Research report on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
             On the 14th of July 1977, more than a year after the Senate had already formed its select intelligence ruling body, the House of Representatives instituted its very own Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. This put an end to years of limited congressional oversight and paved the way for jurisdiction, an improved influence, and an overall expansion of resources. With the establishment of this committee came exclusive control (in concurrence with the Senate's Select Intelligence Community) over sanctions and legislation affecting the CIA, along with the Director of Central Intelligence and a fusing of jurisdiction over the remainder of the intelligence community. This was simply the beginning of the HPSCI and it would find itself undertaking many modifications in the years that lay ahead. My intention in this report is to discuss all of the required aspects that you have specified to as much of a degree as seems sufficient. The institutional purpose of this bureaucracy, the means by which its members are selected, the responsibility of and from where this committee derives its power, and to what extent its influence carries out with regards to foreign policy will all be covered. Past crises and the steps this committee has taken in putting a peaceful end to seemingly ceaseless violence will also be presented. Finally, the scenario that has been given in class will be discussed and possibilities of action by the HPSCI will be evaluated.
             The HPSCI has basically three functions. The first of which is budget oversight, or in other words "power of the purse." This capability gives the committee "its power to authorize funds for the entire intelligence community" (Smist 242). This particular branch of the HPSCI is essentially an outreach of the House Appropriations Committee, meaning its tasks and practices are qu...