Reyes: U.S. Intelligence 'Manipulated'

In his new post, Reyes will oversee all 16 U.S. spy agencies, including the CIA and the NSA.

A spokesman for incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said she has no second thoughts about choosing Reyes to head the panel. She has said Reyes has "impeccable national security credentials," pointing to his 26 years with the Border Patrol and his service on the intelligence, armed services and veterans affairs committees. His background includes a stint in Vietnam as a helicopter crew chief and gunner.

Taking cues from Pelosi, Reyes has pledged to work to implement the remaining, difficult recommendations of the Sept. 11 Commission. He plans to review U.S. intelligence efforts to support the military in Iraq and to figure out how the spy agencies can help the United States transition from a combat to an advisory role there.

Reyes also hopes to renew the committee's focus on diversity in the spy agencies and on Latin America, particularly Venezuela. President Hugo Chavez has influenced elections across Latin America, has called Bush the devil and has aligned himself with Iran.

Reyes is the oldest of 10 children, a father of three and grandfather of three. He is from a farming family outside of El Paso, Texas, where alfalfa and cotton dot the landscape. He played fullback on the Canutillo High School football team.

Reyes has said he didn't see himself getting into politics. But he garnered unusual name recognition through his aggressive programs to secure the porous border in El Paso, and parlayed that into a successful bid for the House in 1996.

Reyes has chaired the House Hispanic Caucus, and advised members against voting for the war in Iraq _ advice the group took.

Now, Reyes may need sharp elbows as he takes over the committee. Pelosi has proposed creating a new intelligence subcommittee that will oversee spy agency spending. No one in Congress likes to cede power, and some of those responsibilities will draw work away from Reyes' committee and the defense panel of the powerful Appropriations Committee.

He'll also have to rein in a spy community that recently was called "headstrong" by one presidential commission. Before him will be a parade of senior intelligence leaders who have polished academic credentials. Reyes has an associate's degree in criminal justice from El Paso Community College.

Jim Currie, a Democratic aide on the Senate Intelligence Committee from 1985 to 1991, said Reyes' commonsense approach may serve him well as he goes up against the country's top spies.

Currie's advice: "Be eternally skeptical of everything you are told. In many instances, these people are trained to lie for a living."

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On the Net:

Rep. Reyes: http://wwwc.house.gov/reyes/