Schiff appointed to House intelligence committee

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) was chosen on Thursday to serve as the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

He was appointed by House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi, who in a statement cited Schiff’s “impeccable national security credentials” having served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, along with the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Subcommittee as well as the House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel of the Appropriations Committee.

“I think that the most immediate priorities will be to assess our security needs in light of what’s going on in Paris as we speak,” Schiff said by phone Friday, referring to the attack on satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo. “We also have to address the continuing cyber dangers the country faces as we saw in the attack on Sony by North Korea.”

The post places Schiff, who is replacing Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), in the “Gang of Eight,” which refers to the four top members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, along with the Senate majority leader, Senate minority leader, House speaker and House minority leader.

By law, the president must keep the group briefed about the nation’s top-secret intelligence activities to maintain proper oversight.

“It’s a big responsibility because it involves the oversight of an extraordinarily large and capable intelligence community made up of many agencies, and it’s an oversight responsibility that comes at a difficult time,” Schiff said. “I’m gratified to have the chance to take it on.”