Knight Ridder
Rep. Porter Goss nominated for head of CIA
Tue Aug 10, 2004 13:32
64.140.158.3

Posted on Tue, Aug. 10, 2004
Rep. Porter Goss nominated for head of CIA
By Frank Davies

Knight Ridder Newspapers
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/9364064.htm

WASHINGTON – Porter Goss – ex-spook, low-key pol and powerful Florida congressman – landed his dream job Tuesday: heading the Central Intelligence Agency that he has monitored, prodded, praised and castigated for seven years in the U.S. House.

It’s a fitting cap to a varied career for the House Intelligence Committee chairman, 65, who became an officer in the agency’s clandestine service soon after he graduated from Yale in 1960.

Goss was forced into early retirement by a rare, debilitating blood disorder. He says little about his spy career except that he “worked hard in a lot of strange places overseas,” and spent time in South Florida during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.

Goss, who grew up in Waterbury, Conn., moved with his wife Mariel and their four kids to recuperate on Sanibel Island, where other ex-CIA agents lived. He cofounded a newspaper, became mayor, protected Sanibel from overdevelopment, and later was appointed to the Lee County Commission by then-Gov. Bob Graham.

When Rep. Connie Mack successfully ran for the Senate in 1988, Goss succeeded him in the House. He gained a reputation as a quiet conservative-to- moderate Republican who quickly became a leader on intelligence issues and the Everglades.

“He doesn’t issue press releases, he’s not looking for the TV cameras, but he became the go-to guy for anything involving intelligence,” said Rep. Mark Foley, a Palm Beach Republican whose Capitol Hill townhouse is a few doors down from Goss.

Two years ago, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney leaned hard on Goss to serve one more term in Congress as Intelligence chairman, with the threat of terrorism and war plans for Iraq looming.

Goss’ colleagues like to tell the story of how they were leaving a meeting when the vice president button-holed the congressman, who was planning to retire at the end of 2002.

“Not so fast, Goss. My instructions are not to let you leave until you change your mind,” Cheney told him, according to Foley.

Now Bush and Cheney have prevailed again, naming Goss the new CIA director. And the stakes are higher. Last month the CIA was hit by scathing criticism in the Sept. 11 Commission report and from the Senate Intelligence Committee on its lapses and failures.

Another occasional critic is Goss himself. With his CIA background, Goss is viewed by many on Capitol Hill as close to the agency – too close for some. For years he has tried to bolster the agency’s budget and rejuvenate its mission, and he defended CIA Director George Tenet after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

But this summer he oversaw a committee report that blasted the clandestine efforts of the CIA, saying the agency “continues down a road leading over a proverbial cliff.”

Goss insists he has always been tough on the agency. Eleanor Hill, staff director of the congressional inquiry into Sept. 11 attacks, said Goss “always backed up the staff” in its critical findings on the CIA, FBI and other agencies.

“He was tough on the agency when he needed to be tough,” said Hill, now in private practice. “His style is not tyrannical or antagonistic, so some may see him as too friendly, but I don’t think that’s the case.”

It’s rare for a leader in Congress to take over an agency he oversaw, but Hill sees that as a plus: “He knows the history, the track record, the vulnerabilities of the CIA, and that’s a real advantage for the director’s job.”

This year, Goss has become more partisan and criticized Democrat John Kerry as “dangerously naïve” for the Bush-Cheney campaign. But he is one of the few GOP House leaders not known for partisanship.

Goss and Sen. Graham, a Florida Democrat, co-chaired the Sept. 11 investigation “in a way many thought was impossible,” Hill said. “It was a major, highly visible inquiry on a hot subject at a tense time – and they did it in a bipartisan way.”

The notion of making the overseer of the CIA its new director has its detractors. Some Democrats on the Hill complain that Goss has been too protective of the Bush administration on Iraq.

Mel Goodman, a former CIA and State Department analyst, said he is “leery of people who come from the political environment on the Hill.”

“You become a deal-maker, or a schmoozer like Tenet,” said Goodman, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. He said the CIA would be better off with a professional as director, such as a respected career diplomat.

Goss’ supporters and Goodman agree on one point - that the CIA needs reform and strong leadership. If the Senate confirms him, Goss will get the chance to provide it.

(Frank Davies writes for The Miami Herald.)

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Voting Record for Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL-14th)


Conspiracy Planet - Al Martin - CIA Shill Porter Goss: HR3179 ...
... And who is Porter Goss?" Martin asks. "Porter Goss, (R-FL) is surprise!
a former CIA agent who left the CIA under clouded circumstances. ...

CIA Let Us Down
... Even the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Porter Goss -
charged with oversight responsibilities - is a former CIA Agent. ...
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/9/21/71005.shtml

... Chairman Porter Goss’s reputation appears flawless, but is he a reformer ... The CIA
and the nation await that answer. ... He was an FBI Agent for 26 years and spent ...
http://www.patrickhenrycenter.org/alert2.html

2,619 CIA Sources: The Crowley Files
... A source is not a paid agent but an individual ... supply necessary support for an official
CIA position ... 225 Deddie Terrace, Fallbrook, CA 92028 Goss, Porter J. US ...
http://www.politrix.org/foia/cia-stuff/cia-2619.htm

9/11 Investigations
... House overseer of investigation - Congressman Porter J. Goss ... The report advocated
providing the CIA with more ... criticisms levied by FBI field agent Coleen Rowley ...
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/wot/sept11/911investigations.html

Cheney's Cat's Paw, Porter Goss — Ray McGovern, Tue Aug 10 20:51
bush, blair diana and blackmail — kvinchuca, Tue Aug 10 14:27
Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL) and Patriot II Skullduggery — AL MARTIN, Tue Aug 10 14:20