Nomination of Porter J. Goss to be Director of Central Intelligence

EXECUTIVE SESSION

NOMINATION OF PORTER J. GOSS TO BE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE-CONTINUED

Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise to discuss the nomination of PORTER GOSS to be Director of Central Intelligence. I served with PORTER GOSS in the House of Representatives and I respect him. However, I do not believe he is the best choice for the position in these times.

On September 11, 2001, our country suffered a devastating attack. Now our country is in the midst of a war on terror and a war in Iraq. There have been many examinations of our intelligence leading up to September 11, leading up to the war in Iraq, and as we continue to wage the war on terror. There are many unanswered questions about whether the intelligence was accurate, whether it was manipulated, whether our soldiers and leaders can rely on it each and every day as they make difficult decisions.

I recognize that members of the President's Cabinet, like the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State, must weigh political considerations as they develop policy. However, the Director of Central Intelligence is a unique position. It should stand above politics. The citizens of the United States have the right to assume that the Director of Central Intelligence is providing objective information and analysis to allow the President to make the best possible decisions.

When Director Tenet resigned, the President had an opportunity to appoint a nominee who was nonpartisan, nonpolitical. He did not do so. Instead he chose Mr. Goss, who clearly knows the intelligence community well, but is also clearly partisan and political.

The CIA is in turmoil. The hardworking men and women of the Agency need a strong leader who will reform the system to make sure that the information they offer is used in a proper and timely fashion. The people of this country need to know that the U.S. intelligence community is doing its best to protect and serve U.S. national interests.

I do not believe that Mr. Goss is the best candidate to lead the intelligence community through a difficult task of reform and restoring confidence in the midst of a war.

It is important that our intelligence not be partisan, yet Mr. Goss has been partisan in his comments over the past year. He has been fiercely critical of former President Clinton, our colleague Senator Kerry, and the Democratic Party. His comments do not lead me to believe that he will now abandon his partisanship or his political approach as the Director of CIA.

No greater task lies before us today than to reform the intelligence community so that it is effective as the leading weapon in the war on terrorism. Mr. Goss certainly knows the CIA and the intelligence community, but in these times, experience is simply not enough. A leader committed to reform without regard to politics is also critical. Those attributes, I fear, Mr. Goss does not have, and therefore I oppose his nomination.