FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sara Robertson (Sara.Robertson2@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Crawford Statement on House Intelligence Committee Chairmanship
1/16/2025
Washington, D.C. — Representative Rick Crawford (AR-01) released the following statement regarding his appointment as Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
“I am truly honored to be selected to lead the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. I look forward to working with Speaker Johnson and the incoming Trump administration team to advance priorities that are important to Americans.
“Since joining the Committee in 2017, I have witnessed firsthand that abuse within our nation’s security apparatus has eroded trust in our institutions and compromised America’s ability to gather intelligence. As Chairman, I will aggressively uphold our mandate to provide credible and robust oversight of the Intelligence Community’s funding and activities. Without aggressive oversight and vigorous protection of Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights, the IC is prone to give in to mission creep and skirt U.S. laws. In all our work, I pledge to preserve Americans’ constitutional rights even as we work to support the IC in doing everything required to collect indispensable information from our foreign adversaries.
“This Congress has an opportunity to course-correct from the Biden administration’s failures, promote common-sense peace through strength, and re-focus our nation’s intelligence and counterintelligence community against our adversaries. Right now, terrorists, rogue regimes, and foreign state-actors are rapidly developing new ways to exploit and harm America’s national interests, and it’s our responsibility to ensure intelligence agencies remain three steps ahead of our enemies. And now, more than ever, leaks and indiscretions by misguided intelligence staff can endanger Americans and hinder our ability to predict and prevent attacks. Everyone on the Committee and within the IC must be devoted to secrecy regarding the material we review. The lives of our covert agents in the field, and the security of our homeland, depend on it.
“The Committee has a unique opportunity to work toward rebuilding our intelligence apparatus so that our IC is focused on the challenges of today and is prepared for the threats of tomorrow. It is our aim to rebuild relationships with our partners in the Western Hemisphere, address issues with the development of IC assessments, determine which intelligence tools are needed to protect Americans, and provide our brave men and women in the U.S. intelligence services with the support they need. In our age of increasing threats from abroad and bloated bureaucracy at home, the Committee will be committed to preventing enemies’ attacks and upholding the privacy rights of all American citizens.
“I want to thank Chairman Turner for his work in the 118th Congress. He led our committee ably and admirably, at a time when there was a distinct need for a steady hand. He is a valued member of our Conference, and I will build from the solid base his leadership provided this committee,” said Rep. Crawford.