[Congressional Record: February 12, 2009 (Senate)]
[Page S2253-S2254]
EXECUTIVE SESSION
______
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
Mr. BEGICH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 17, the
nomination of Leon Panetta to be Director of the CIA; that the
nomination be confirmed and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the
table; that no further motions be in order; that any statements
relating to the nomination be printed in the Record; that the President
be immediately notified of the Senate's action; and the Senate return
to legislative session.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The nomination considered and confirmed is as follows:
central intelligence agency
Leon E. Panetta, of California, to be Director of the
Central Intelligence Agency.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today as chairman of the Select
Committee on Intelligence on the Senate's confirmation of Leon Panetta
to be the next Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Mr. Panetta is well-known to many of us for his long, distinguished
record of public service, including eight terms in Congress and service
as a presidential chief of staff.
Mr. Panetta knows well the inner workings of government at the
highest levels. He has an impeccable reputation for integrity, and I am
confident that he is the right man at the right time to lead the CIA.
Leon Panetta is a product of my home State, California, born in
Monterey. His parents, Carmelo and Carmelina, ran a local cafe and
later purchased a walnut ranch, which he still owns. He majored in
political science at Santa Clara University, where he graduated magna
cum laude in 1960.
In 1963, he received his JD from Santa Clara University as well.
After law school, he served in the United States Army from 1964 to
1966, and attended the Army Intelligence School.
In 1966, Mr. Panetta joined the Washington, DC, staff of Republican
Senator Thomas Kuchel of California.
In 1969, he served as Director of the Office of Civil Rights in the
Office of
[[Page S2254]]
Health, Education and Welfare in the Nixon Administration.
From 1970 to 1971, he worked as the executive assistant to New York
City Mayor John Lindsay. Afterward, he returned to Monterey, to private
law practice.
In 1976, he ran and won election to the U.S. House of
Representatives, and he served in the House for 16 years. During that
time, he also served as chairman of the Budget Committee.
In 1993, he joined the Clinton administration as head of the Office
of Management and Budget. In July 1994, Mr. Panetta became President
Clinton's chief of staff.
He served in that capacity until January 1997, when he returned to
California to found and lead the Leon and Sylvia Panetta Institute for
Public Policy at California State University Monterey Bay.
Mr. Panetta and his wife, Sylvia, have three sons and five
grandchildren.
It is very fair and safe for me to say that he has a reputation for
intelligence and integrity.
In speaking with Mr. Panetta and President Obama multiple times, I am
convinced that Mr. Panetta will surround himself with career
professionals, including Deputy Director Stephen Kappes. He has
committed to keeping the senior leadership of the CIA in place, but at
the same time has vowed to bring new policies and new leadership to the
Agency.
I know Mr. Panetta has immersed himself in CIA matters since being
nominated, and his top priority, if confirmed, will be to conduct a
complete review of all the Agency's activities.
Moreover, I strongly believe that the CIA needs a Director who will
take the reins of the Agency and provide the supervision and oversight
so that this agency, which operates in a clandestine world of its own,
must have.
President Obama has made clear that his selection of Leon Panetta was
intended as a clean break from the past--a break from secret detentions
and coercive interrogations; a break from outsourcing its work to a
small army of contractors; and a break from analysis that was not only
wrong, but the product of bad practice that helped lead our Nation to
war.
President Obama said when announcing this nomination that this will
be a CIA Director ``who has my complete trust and substantial clout.''
This is a hugely important but difficult post. The CIA is the largest
civilian intelligence agency with the most disparate of missions.
It produces the most strategic analysis of the intelligence agencies
and it is the center for human intelligence collection. It is unique in
that it carries out covert action programs, implementing policy through
intelligence channels. The Intelligence Committee held confirmation
hearings on Mr. Panetta's nomination on February 5 and 6.
Our responsibility was clear: to make sure that Leon Panetta will be
a Director who makes the CIA effective in what it does--but also to
make sure that it operates in a professional manner that reflects the
true values of this country.
The committee did its work. It questioned Mr. Panetta on a broad
array of issues he will confront as Director of the CIA, and it
submitted followup questions, all of which were answered.
These questions, and Mr. Panetta's answers, can be found at the
Intelligence Committee Web site.
I urge all Members of the Senate, as well as the public, to review
them in order to obtain a better understanding of his views about the
office to which he has been nominated.
I am pleased to report that yesterday the Intelligence Committee
voted unanimously to report favorably the nomination of Leon Panetta to
be the Director of the CIA. He has the confidence of the committee, and
we believe we will be able to work closely with him during his tenure.
Leon Panetta will mark a new beginning for the CIA as its next
Director.
He has the integrity, the drive and the judgment to ensure that the
CIA fulfills its mission of producing information critical to our
national security, without sacrificing our national values.
____________________
[Congressional Record: February 12, 2009 (Senate)]
[Page S2256]
CONFIRMATION
Executive nomination confirmed by the Senate, Thursday, February 12,
2009:
central intelligence agency
LEON E. PANETTA, OF CALIFORNIA, TO BE DIRECTOR OF THE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY.
THE ABOVE NOMINATION WAS APPROVED SUBJECT TO THE NOMINEE'S
COMMITMENT TO RESPOND TO REQUESTS TO APPEAR AND TESTIFY
BEFORE ANY DULY CONSTITUTED COMMITTEE OF THE SENATE.
____________________
[Congressional Record: February 13, 2009 (Senate)]
[Page S2316]
PANETTA CONFIRMATION
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I support the confirmation of Leon
Panetta to be Director of the CIA. His integrity and independence, his
managerial skills, his broad experience in both the executive and
legislative branches, and his testimony during his confirmation hearing
suggest he is exactly the kind of CIA Director our country needs right
now.
First, his statements, in his meeting with me and at his confirmation
hearing, provide assurances that he will put CIA activities squarely
within the law and refocus the brave and dedicated professionals of the
Agency on what they do best, and on what we need them for the most. Not
only did he express his commitment to ending an illegal and ineffective
interrogation and detention program, but he clearly indicated that the
CIA would not conduct extraordinary renditions to secret detentions.
Congressman Panetta also committed to ending the Bush administration's
practice of using ``Gang of Eight'' briefings to evade its legal
responsibility to brief the full congressional intelligence committees,
thereby thwarting oversight. And he assured me that the CIA would
cooperate with the Department of Justice as the Department reviews
interrogation, detention, rendition and other matters that raise legal
questions. These statements, along with his previous condemnations of
torture and of warrantless surveillance of Americans, suggest a
personal commitment to the law and to our Constitution that will be
needed as the CIA faces the challenges ahead.
I have long been concerned that intelligence resources have not been
sufficiently allocated toward long-term and emerging threats in places
like Africa, and was pleased that Congressman Panetta testified that he
shares these concerns. More importantly, he has committed to conducting
a review of CIA operations and resources in light of these concerns and
to working closely with the committee in the course of that review.
Finally, he testified that he agrees with the goal of developing
strategies that integrate clandestine collection with the information
obtained openly by our government, particularly through diplomatic
collection. Last year, the Senate Intelligence Committee passed
legislation creating an independent Commission to make-recommendations
on how to achieve this integration and Congressman Panetta has
committed to working with me on that legislation. These commitments
give me confidence that Congressman Panetta will work to refocus the
CIA on its central mission of protecting our national security.
____________________
