21.   Bailey has fiercely defended the agency, saying it acted as soon as it had enough evidence to start an investigation.

22.   But during the hearing before the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, DCF Commissioner Kristine Ragaglia defended the agency as the most diverse in the state.

23.   Hebert, a Republican named as chairman by President Bush in January, defended the agency at an energy forum Wednesday.

24.   Kristine D. Ragaglia, the DCF commissioner, defended the agency as the most diverse in the state.

25.   Linn Foster Freedman, the state prosecutor defending the agency in the lawsuit, said child welfare workers acted properly.

26.   Social Security Administration officials Tuesday defended the agency from criticism that it had mishandled efforts to purge alcoholics and drug addicts from the disability rolls.

27.   Tenet defended his agency, but said that the United States never will be able to foresee all attacks.