Current Position: U.S. Representative (since January 1993)
Credit: Congressional Bio Database
Why He Matters
Reyes calls himself a moderate and in many ways he has taken a bipartisan approach to handling his powerful position as chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) named “Silver” to the post in 2006, both for his national security credentials and his stance against the Iraq war from the start. But as chair of the committee during the waning George W. Bush years, Reyes was known for both compromising with and pressuring Bush on key intelligence matters. Though there is now a Democratic president, the Texan continues to seek consensus with his Republican colleagues.
A former chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Reyes is one of two Hispanic congressman chairing a House committee in the 111th congress. That and his position representing one of the most Hispanic districts in the country, which is located on the Mexican border he once patrolled, has established the lawmaker as an authority on issues concerning both immigration and relations south of the U.S. border.
At a Glance
Current Position: Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (since January 2007)
Career History: United States Border Patrol (1969 to 1995), retired as sector chief; Helicopter crew chief during Vietnam War, U.S. Army (1966 to 1968)
Birthday: Nov. 10, 1944
Hometown: Canutillo, Texas
Alma Mater: alma mater...
Spouse: Carolina
Religion: Catholic
Committees: House Intelligence Committee member (since 2001); Member of House Armed Services Committee (Subcommittee on Strategic Forces; Subcommittee on Readiness; Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces)
DC Office: 2433 Rayburn House Office Building
202-225-4831
District Offices: 310 N. Mesa, El Paso, Texas 79901, (915) 594-4400
Email
Website
Path to Power
The oldest of ten children, Reyes was born and raised five miles north of El Paso on a farm in Canutillo. The Texas Democrat says his interest in politics and service began early in life as he watched his father and grandfather volunteer during John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential campaign. Reyes took President Kennedy’s call to service to heart and after receiving an associates’ degree at El Paso Community College, he served in the Army during the Vietnam War, where an enemy rocket attack led to ear damage.
In 1969, Reyes took a job with the Border Patrol for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), hopping between locations in Texas and Georgia. He returned to El Paso in 1993, where he was promoted to chief patrol agent at one of the busiest and most porous border crossings on the U.S.-Mexico boundary.
“Operation Hold the Line”
It was in that post that Reyes made his name, and created some enemies along the way. Federal officials almost immediately praised Reyes’ “Operation Hold the Line,” a new border strategy that relied on a 400-officer strong border deterrent “blockade” instead of waiting to apprehend illegal immigrants once crossing into American territory. The initiative stemmed illegal immigration at the El Paso-Juarez border by 75 percent in the first year, and in later years the strategy was implemented at the border near San Diego and Tucson.
While critics claim the tactic may have had a negative impact on trade and general relations with Mexico, El Paso residents received Reyes as a hero. The local celebrity quit his INS post in 1996, looking to challenge Democratic incumbent Ron Coleman for U.S. Representative. Coleman chose to forego re-election, but rejected the idea that he was afraid of facing the popular Reyes in one of the nation’s most Hispanic districts. Reyes eked by Coleman’s legislative aid Jose Luis Sanchez in the Democratic primary runoff and had no problem taking the general election, becoming El Paso’s first Hispanic U.S. Representative.
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair
In 2001 and 2002, Reyes served as the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, then an all-Democratic group, when he set the goal of adding an additional six to 10 Hispanic to Congress. Only two new Hispanic Democrats were elected nationwide and four Hispanic Republicans who previously were members balked at his request they return to the caucus because it didn’t openly support free elections in Cuba.
Also a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Reyes was selected to be chair of the House Intelligence Committee by House Speak Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in 2006. Reyes leapfrogged two more senior representatives: Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) and Jane Harman (D-Calif.), who, unlike Reyes, had once supported the Iraq War and isn’t friendly with Pelosi.
The Issues
During the 110th Congress, Reyes voted with his party 97.3 percent of the time. On economic and social issues, Reyes has stuck to the party line.
Reyes has used his clout on the Armed Services Committee to advocate for the army base at Ft. Bliss, just outside of El Paso in his district. In 2005, he claimed credit for protecting the installation from base closure and nearly doubling its ranks to 23,000 by 2011.
Intelligence and National Security
Among Reyes’ top priorities as chair of the Intelligence Committee is focusing on Iraq and Afghanistan. During the 111th Congress, he is looking to help enact the first intelligence authorization bill since 2004. While he supports a ban limiting interrogation methods of suspected terrorists to those included in the Army Field Manual, Reyes opposes adding controversial language in authorization bills that outright ban harsh interrogation methods.
In December 2008, Reyes recommended to the Obama transition team that the new administration maintain continuity for its top-level intelligence team. He also said parts of the CIA’s alternative interrogation techniques – including waterboarding – that were controversial during the Bush years, should be allowed to continue. But he wouldn’t specify which techniques, saying the agency should find a way to extract key information without resorting to torture.
Reyes was the sponsor of a 2008 House bill that amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) while reauthorizing it. The changes require approvals from a special court for eavesdropping operations against foreigners and warrants for operations against citizens. Reyes was among the many Democrats advocating against providing immunity for telecommunications companies from privacy lawsuits for their cooperation with the government after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But the final FISA renewal measure protected companies from privacy lawsuits so long as the president assured the spying was legal at that time.
Reyes hasn’t always impressed people with his intelligence knowledge. He was criticized after a 2006 interview in which he claimed Al-Qaeda was a “Predominantly—probable Shiite” organization when it was almost exclusively Sunni. For many, that was an inexcusable mistake for the head of the intelligence committee to make.
When Obama announced his nomination for CIA director, ex-Rep. Leon Panetta (D-Calif.), Reyes voiced approval.
Mexico and Immigration
Reyes opposes the $2.6 billion program authorized in 2006 to build up to 700-miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexican border, calling it a “failed approach” to border security. He was among eight Democratic House members who signed a February 2009 letter to President Obama asking to suspend fence construction temporarily until an evaluation of border security could be completed.
The Texas Democrat continues to advocate for foot soldiers and technology to monitor the country’s borders. Reyes has been a backer of a $239 million network of cameras and sensors along both the Mexican and Canadian borders that have experienced a series of failures. The system’s contractor, International Microwave Corp., hired Reyes’ daughter, Rebecca, who eventually became the company's vice president for contracts. The congressman’s son,,Silvestre Reyes Jr., was also hired by the company as a technician. The congressman said he did not intercede to ensure the company secured a federal contract. An investigation concluded with no charges filed against the company or any individuals.
Reyes has cast the ongoing drug wars in Mexico both as an issue of homeland security and of international trade. The Texas Democrat is a strong supporter of the Merida Initiative, a $1.4 billion cooperative security plan between the United States, Mexico and Central American countries aimed at drug trafficking. “I can assure you that the U.S. government is not sitting on its hands doing nothing,” he said.
Reyes has teamed up with U.S. Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.)to propose a digitized Social Security identification card to allow all immigrants to seek jobs in the United States.
The Economy
Reyes joined most Democrats in helping President Obama pass an $800 billion stimulus package in February 2009. He also voted in favor for the $700 billion financial bailout, both times it came before the house in fall 2008.
The Network
House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi handpicked Reyes to take over the Intelligence Committee and the two see eye-to-eye on most foreign policy issues. Reyes is also close to House Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer (D-Md.)
Reyes came out early in 2008 to endorse now- Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, but served as a surrogate for
Barack Obama’s campaign in New Mexico.
Reyes has worked well with ranking Intelligence Committee Republican
Peter Hoekstra (Mich.), most notably during an investigation of destroyed CIA tapes of high-value terrorist suspects.
