Intelligence/National Security

With a background in law enforcement and national security, Congressman Reyes was asked to serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence beginning in the Spring of 2001. Barely six months later, this country suffered its greatest national tragedy when, on September 11th, terrorists hijacked commercial airliners and flew them into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. Since then, Reyes has worked with his colleagues on the Intelligence Committee to understand how the terrorist attacks of September 11th could have occurred and to use these lessons to revamp the U.S. intelligence community to effectively avoid future attacks. In December 2006, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi selected Reyes to be Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

The work of the committee is critical to the security of our nation. Due to the highly sensitive and classified nature of the material, however, members of the Intelligence Committee are often unable to discuss details of the committee's activities with those outside the intelligence community. The Intelligence Committee has oversight jurisdiction for all of the intelligence organizations of the United States including, among others, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Security Agency (NSA), and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). The committee plays a critical role in ensuring the safety of our citizens, by determining the funding for and priorities of these agencies and by providing oversight to verify how the agencies are collecting, interpreting, and using information. Homeland Security is of the highest priority to the committee.

Lending his expertise developed over 26 years of working on border security in the U.S. Border Patrol, Reyes is committed to bringing more diversity to the intelligence community - a critical component to gaining greater insight and access to the global community. He remains concerned about the potential threats to our national security and continues to push to develop more human intelligence, procure more advanced technology, and share more information to prevent tragedies like the terrorist attacks of September 11th from happening again.