The United States' first national intelligence director, John Negroponte, says he is honored to lead the U.S. intelligence community.
Mr. Negroponte made the comment Wednesday at his ceremonial swearing-in ceremony in Washington. He was confirmed and officially sworn-in last month, after Congress overwhelmingly approved him for the post.
President Bush, who attended the ceremony, said he has the utmost confidence in Mr. Negroponte.
The president also thanked Congress for creating the post of national intelligence director last year, on recommendation of the independent commission investigating the September 11th terrorist attacks.
U.S. intelligence has been strongly criticized for failing to prevent those attacks, and for pre-war intelligence failures in Iraq.
The national intelligence director oversees 14 U.S. intelligence agencies, as well as the Central Intelligence Agency.
Some information for this report provided by AP.