WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today made the following statement at the Committee’s hearing on the nomination of General Hayden to be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency:

“Our witness today is the President’s nominee, General Michael V. Hayden. Obviously, given his more than thirty-five years of service to our country, his tenure as Director of the National Security Agency, and his current position as Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, General Hayden is no stranger to this Committee and he needs no introduction to our Members. In other words, we know him well.

“General, your nomination comes before the Senate at a crucial and important time because the Central Intelligence Agency continues to need strong leadership in order to protect our national security.

“Now, the public debate regarding your nomination has been dominated not by your record as a manager, your qualifications, the needs of the CIA, its strengths, its weaknesses and its future, but rather the debate has focused almost entirely on the Presidentially authorized activities of another agency.

“The National Security Agency’s Terrorist Surveillance Program became public last December as the result of a grave breach of national security. A leak allowed our enemy to know that the President had authorized the NSA to intercept the international communications of people reasonably believed to be linked to al Qaeda – people who have and are trying to kill Americans.

“At that time, largely uninformed critics rushed to judgment decrying the program as illegal and unconstitutional.

“In the interim, cooler heads have prevailed and there is now a consensus that we not only should be listening to al Qaeda communications, but we must be listening to them.

“Last week, in the wake of another story, those same critics reprised their winter performance – again making denouncements and condemnations on subjects about which they know little to nothing.

“Inevitably, the media looks to us for comment. More often than not, we are unable to say anything.

“Anyone who has ever served on a Congressional intelligence committee has struggled with the issue of secrecy. How do we, as the elected representatives of the people, assure the public that we are fully informed and conducting vigorous oversight of our nation’s intelligence activities when we can say virtually nothing about what we know?

“The result of this conundrum is that we quite often get accused of not doing our job. Such accusations, by their very nature, are uninformed and, therefore, inaccurate. Unfortunately, I have found that ignorance is no impediment for some critics. I fully understand the desire to know, but I also appreciate the absolute necessity of keeping some things secret in the interest of national security.

“In this regard, I am truly concerned:

“This business of continued leaks, making it possible for terrorists to understand classified information about how we are preventing their attacks, is endangering our country and intelligence sources, methods and lives. I believe the great majority of American people understand this. They get it.

“Al-Qaeda is at war with the United States. Terrorists are planning attacks as we speak. Through very effective and highly classified intelligence efforts, we have stopped attacks. The fact that we have not had another tragedy like 9-11 is no accident.

“But today in Congress and throughout Washington, leaks and misinformation are endangering our efforts. Bin Laden, Zarqawi and their followers must be rejoicing.

“We cannot get to the point where we are unilaterally disarming ourselves in the war against terror. If we do, it will be – Game – Set – Match – al Qaeda.

“Remember Khobar Towers, Beirut, the USS Cole, the Embassy attacks, the two attacks on the World Trade Center and 9-11 and more to come if our efforts are compromised.

“I am a strong supporter of civil liberties. But, you have no civil liberties if you are dead.

“I have been to the NSA and seen how the Terrorist Surveillance Program works. I have never seen a program more tightly run and closely scrutinized.

“When people asked on September 12th, whether we were doing everything in our power to prevent another attack, the answer was no. Now, we are, and we need to keep doing it.

“I have often said, and I will say again, I trust the American people . . . I do not trust our enemies. Unfortunately, there is no way to inform the public without informing our adversaries. So, how can we ensure that our government is not acting outside the law if we cannot publicly scrutinize its actions?

“This institution’s answer to that question was the creation of this committee. We are the people’s representatives and we have been entrusted with this solemn responsibility and we take it very seriously.

“Because intelligence activities are necessarily secret, the conduct of our oversight is also secret. In my humble opinion, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to telegraph to our adversaries how we intend to learn about their capabilities and intentions.

“Oversight of the Terrorist Surveillance Program is necessarily conducted behind closed doors. The Senate Intelligence Committee has been, and will continue, exercising its oversight responsibilities related to the NSA.

“Yesterday, the entire committee joined our continuing oversight of the program and each member will have the opportunity reach their own conclusions. I have no doubt they will.

“As we continue our work, I want to assure the American people and all of my Senate colleagues that we will do our duty.

“With that said, I want to applaud the brave men and women of the Intelligence Community who are implementing this program. Their single focus and one and only motivation is preventing the next attack.

“They are not interested in the private affairs of their fellow Americans. They are interested in one thing – finding and stopping terrorists. America can be proud of them. They deserve our support and our thanks, not our suspicion.

“Since I became Chairman of this Committee, I have been privy to the details of this effective capability that has stopped and, if allowed to continue, will again stop terrorist attacks.

“While I cannot discuss the program's details, I can say without hesitation that I believe that the NSA’s Terrorist Surveillance Program is legal, it is necessary and without it, the American people will be less safe – of this I have no doubt.

“Finally, I want to remind the public that this open hearing is only a part of the confirmation process. When this hearing ends and the cameras are turned off, the members of this committee will continue to meet with General Hayden.

“It would be inaccurate to state, as one national news editorial did today, that due to the classified constraints, members will be limited in how much they can say at this confirmation proceeding.

“In the following closed door, secure session, the elected representatives on this committee will have the ability to pursue additional lines of questioning and will be able to fully explore any topic they wish.

“It is my hope that during this open hearing we can focus on General Hayden’s record as a manager, his qualifications as a leader and the future of the Central Intelligence Agency. . . issues that should be equally as important to the public.

“With that said, I again welcome you to the Committee. I look forward to your testimony and your answers to our members questions.”