The US Senate on Wednesday confirmed Porter Goss as new chief of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to succeed George Tenet who resigned in July.  

The nomination of Goss, a Republican from Florida, by President George W. Bush in August, was confirmed by a vote of 77-17, following an approval by the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday.

Goss, 65, has served in the House for eight terms and had served as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee for eight years until August.

A graduate of Yale University, Goss worked as a CIA and Army intelligence officer in the 1960s. He would be the second lawmaker to become CIA chief, after former president and House member George H. W. Bush, father of the current president.

Some Democrats have criticized Goss as too partisan for a job that requires independence.

During the six-hour debate at the Senate, Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller questioned whether Goss would be politically objective in the post while listing attacks Goss made on the Democratic Party and its presidential nominee, Senator John Kerry.

The law requires the CIA director to provide timely and objective intelligence, independent of political considerations, Rockefeller said.

Supporters, however, said Goss' background made him the perfect choice to head the agency, which has faced strong criticism for failing to uncover the plot for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and for prewar estimates that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

Senator Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, rejected accusations that Goss is too political. Goss would be an appropriate intelligence chief during a tumultuous time, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 23, 2004)