WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Kit Bond, Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee today made the following comments on President-elect Obama's nomination of Leon Panetta as the next Director of the Central Intelligence Agency:

          “Job number one at the CIA is to track down and stop terrorists.  In a post-9-11 world, intelligence experience would seem to be a prerequisite for the job of CIA Director.

           “While I will reserve final judgment on President-elect Obama’s nomination for the leader of our terror-fighting agency, I will be looking hard at Panetta’s intelligence expertise and qualifications.”         

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