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There are currently more foreign intelligence operatives in the United States than at any point in the country\u2019s history, the former head of the House Intelligence Committee claimed on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are more spies in the United States today from foreign nation states that at any time in our history \u2014 including the Cold War,\u201d former Rep. Mike Rogers<\/a> (R-Mich.) said in an address at the Heritage Foundation.<\/p>\n When asked for the source of his claim, Rogers appeared to credit American intelligence agencies.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what the intelligence business is designed to do, is determine that we have individuals here who are engaged in espionage activities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s massive, it\u2019s huge. And the numbers are overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n Rogers\u2019s keynote address examined the role of American intelligence agencies in an era of heightened scrutiny following leaks from Edward Snowden and others.<\/p>\n Rogers claimed that the proliferation of foreign intelligence operatives in the U.S. ought to serve as a warning to privacy and civil liberties advocates who have called for the Obama administration to rein in federal spying powers.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure we have adjusted, quite correctly, to the way we are going to respond to those activities here in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2012, the former head of the CIA\u2019s secretive National Resources Division made a similar claim to CBS News.<\/a> China, in particular, Hank Crumpton said, had \u201cvery aggressive\u201d spying efforts focused on the U.S.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Rogers attempted to distinguish China\u2019s spying efforts from those of Russia, another long-term U.S. adversary.<\/p>\n Russia tends to send professional intelligence officers to scout the U.S., he claimed, while China instead turns to people who are \u201cnot necessarily trained intelligence agents and officers.\u201d<\/p>\n Those Chinese agents are \u201csent for a very specific goal of stealing a very specific piece of intellectual property,\u201d he added, which makes them harder to detect.<\/p>\n Rogers retired from Congress last year.<\/p>\n\u00a0\u201cAnd they\u2019re stealing everything. If it\u2019s not bolted down, it\u2019s gone,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> Rogers added. \u201cAnd if it\u2019s bolted down, give them about an hour \u2014\u00a0they\u2019ll figure out how to get that, too.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n