SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) - In a rare public appearance Wednesday, CIA Director Porter Goss said he is overwhelmed by the many duties of his job, including devoting five hours out of every day to prepare for and deliver intelligence briefings to President Bush. "The jobs I'm being asked to do, the five hats that I wear, are too much for this mortal," Goss said. "I'm a little amazed at the workload."
Goss praised Bush's choice for the new job of national intelligence director, John Negroponte. The career diplomat, who is expected to be confirmed by the Senate, will take over several of the duties currently assigned to Goss, including the presidential briefing.
Goss, who has made few public comments beyond congressional testimony, also said the legislation creating the position of director of national intelligence left him unclear on his future role. "It's got a huge amount of ambiguity in it," he said. "I don't know by law what my direct relationship is with John Negroponte," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or other top officials involved with intelligence.
Despite the confusion, Goss praised Negroponte's selection. "I hold him in the very highest regard," he said, noting that the two attended Yale at the same time. "The intelligence community is going to be strengthened and unified and more effective than it has ever been."
Goss said it takes him five hours every day to prepare and deliver the president's daily briefing, calling Bush "a voracious consumer of intelligence." |