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SEN. ROBERTS: Well, I just don't think that bucket holds any water. He's going to be nominated and he will be confirmed as the director of central intelligence. Now, the reason that we're doing that--I have every confidence in John McLaughlin. He's the acting director. He's a good man. He's very skilled. He has expertise. He does not want the job to be the permanent director. We have a threat warning right now that's very high. We have a situation where we're worried about an attack prior to the election, vis-a-vis the Madrid attack. We have a situation in Iraq that is very, very serious. We have a situation in Pakistan. We need a full-time director of central intelligence.
I think probably what you're going to get into is a situation where Porter would serve past whatever administration would come in, whether it be George Bush or John Kerry. And the key about Porter, again, is that he has this experience. You can't find anybody that's been a military intelligence officer, also a Central Intelligence Agency intelligence officer, and the chairman, understanding the politics of this, of the House Intelligence Committee. He is a good man. I understand that, you know, people have differences. I have differences all the time. But it doesn't mean that that person couldn't serve in a very fine capacity, regardless of what the president tried to simply appoint them to. So we will have the hearings. They'll start on Tuesday. Jane is exactly right. There'll be tough questions. He'll answer them. He'll be prepared. And he'll be confirmed.
They're not just going to trying to confirm Goss, they're going to try to legislate him into a position so that the next administration has its hands tied.