Defense Secretary Nominee Gates Meets With Senate Leaders

    Senators are hosting one-on-one meetings Friday with Robert Gates, President Bush's nominee to replace Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary.

    "Over the course of the morning, I've had the privilege to talk to Mr. Gates about where we're going in the future, where we're going today and the specifics of the nomination process," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.

    Gates arrived on Capitol Hill to hold candid conversations ahead of his confirmation hearing next month, meeting with Frist and Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

    The Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled to hold his confirmation hearing the week of Dec. 4 during the lame-duck session.

    "The incoming majority of the Senate have indicated that they wanted a change in the Department of Defense for some months now and that change is now forth coming. We are optimistic that Bob Gates will be confirmed here before the first of the year," said McConnell, minority leader for the 110th Congress.