Devin Nunes: “I would like to say thank you to Chairman Rogers and to Ranking Member Ruppersberger for really taking the Intelligence…”

“I would like to say thank you to Chairman Rogers and to Ranking Member Ruppersberger for really taking the Intelligence Committee and establishing its relevance back in the House. I know we've had some disagreements in the past, but Chairman Rogers, along with a lot of new members on the committee, have been working closely with the Democrats in a bipartisan way to, I believe, make a real difference in Congress' role in the intelligence community. I want to commend both of them for their honest and hard work. It's never easy because, as I'm learning now since being on the committee, it takes a lot of hours, and it's a lot of hours on behalf of the members that they have to commit to this committee; so having a chairman and a ranking member to really lead us in that effort makes a big difference. Mr. Chairman, let me speak to the issue at hand, which is that it is very concerning that Congress has not completed an authorization bill in 6 years even though the terrorist threat has not lessened since September 11, 2001. This has limited an important oversight responsibility of the Congress. The world is too dangerous for Congress not to be more engaged in overseeing 16 intelligence agencies. We simply cannot maintain the status quo of the 111th Congress and ignore laws that require congressional oversight and the authorization of intelligence operations by the House Intelligence Committee.…”