Bill Clinton: “No, but it is a sign that I believe that we should not leave these positions vacant long, particularly in the national…”

“No, but it is a sign that I believe that we should not leave these positions vacant long, particularly in the national security area, but throughout the Government. You know, the Vice President and I have worked very hard to reform and to reduce the size of Government, and the Federal employees have taken on increasing responsibilities. But we believe where there is a mission, it ought to be done and done well, and we ought to keep the morale high and keep the direction clear. You can't have a ship without a captain, and we need to get after it. And I think George Tenet is clearly the best qualified person to move quickly into the leadership. He has been the Acting Director, he did an outstanding job as John Deutch's deputy, he did a terrific job here for us in the National Security Council on intelligence matters, and he has the confidence of many, many in the Congress in both parties. So I didn't see any point in waiting around. We need to get this done and go on. Russia and NATO”