We know that the Senate’s Church Committee investigated a wide range of intelligence issues and organizations, including CIA covert operations. By asking for CIA input, Senators drew the Agency into the political process that helped shape the emerging formal intelligence committee system as the informal system of CIA oversight subcommittees began to fade. The move set a model for sustaining strong, productive ties with the CIA, even at times of heightened tension over intelligence issues. Based on their work, Rules Committee Chairman Howard Cannon provided the “Cannon Compromise,” which ultimately threaded the needle to create SSCI. But Senators wanted to understand how to craft effective intelligence oversight to guide intelligence activities and shape intelligence policies.