Word: gosse
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...Goss, now a multimillionaire, went to Congress in 1989 and in 1995 was named to the House Intelligence Committee, where he earned a reputation as a straight shooter. In those days, he was said to work well with Democrats. A favorite of Republican leaders, Goss became the committee's chairman just two years later; in that job, he showed more interest in boosting intelligence funding than in reform. He supported a proposal to give the CIA director more control over the nation's 15 intelligence agencies and their combined budget, now $40 billion, but he did little to press...
Bush correctly calculated that Democrats would be reluctant to risk a backlash from voters by blocking a nominee while the nation was under threat. Kerry signaled that he wouldn't fight the nomination, and though Senate Democrats are still worried that Goss is too loyal to his political masters and too close to his old agency to reform it, for now they don't plan to hold up his appointment. Instead, they say they'll use Goss's confirmation hearing in early September to air complaints about CIA failures--and possibly to grill Goss on his recent proposal to lift...
...After Goss left the CIA, he moved to Sanibel Island off Florida's west coast, a community that has attracted other former spies. With two ex-agency pals, he set up a newspaper called the Island Reporter. He became an antigrowth environmentalist, showing up one time barefoot at a county commission meeting, and was eventually elected the island's first mayor...
...Goss recognizes now that the intelligence community must be overhauled. He concluded in a committee report two months ago that the CIA was in "dysfunctional denial" about the need for reform. If Bush is re-elected, Goss should have at least four years to prove he can transform the agency. If Kerry wins, Goss will probably have only enough time at Langley to get his desk set up. --By Douglas Waller. With reporting by Timothy J. Burger/Washington
BACK IN THE GAME: Porter Goss was a spy, but does he have the instincts to reform...