Reyes To Chair House Intelligence Committee

Although the seniority of the Texas Congressional Delegation remains a bit on the ropes thanks to Tom DeLay’s mid-decade rdistricting scheme, we have snared a major prize this week.

House Speaker Elect Nancy Pelosi has named Congressman Silvestre Reyes (D-El Paso) to chair the House Intelligence Committee. The committee oversees the nations’ “spy” agencies and the post is the only committee chairmanship appointed by the Speaker of the House.
CNN.com has some of the typical biodata on Reyes:

Known as “Silver” to friends, Reyes was drafted into the Army and served during 1966-68 as a helicopter crew chief and gunner. His service included 13 months in Vietnam.

He rose through the ranks during 26 years of service in the Border Patrol, leaving as a senior law enforcement official in Texas in 1995. He won his seat in Congress the next year.

Under Democratic control, his committee is expected to increase public oversight of some of the most difficult issues facing the United States, including terrorism, Iraq and government surveillance. Given the committee’s inherently secret nature, much of the work will have to be done behind closed doors.

In an interview this month, Reyes said he will insist on more information about the Bush administration’s most classified programs and how they are working. The Republicans, he said, have made a habit of rubber-stamping those programs.

He also wants to look at the role of intelligence three years after the war in Iraq and the state of traditional spycraft, now referred to as “human intelligence.”

“We haven’t required or haven’t had the administration give us the details, evaluation or plan of how these classic programs are functioning,” he said.

The National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights group that has been seeking more representation in leadership positions, was pleased Reyes got the job.

“This is an important breakthrough for the Latino community,” said the group’s president, Janet Murguia.

Reyes is considered less partisan than Hastings, and signaled that the day after the election when he praised the selection of former CIA Director Robert Gates to replace Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Reyes noted that Gates served in Republican and Democratic administrations, giving him a bipartisan background. “I do look forward to hearing from him and what his ideas are,” he said, particularly on the administration’s new direction in Iraq.

Reyes believes that the U.S. must increase its military strength to face the current threats in Iraq, that the Bush administration must forge better alliances, and that Iraqi militias must be disbanded. “We cannot and we should not tolerate these private armies with these warlords,” he said.

As it stands right now, Reyes is the state’s top ranking Congressman in terms of committee assignments, at least.

Next, keep your eye on Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Houston).  She’s rumored to be considering giving up her immigration committee seat for one on the powerful Rules Committee.