TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-35985
TITLE=NEWSMAKER: GEORGE TENET
BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 

INTRO:   ONLY TWO-DAYS AFTER ANTHONY LAKE WITHDREW HIS NOMINATION
TO BE C-I-A DIRECTOR, PRESIDENT CLINTON HAS NOMINATED GEORGE 
TENET TO THE TOP INTELLIGENCE POST. MR. TENET HAS BEEN THE ACTING
C-I-A CHIEF SINCE DECEMBER, AND AS A VETERAN CONGRESSIONAL STAFF 
AIDE, HE COULD BE SPARED THE BRUISING CONFIRMATION BATTLE THAT 
CONFRONTED  MR.  ANTHONY LAKE. V-O-A'S  DAVID GOLLUST HAS 
DETAILS.

TEXT:   MR. TENET IS A FORMER SENATE STAFF MEMBER WITH 
CONNECTIONS AMONG BOTH REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS. AND 
THERE ARE ALREADY PREDICTIONS FROM SENATORS THAT MR. TENET CAN 
EXPECT AN EASIER TIME IN HIS CONFIRMATION HEARINGS THAN ANTHONY 
LAKE.

MR. TENET SERVED AS STAFF DIRECTOR OF THE SENATE INTELLIGENCE 
COMMITTEE -- WHICH MUST CONFIRM HIS NOMINATION -- IN THE LATE 
1980'S. AND THE REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN, RICHARD SHELBY -- 
WHO DELAYED AND HELPED DERAIL MR. LAKE'S CONFIRMATION -- SAYS MR.
TENET IS CAPABLE, AND RESPECTED IN CONGRESS.

MR. TENET MOVED ON FROM THE SENATE POST TO THE CLINTON WHITE 
HOUSE, WHERE HE SERVED AS A SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT 
AND DIRECTOR OF INTELLIGENCE PROGRAMS FOR THE NATIONAL SECURITY 
COUNCIL.

ANNOUNCING THE NOMINATION AT A WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY BEFORE 
LEAVING FOR THE HELSINKI SUMMIT, PRESIDENT CLINTON STRESSED MR. 
TENET'S BACKGROUND IN BOTH CONGRESS AND THE INTELLIGENCE 
COMMUNITY, AND PREDICTED SPEEDY CONFIRMATION.

MR. TENET, IN TURN, SAID HE IS COMMITTED TO PROVIDING THE 
PRESIDENT AND HIS ADMINISTRATION WITH BALANCED INTELLIGENCE 
ANALYSIS -- UNTAINTED BY POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS:

                    ///TENET ACT///          

         THROUGH MY CARRER MR. PRESIDENT, I HAVE BELIEVED THAT 
         YOU AND THE VICE PRESIDENT MUST BE PROVIDED WITH  
         COMPLETE AND OBJECTIVE INTELLIGENCE. I HAVE ALWAYS 
         BELIEVED THERE IS  NO ROOM FOR PARTISANSHIP IN THE 
         CONDUCT OF OUR INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY. WE MUST ALWAYS BE
         STRAIGHT AND TELL YOU THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM.

                          ///END ACT///

ON A PERSONAL NOTE, MR. TENET TOLD THE PRESIDENT HE REGRETTED 
THAT HIS FATHER -- AN IMMIGRANT TO THE UNITED STATES FROM GREECE 
50 YEARS AGO -- DID NOT LIVE TO SEE HIS SON NOMINATED TO THE 
NATION'S TOP INTELLIGENCE POST.

MR. TENET, WHO IS 44-YEARS-OLD, BECAME THE ACTING C-I-A DIRECTOR 
LAST DECEMBER WHEN THE THEN-C-I-A CHIEF -- JOHN DEUTCH -- 
ANNOUNCED HE WOULD NOT BE STAYING ON FOR THE SECOND CLINTON TERM.

AS THE LAKE CONFIRMATION BATTLE UNFOLDED OVER THE LAST THREE 
MONTHS, MR. TENET HAS QUITELY GONE ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF RUNNING 
THE NATION'S 30 BILLION DOLLAR A YEAR INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS.

THE DIRECTOR IS IN OVERALL CHARGE OF NOT ONLY THE C-I-A ITSELF 
BUT SEVERAL OTHER INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES, INCLUDING THE 
CODE-BREAKING NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY AND THE NATIONAL 
RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE, WHICH RUNS THE U-S SPY SATELLITE NETWORK. 
(SIGNED)



NEB/DAG/PT

19-Mar-97 6:08 PM EST (2308 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.