LaHood chairs NSA subcommittee; Sorensen ranking member for NASA subcommittee

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Two members of 118th Congress representing the Sauk Valley were appointed to subcommittee leadership positions this week.

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, whose 16th District includes Lee and Ogle counties, was appointed chairman of the subcommittee for National Security Agency and Cyber.

The subcommittee has oversight of the National Security Agency, Central Security Service, signals intelligence and cyber intelligence.

“Our nation faces growing cybersecurity threats and challenges from around the globe, including China, Russia and Iran,” LaHood said in a news release. “Our subcommittee will work with the men and women developing the future of American cybersecurity to support their efforts in ensuring that our laws both protect the rights of American citizens and further our national security interests.”

LaHood’s committee falls under the purview of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, whose chairman is Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio.

LaHood also will serve on the subcommittee on National Intelligence Enterprise that oversees the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the intelligence apparatus of other federal departments, including Homeland Security, Justice, State and Treasury. NIE also has oversight on issues of privacy, civil liberties, counterintelligence and any domestic activities of the nation’s intelligence community.

U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, D-Moline, whose 17th District includes Carroll and Whiteside counties, will be his party’s ranking member on the subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics. He is in his first term.

“I look forward to using my leadership position on the Space and Aeronautics subcommittee to support our aerospace industry in Rockford and the surrounding communities while helping us better understand the world that we live in,” Sorensen said in a news release.

The subcommittee has jurisdiction over all matters relating to astronautical research and development, as well as national space policy. The subcommittee also oversees the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its contractor- and government-operated labs on earth and in space.

Space and Aeronautics falls under the Science, Space and Technology Committee, whose chairman is Frank Lukas, R-Oklahoma.

Sorensen also will serve on the subcommittee for Energy, which has oversight on policy related to energy research and development, and serves on the Agriculture committee.