Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) released the following statement after Speaker Nancy Pelosi named him as Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence:

“For four decades, the Intelligence Committees have occupied a unique place in the Congress and our democracy. Founded in the aftermath of the Church and Pike Committee hearings into the nation’s intelligence activities, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and its Senate counterpart, have acted as a steward for the Congress and the American people in carrying out oversight of the nation’s most sensitive intelligence programs. In exchange for the Intelligence Community’s willingness to reveal closely guarded national secrets to a select group of members and staff for the purposes of oversight, the committees and the congressional leadership pledged to handle that information responsibly and without regard to politics. That compact continues today.

“It has been an honor to serve for the last decade on the Committee, and for the last four years as the Committee’s Ranking Member. I am deeply grateful to Speaker Pelosi for asking me to serve in that capacity, and for her confidence in me to serve as the Committee’s Chairman at such a momentous time in our national life.

“Despite the enormity of the Committee’s responsibilities – the oversight of seventeen different agencies – and the added responsibility of the investigation into the Russian attack on our democracy, I look forward to an invigorated committee that will both provide guidance and authorization to the Intelligence Community, while also rebuilding internal comity and strengthening the relationship between the Congress and the Intelligence Community. The last two years have been difficult ones for the Committee, but even in the darkest times, we have come together to pass significant legislation that both protects our national security, as well as our privacy and civil liberties, and conducts rigorous oversight.

“This year, we must once again rise to meet this immense challenge – and my Democratic colleagues and I pledge to put the nation’s security and our constitutional responsibilities first, and to make every effort to conduct our work in a transparent and nonpartisan fashion.”

###