(CBS) Correspondent Scott Pelley has contributed stories to CBS' 60 Minutes since the 2003-04 season and was a correspondent for 60 Minutes II from its first season in 1999.

Pelley’s March 2005 60 Minutes investigation advanced the story about the CIA’s controversial practice of “rendition,” delivering terror detainees to other nations known to use torture.

He reported many stories from Iraq during the recent war: He accompanied American forces into battle, reported on the fight for Umm Qasr and the taking of Basra. Following the invasion, Pelley reported on the uncovering of mass graves in Iraq and the guerrilla war against U.S. forces there.

Pelley's other reports include live coverage from Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001, the subsequent search and recovery operations and the first interview with former President Bill Clinton after the attacks.

Reporting for 60 Minutes II, Pelley conducted the first interview with President-elect George W. Bush after the controversial 2000 election. On the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he presented the only interview with President Bush in an hour-long special on 60 Minutes II. That special also included interviews with Vice President Dick Cheney and the Bush war cabinet.

Pelley has also reported on war in the Balkans, child slavery in India, orangutans in Borneo and adventure in Antarctica.

Pelley was CBS News' chief White House correspondent (1997-99), covering the impeachment of President Clinton and breaking many stories in the process. He reported a wide array of domestic and foreign stories from the White House and covered presidential tours of South America, Africa, China and Europe.

Pelley had previously been a correspondent based in Dallas (1990-97), having joined CBS News a year earlier as a reporter in New York. During that period, he covered many of the biggest domestic stories, including the Oklahoma City bombing and the trial of Timothy McVeigh, the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, the Los Angeles Northridge earthquake, the Branch Davidian raid near Waco, Texas, Hurricanes Andrew and Hugo and NASA's shuttle missions. He also served as a political correspondent assigned to the 1992 presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton and Ross Perot.

In addition to his domestic assignments, Pelley has reported from many hot spots around the globe. In 1990, he was assigned for a year to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, during the Persian Gulf crisis. He covered Baghdad and later broadcast live reports during Iraqi missile attacks on Saudi Arabia. He joined the troops of the 18th Airborne Corps for combat coverage of the invasion of Iraq and the liberation of Kuwait.

Pelley has received three Emmy Awards, including a 2001 Emmy for his report on deaf children in Nicaragua, a 1996 Emmy for work on the TWA Flight 800 disaster and a 1994 Emmy for reporting on the Branch Davidian siege in Waco. He was honored with a 1999 Investigative Reporters and Editors award for his report on child labor in India. Pelley was also honored with the Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism Award for his reports on a midair jumbo-jet collision near Delhi, India. In 2002, he received an American Women in Radio and Television Gracie Award for his report on children who lost parents in the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.

Before joining CBS News, Pelley was a producer/reporter for WFAA-TV Dallas (1982-89), KXAS-TV Dallas (1978-81) and KSEL-TV Lubbock, Texas (1975-78). He began his journalism career at the age of 15 as a copyboy at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal newspaper.

Pelley was born in San Antonio, Texas, and attended journalism school at Texas Tech University. He and his wife, Jane Boone Pelley, have a son and a daughter.