Committee History Welcome to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence website. The purpose of this site is to provide information, about the United States Intelligence Community and about the Committee’s role and activities related to oversight of that Community. Intelligence capabilities are critical to the security of the United States. Through intelligence, we can find out what is happening throughout the world, beyond what other countries or entities present for public consumption. Such information can be used to ward off crises by allowing time to avert crises rather than just react to them. More importantly, intelligence is often the only way to find out the plans and intentions of countries, organizations or individuals who intend to do us harm or negatively affect our interests. There is no doubt that intelligence is and must be our first line of defense. Although it is important to have a robust intelligence capability, it is also important to have an effective oversight process to ensure that intelligence resources are not misused and that intelligence activities are conducted lawfully. Intelligence operations and law enforcement activities are governed by laws which are not in all cases the same. Ensuring that these laws are followed is a key component of our oversight responsibilities and was the primary reason for the creation of the congressional intelligence committees. Because of the sensitivities of intelligence operations and resources, the intelligence budget is classified. These same sensitivities require that the budget receive an extra amount of congressional scrutiny, and there is a legal requirement that intelligence funding not only be appropriated, but authorized as well. We take these oversight responsibilities very seriously, as does the leadership of Congress. Members of the committee are selected not by their party caucuses, but by those elected to lead their parties. All of the Members of the committee are appointed by the Speaker of the House. We hire a professional staff with experience in intelligence, legal, and legislative matters. We are very proud of the way the committee’s Members work in a bipartisan fashion on some of the most difficult national security problems faced by the United States. Although many aspects of our work are, and must be, classified, we have endeavored to provide as much insight into the Intelligence Community and our committee as possible. We hope that you find this website informative and useful.