E Pluribus Unum

Sen. Feingold:

I am concerned by reports that the President may nominate General Michael Hayden to be the Director of the CIA. General Hayden directed and subsequently defended the President's illegal wiretapping program. Neither he nor the rest of the administration informed the congressional intelligence committees about this program, as is required by law. As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I will expect any nominee for this position to be committed to the rule of law and respectful of Congress's oversight responsibility. In addition, as we continue our global fight against Al Qaeda and its affiliates and seek to address the intelligence failures of Iraq, we need to make sure the next head of the CIA is committed to both strengthening our intelligence capabilities and providing policy makers with accurate and objective information.

"I've got a lot of respect for Mike Hayden, and he's done a good job, but I do believe he's the wrong person at the wrong place at the wrong time,'' said U.S. Representative Pete Hoekstra, a Michigan Republican, on "Fox News Sunday.'' "We should not have a military person leading a civilian agency at this time.''

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Tension between Defense Department and civilian intelligence agencies is high in the wake of spying failures before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. and during the run-up to the Iraq war, Hoekstra said. Hayden's nomination would imply that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has too much power over intelligence, the chairman said.

"I think that clearly will be the perception in the CIA,'' Hoekstra said. ``I don't think you can underestimate the difficulty in rebuilding, reshaping and transforming the Central Intelligence Agency. This is the debate we don't need at this time.''