CIA Director Michael V. Hayden presents the Agency Seal Medal to Sen. Pat Roberts at a ceremony on Friday, March 16, at CIA Headquarters. The medal is awarded to "people outside the Agency who have made significant contributions to the work of the CIA."

CIA Director Michael V. Hayden presented the Agency Seal Medal to Senator Pat Roberts on March 16 in recognition of his 10 years of service as a member and chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The medal is awarded to people outside the Agency who have made significant contributions to the work of CIA.

“Senator Pat Roberts has been a fair, thorough and thoughtful overseer of CIA and our vital mission,” General Hayden said. “With the practicality of a Midwesterner and the dedication of a Marine, he helped CIA find ways to better protect the American people – through strong management, steady funding, improved information sharing, advanced capabilities, greater integration and unity of purpose.”

General Hayden noted that Senator Roberts led the Intelligence Committee during a time of transition for the entire Intelligence Community. In the midst of tremendous change, Senator Roberts worked to ensure that CIA had the tools and resources it needed to collect, analyze and disseminate intelligence our nation can get no other way, he said.

Director Hayden said that Senator Roberts would occasionally take CIA to task for its shortcomings. “That’s the role of oversight, after all,” General Hayden said. “But his focus always was how to improve our performance, so that we can meet both today’s threats and tomorrow’s challenges.”

Senator Roberts, who left the Intelligence Committee at the start of the 110th Congress, received the Agency Seal Medal during a luncheon at CIA Headquarters. His family and several staff members attended. General Hayden and his wife, Jeanine, were joined by senior officials from across the Agency to honor Senator Roberts and thank him for his exemplary service.