisions on the basis of facts available. The Congressman stated that he is afraid there are going to be some» people speaking out against the FBI unless it takes some positive action in this regard rather quickly, adding that he may well be among those voicing such . criticism, He was told that we would hope he would not do so, that we value his “4 confidence and supp. rt, and we would hope that he would realize we are doing exactly what we think is best on the basis of all facts available and that if this 1 - Mr.. Walsh . opt DWB:kis , : CONTINUED - ‘over ae 7 . . . ~ we resulted in public criticism we would merely have to take it. 7. [> ee ee -1-Mr. Callahan ~ oe 1- Mr. Franck yok, 1-Mr. Gebhardt - . i- Mr. Bowes ito “974 a