The U.S. House Intelligence Committee - with Ranking Member Congressman Jim Himes

Summary

Jim Himes (Website; X) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss the U.S. House Intelligence Committee. Jim has served as the U.S. representative for Connecticut’s 4^th congressional district since 2009. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Its role and operations
• The importance of bipartisan collaboration
• Transparency and accountability in intelligence 
• Congressman Himes' personal experiences during 9/11, its impact on his career in intelligence, and 9/11’s impact on intelligence at large

Reflections

• Public trust and earning confidence
• Partnership and cooperation

And much, much more …

Episode Notes

This week on SpyCast, Andrew was joined by United States Congressman Jim Himes, representative for Connecticut’s 4th District in the House of Representatives and the Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. A Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar at the University of Oxford, Congressman Himes has passionately served his district since 2009. 

You may remember his voice from a recent panel we held at the International Spy Museum during the 2024 NATO Summit – We enjoyed having him at SPY so much, we were eager to invite him back to join Andrew on the podcast to discuss the role of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, or HPSCI. Tune in to learn more about intelligence in the “People’s House!”

And… 

Congressman Himes’ hometown of Lima, Peru is a bit far from his longtime residence in Connecticut. Peru is a beautiful countrry rich in culture, architecture, and excellent food, and is also home to about a third of the most fascinating historical sites of South America: Qhapaq Ñan, or the Inca road system. The 40,000km long trail spans six countries and still links many towns today.  

Quotes of the Week

“I get asked all the time, ‘Oh my gosh, you see all the threats. Do you sleep at night?’ … Yes, I do see with particularly exquisite detail the threats against us. I also get to see the detail of the assets and the people that we deploy against those threats. And because I get to see with great detail the assets and the tools that we have to address those threats, yes, I do sleep at night. Not because they will ever be perfect, but because these are incredibly dedicated people, the technology is amazing, and it is commensurate with the threats out there.” - Jim Himes.

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM

*SpyCasts*

• Digital Innovation and the Next Frontier of Intelligence with Jennifer Ewbank (2024)
• The Future of OSINT and the Intelligence Community with Jason Barrett (2024)
• The Future of NATO with Leon Panetta and Expert Panel (2024)
• CIA Director, Defense Secretary, Gentleman with Leon Panetta (2024)

*Beginner Resources*

• Who is the IC? Office of the Director of National Intelligence, YouTube (2017) [3 min. video]
• The House Explained, United States House of Representatives (n.d.) [Short article]
• About, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (n.d.) [Information page]

DEEPER DIVE

Books

• Sies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence, A. B. Zegart (Princeton University Press, 2022)
• The Secret World: A History of Intelligence, C. Andrew (Yale University Press, 2019)
• The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government, F. M. Bordewich (Simon & Schuster, 2016)

Articles

• Has Trust in the U.S. Intelligence Community Eroded? C. Dictus et. al., RAND (2024)
• U.S. Intelligence Is Facing a Crisis of Legitimacy, D. V. Gioe, M. S. Goodman & M. V. Hayden, Foreign Policy (2024)
• U.S. Intelligence Agencies May Never Find Covid’s Origins, Officials Say, J. E. Barnes, The New York Times (2023)
• Bipartisanship the “secret sauce” for effective lawmaking, despite rising polarization in Congress, C. Volden, University of Virginia (2023)
• 9/11 and the reinvention of the US intelligence community, E. Kamarck, Brookings Institution (2021)
• America still leads in technology, but China is catching up fast, The Economist (2019)

Video

• House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Committee Hearings and Meetings Video

Primary Sources 

• House Intelligence Committee COVID-19 Report (2022)
• Unclassified Summary of the Second Interim Report on the Origins of the COVID-19 Pandemic (2022)
• House Intelligence Committee Report on Russian Active Measures (2018)
• Snowden Report (2016)
• The 9/11 Commission Report (2004) 
• H. Res. 658 (1977)

*Wildcard Resource*

• One of Connecticut’s very first representatives was a gentleman named Roger Sherman. Sherman is unique not only for being one of Jim’s congressional predecessors but also because he is the only person to have signed all four great state papers of the United States. 
• These include: The Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Articles of Association, and the Constitution. As a bonus, he also signed the 1774 Petition to the King.