Historical Dictionary of United States Intelligence

HOUSE PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLI-

GENCE (HPSCI).The HPSCI is the intelligence oversightcommit-

tee in the House of Representatives that reviews the operations of in-

telligence agencies, authorizes intelligence activities, and seeks to

ensure that intelligence resources are expanded appropriately and in a

lawful manner. The HPSCI was established in 1977 in the aftermath

of the Pike Committeehearings in the mid-1970s into the activities

of U.S. intelligence, particularly the Central Intelligence Agency

(CIA). According to its enabling legislation, the HPSCI is composed

of no more than 18 members, of whom not more than 10 can be of the

same political party. In addition, the committee must include at least

one member from the Committee on Appropriations, Committee on

Armed Services, Committee on International Relations, and Commit-

tee on the Judiciary. The HPSCI’s mandate covers all intelligence and

intelligence-related activities (IRA) of the U.S. government, including

those that fall outside the purview of the intelligence community

(IC). See alsoSELECTCOMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE TO IN-

VESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS OF ILLEGAL OR IMPROPER AC-

TIVITIES OF FEDERAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES; SENATE

SELECTCOMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE; RULE X.

HOWARD, EDWARD LEE (1952–2002).Edward Lee Howard was

an operative of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who resigned

in 1983 and was identified in 1985 by defector Vitaly Yurchenkoas

a Soviet spy. Subsequent investigations showed that Howard had met

Soviet intelligence officers in Austria in 1984 to receive payment for

revealing the identities of U.S. intelligence assets in Moscow.

Howard, slated to go to Moscow as a case officerafter joining the

CIA, was trained in operational tradecraft and thus eluded Federal

Bureau of Investigation (FBI) surveillance. He fled the United

States in 1986 and escaped to the Soviet Union. Moscow granted

Howard asylum on 7 August 1986. Howard died in Moscow on 12

July 2002 as a result of a fall in his home.

HUGHES-RYAN AMENDMENT.An amendment to the 1961 For-

eign Assistance Act that banned assassinationsby the Central In-

telligence Agency (CIA). It also prohibited the use of appropriated

funds for covert actionsunless and until the president found that

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