you the dedicated men and women of the central intelligence agency. it is a true honor to stand here today before the mostly let intelligence professionals on the planet earth. nobody even close. you face down our enemies, you protect our families, you stand and watch over our great nation. you don t do it for fame or fortune or glory. you do it for your country. america is forever grateful. thank you very much. we are here today for the swearing in of a very special person, your new c.i.a. director, someone who has served this agency with extraordinary skill and devotion for 30 years. gina haspel. gina, congratulations. there is no one in this country better qualified for this extraordinary office than you.
yet an unrelated issue of immigration was a big factor in us not having the votes to pass the farm bill. we have a discharge petition under consideration right now in the house. and all that signals that there is a lot of frustration. the president has been frustrated on this issue. we need solutions. that s what we need to do and i m going to work right now to identify what those solutions are so we can move forward with border security and those important provisions as well as addressing the daca students that are here in this country. heather: right now we expect gina haspel to officially become the first female c.i.a. director ever in history. your thoughts on that just quickly as we keep an eye on the screen. congratulations to gina. she has had an impressive career. i m proud of her leadership and proud that she is going to be confirmed as the first female leader of the c.i.a.
when it comes to defending america, gina will never, ever back down. i know her. spent a lot of time with gina. gina played a crucial role in our fight against al qaeda. her first day on the job at the c.i.a. s counter terrorism center was september 11th, 2001 and she tirelessly hunted terrorists for the next three years. she went on to become deputy director of the national clandestine service and most recently deputy director of the c.i.a. during her decades of distinguished service gina has earned the george%back h. w. bush award for excellence in counter terrorism, and the intelligence medal of merit. most importantly, she has earned the universal respect, admiration and trust of her colleagues here at the c.i.a. throughout the government, and