Memo dated 08/07/1943 from J.R. Oppenheimer to L.R. Groves

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Dear General Graves: Under cover we are 3 the loyalty of our personnel All present members of our st of six whose names and whose fron Lieutenant Clark will be The reason that these six ai-e not that there Is the least d their loyalty and discretion, sonally known to any members that wo'^ld Justify so sure a ending you the forms vouching for as agreed upon on your last visit, aff are covered, with the exception present clearance status as obtained fovmd on the enclosed document. not Included In the vouching is 3ubt on the part of anyone here of but rather that they are not perof the laboratory with an intimacy statement as we are signing. "e have nade three changes in the statement as presented. In paragraph 2 wo have deleted the phrase "for ^ose work I am responsible," in order that the statement be applicable when signed by one member of the laboratory for another whose work did not lie in his Jurisdiction, In the case of the three Canadians, Sutton, Froman and Bi^ce, who have not applied for first papers, we have add«d the phrasa "except on direct order of the Government of Canada" to make the statement applicable to them. Further, we have added "during the present war" in the second paragraph t-5 make it conform to the first. On thlB' point a comment is perhaps appropriate. I myself feel that the addition of "during the present war" in some respects makes this statement weaker than it should properly be, since all rights to the work we ai^ doing hei'e should legally, and in my opinion, also in the broadest possible sense, belong to this country i*iich is supporting the work and in Milch it is being done, I believe that it would bo po.:.-ible to delete this phrase froin oxir statement, provided it were made quite clear that there was nothing in the statement committing the members of the laboratory to a view which either supports or opposes the general

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idea of the United nations, and such aharini^ of Information between this country and others as that might Involve. The point which concerns us is not wnether people bellove that this wo Id bo a wise or an unwise policy, but only thet they commit thomaolves ti leaving that policy to the Govei-najent jf the Jnlted If you wo J.d like to redraft, or have us redraft, a statement along those lines, I aa: sure that the poople who have signed the prosont one will bo gled to sign again. This will afford an opportunity both to remove the limitations on tlmo and to Introduoo tho distinction which I have made between political conviction on tho one hand and poi^onal action on tho Very sincerely yours.