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Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, in March, I had the distinct pleasure of introducing Adm. William Studeman to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence for his confirmation hearing.
Today, I am pleased to recommend to my colleagues the confirmation of Bill Studeman to be the next Deputy Director of Central Intelligence.
Admiral Studeman is a Texan by birth and a Naval Intelligence Officer by career choice. In his distinguished career, he has served among other assignments as the operational intelligence officer with the 7th Fleet during four lengthy deployments to Vietnam/Southeast Asia, as executive assistant to the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, as commander of the Naval Operational Intelligence Center, and as Director of the Long-Range Planning Group under the Chief of Naval Operations.
In 1985, Admiral Studeman was named Director of Naval Intelligence, where he served until 1988 when he became the 12th Director of the National Security Agency.
Mr. President, when I introduced Bill Studeman to the Senate Intelligence Committee in March, I noted that our committee's hearings on the nomination of Bob Gates to be Director of Central Intelligence highlighted areas of general agreement concerning the post of the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence.
First, the DDCI should be a military officer because so many of the programs and so much of the manpower of the Intelligence Community are found within the Department of Defense.
Second, the DDCI should be a person of extraordinary ability with the breadth of mind and creativity to deal effectively with the accelerating pace of change in the world around us. On this point, Mr. President, the world around us has changed even more than when we were going through the lengthy hearings on the DCI confirmation last summer. Not only has the Soviet Union ceased to exist, but more than a dozen new states have arisen. The ability of the Intelligence Community to react quickly to these changes, and to establish priorities on collection and analysis are challenges that have never been faced before.
To continue, a third criterion for an affective DDCI is that the person must be an officer who commands universal respect among his or her peers in the military services. Finally, the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence must be someone who can adapt to a more open style of doing business than has been the norm for intelligence agencies during the Cold War.
Mr. President, Bill Studeman more than matches the criteria I have outlined above. He has mastered, as few others have, the intricate and arcane world of signals intelligence as head of the NSA. I might add that during Desert Storm and Desert Shield, the NSA, under Bill Studeman's leadership, quickly reoriented its priorities and played an extraordinarily important role in providing important intelligence to our policymakers and military leaders.
Admiral Studeman also maintains an open door-style of leadership, and this has prompted an unusual and enthusiastic letter of commendation from the leaders of the business community along the Baltimore-Washington corridor.
It is also important that I note Bill Studeman has a clear understanding and an appreciation of the value of congressional oversight His acknowledgment of the important role of congressional oversight is matched by Director Gates's belief that oversight is an important component of the responsibilities of the Director and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence.
Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to support the nomination of Admiral Studeman to be Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. The intelligence community is currently establishing different priorities and realigning its structure to respond to requirements for the next 20 years. Under Bob Gates's leadership, changes have already been undertaken, and I know from discussing these changes with the Director that he is most anxious to have as his Deputy a person of Bill Studeman's character and caliber.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Mr. BOREN. Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to consideration of the nomination of Vice Adm. William O. Studeman of the U.S. Navy to be Deputy Director of Central Intelligence and to have the rank of four-star admiral while serving as Deputy DCI, Executive Calendar No. 548.
I will cast my vote in favor of the nominee, and I urge each of my colleagues to do the same.
The President formally submitted Admiral Studeman's nomination to the Senate on February 25, 1992. It was jointly referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Armed Services.
The Intelligence Committee held a hearing on the nomination on March 10 at which we took testimony from the nominee. There were no requests by others to testify. Subsequent to the hearing, the committee sent the nominee additional written questions for the record. The nominee has submitted written answers.
On April 1, the Intelligence Committee voted 15 to 0 to favorably report to the full Senate Admiral Studeman's nomination to be Deputy DCI. On April 7, the Senate Armed Services Committee also voted to favorably report Admiral Studeman's nomination for promotion to four-star admiral.
We are fortunate, I believe, that the President has nominated to this position a military officer who is a career intelligence professional. To my mind, the need to forge a stronger link between our civilian and military intelligence structures is clear, and what better way to do this than to put a senior military officer into the Deputy DCI position.
Admiral Studeman has worked closely with the Intelligence Committee in the past, and, indeed, we have come to have a high regard for his competence and his dedication. He has spent close to 30 years in military intelligence. He is presently Director of the National Security Agency. Immediately prior to coming to NSA, he served as Director of Naval Intelligence. In these positions, Admiral Studeman played key roles in providing intelligence support to Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf and to Operation Just Cause in Panama. He is a leader tested by crisis and well understands the role that intelligence can and must play in supporting our military commanders in the field.
A 1962 graduate of the University of the South, Admiral Studeman went on to obtain a masters degree in public and international affairs at George Washington University. While in the Navy, he also was a distinguished graduate of the Naval War College and National War College, as well as the recipient of an honorary doctorate in strategic intelligence from the Defense Intelligence College. He will receive a second honorary doctorate degree this fall from the University of the South.
Admiral Studeman is also the recipient of numerous service commendations and citations, including the Distinguished Service Medal of the Navy and the Legion of Merit with two Gold Stars. He also has received service medals from the Governments of France, Brazil, and South Korea.
Mr. President, we are in a period of rapidly changing and increasingly complex world events, as well as declining budget resources. The challenges for our intelligence community are immense, and the Deputy DCI will have to play a key role. Admiral Studeman appears well qualified by training and experience both for the demands of the position of Deputy Director of Central Intelligence and to become a four-star admiral in the U.S. Navy. I urge the Members of this body to confirm him.
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