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• Mr. McCURDY. Mr. Speaker, this is a time of transition in the Federal Government. As the dedicated men and women who served in the Bush administration take their leave, I wanted to take particular note of one among them, the Director of Central Intelligence [DCI], Robert M. Gates.

• On January 20, Bob Gates completed a 26-year career of exceptional service to the Nation. Joining the Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] as an intelligence analyst in 1966, he later served on the National Security Council staff, as Deputy Director for Intelligence at CIA, as Assistant to the President and Deputy for National Security Affairs, and as the Director of Central Intelligence. To each of these positions he brought a keen intellect and capacity for hard work which made him successful, and won for him the respect of those with whom he dealt.

• Although his tenure as DCI was relatively short, it contained achievements in numbers disproportionate to its duration. Presiding over an intelligence community that was, and is, seeking to define its role and mission in the post cold war world, Director Gates initiated organizational changes that should enable the community to better respond to the new challengers confronting policymakers. To his credit, Bob Gates saw the need for the DCI to be a facilitator of change rather than resistant to it, and in this important area his leadership will leave a lasting impression on the intelligence community.

• His service as Deputy for National Security Affairs during the war against Iraq gave Director Gates an appreciation of the need for accurate and timely intelligence support to the military. When he became DCI, he took steps to ensure the development of a better relationship between the CIA and the Defense Department, and has worked hard to make certain that national intelligence systems are fully capable of supporting military commanders whenever required. In a time of decreasing budgetary resources and a declining U.S. military presence overseas, high quality intelligence support will assume an even greater importance to the Armed Forces.

• I want to particularly commend Bob Gates for his commitment to effective congressional oversight of intelligence. He understood not only the right Congress has to information about intelligence activities, but the stake that the intelligence community has in providing that information candidly and expeditiously. I found him to be not only responsive to requests made by the House Intelligence Committee but a proponent within the community of the wisdom of being proactive in its dealing with the committee. He led by example in this area and I, as the committee's chairman, appreciated it.

• Mr. Speaker, I doubt that any DCI since the creation of the CIA presided over a more tumultuous period in the history of the intelligence community than did Bob Gates. His experience and steady head were of great benefit, and, while the tumult is not over, he has positioned the community well for the future. For that, and for the many sacrifices he and his family have made over the last quarter century, the Nation owes a debt of gratitude. I know that he will be very active in the years ahead and I hope that he may at some point choose again to bring his considerable abilities to bear in public service.

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