[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 22501]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    CONFIRMATION OF DR. ROBERT GATES

  (Ms. FOXX asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, with the recent resignation of Secretary of 
Defense Donald Rumsfeld, I urge my Senate colleagues to work swiftly in 
a bipartisan manner to confirm President Bush's nominee, Dr. Robert 
Gates, as soon as possible. I was pleased to learn that the Senate 
Armed Services Committee unanimously agreed to forward Mr. Gates' 
confirmation to the Senate floor for final approval.
  We are currently fighting a global war on terror and it is essential 
to have a Secretary of Defense at the helm in the Pentagon to oversee 
and effectively utilize the vast resources of the Department of 
Defense. A Nation at war needs Dr. Gates' leadership at this time.
  He is a superb choice and is highly qualified. He recently left his 
position as president of Texas A&M University, the seventh largest 
university in the Nation, after serving 27 years in the intelligence 
community. He has a distinguished record of public service, having 
served six Presidents of both parties, and most recently as the 
director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1991 to 1993. He is 
the only career officer in the CIA's history to rise from an entry-
level employee to the director. He is highly regarded and extremely 
qualified.
  I urge my Senate colleagues to act swiftly to confirm Dr. Gates.

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