Contact: Rob Ostrander or Shana Stribling 202.224.5721
Monday, May 22, 2006

ST. LOUIS, MO – U.S. Senator Kit Bond today urged his colleagues in the Senate to quickly confirm Gen. Michael Hayden as the next CIA Director. Bond, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also criticized some for using Hayden’s confirmation hearings as a political forum and warned of the damage caused by inaccurate intelligence stories in the press.

“Americans want Congress and the President to do everything in our power to prevent another terrorist attack. Confirming Gen. Hayden as soon as possible is a key part of that effort,” said Bond. “I hope the Senate moves quickly to confirm Gen. Hayden. There’s too much work to do and I believe the General will bring needed energy, ideas and expertise to a critical agency.”

Earlier this week Bond met personally with General Hayden and also questioned him publicly at his confirmation hearing held last week in Washington. Bond said that Hayden allayed his concerns on his chain of command, the Pentagon’s encroachment into traditional CIA HUMINT operating spheres, and his willingness to take firm positions, if need be, against the Secretary of Defense.

General Hayden’s qualifications are impeccable, Bond pointed out. General Hayden’s military background and his experience running the NSA program are valuable assets and clear strengths, especially in a post-9-11 age.

Bond criticized some of his colleagues for attempting to use General Hayden’s nomination as a political forum to debate NSA eaves-dropping operations.

“If Senate Democrats oppose the terrorist surveillance program, that is their right to do so. But it is dangerous and it is a disservice to the public to politicize intelligence. The terrorist surveillance program is legal, it is necessary and it is critical in helping to protect Americans from another terror attack,” said Bond.

Also, Bond emphasized that General Hayden did not authorize the President’s Surveillance program; the President did. Instead, General Hayden executed what he believed to be an authorized and legal program, on advice by Department of Justice and National Security Agency lawyers who said it was a properly authorized and vitally important program.

Bond repeated what Gen. Hayden said at the Senate confirmation hearing: It’s time to get the CIA out of the news and let the fine men and women who work there do their job. Bond explained that every time intelligence is splashed across the papers, accurately or inaccurately, the consequences are all too real.

“When programs are potentially exposed and inaccurate stories appear in the press, ‘severe’ damage to our collection efforts is done, morale is hurt, allies wonder whether to cooperate and America is less safe as a result,” said Bond.