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McConnell Sworn In As Director of National Intelligence

February 20, 2007 1:43 PM

ABC News' Karen Travers Reports: President Bush presided over the ceremonial swearing in of his second Director of National Intelligence this morning and said that Mike McConnell now holds "one of the most difficult and important positions" in the U.S. government.

"In this time of war -- and we are a nation at war -- the president and his national security team must have the best intelligence about the plans and purpose of the enemy," President Bush said today at Bolling Air Force Base outside Washington, "and the job of the Director of National Intelligence is to ensure that we do," he said.

The president said McConnell has "enormous challenges" in this position but he has the "experience and character and the talent to meet them."

McConnell replaces John Negroponte who stepped down from the position earlier this year to move to the State Department as Secretary Rice's deputy.

The president tasked McConnell with focusing on several key areas, asking him to better integrate the intelligence community, improve information sharing, bring in more Americans with language skills and cultural knowledge, invest in the "right intelligence technologies," and "ensure that America has the dynamic intelligence collection and high-quality analysis that we need to protect our country and to win this war against these extremists and radicals."

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