Gates Makes First Visit to Capitol Hill

[DoYouEverWonder]

November 17, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Senators are getting their first chance to sit down with Robert Gates, President Bush's pick for defense secretary, and ask him what he thinks about the war in Iraq.

Gates is making the rounds on Capitol Hill on Friday -- his first since being named Nov. 8 to replace Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. The meetings will give lawmakers the opportunity to ask Gates for a candid assessment on the war.

The nominee is expected to testify publicly before the Senate Armed Services Committee the week of Dec. 4.

The former CIA director was serving as a member of an independent, blue-ribbon panel assessing options in Iraq when Bush asked him to replace Rumsfeld as Pentagon chief. Gates, 63, has served in numerous national security jobs under six previous presidents, including Bush's father, and is president of Texas A&M University.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-gates-congress,0,386806.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

Hope they ask him about Iran-Contra and how he likes to manipulate intelligence.