“Before I was elected to represent southwestern Texas in the U.S. Congr...” — Will Hurd Quote

Before I was elected to represent southwestern Texas in the U.S. Congress, I spent almost a decade as an undercover officer in the CIA. I served in places where Russia has geopolitical interests, and learned that Russia has one simple goal: to erode trust in democratic institutions.

To ensure that the free world continues to set the rules of the road in the global economy, America and its allies must work together to continue to be the world's centers of innovation and technological advancement.

Every nation must concern themselves with ensuring its population has sufficient and stable access to food - ours is no exception. Nor can we afford to ignore other nations' concerns about access to food.

Each sector of the border faces unique geographical, cultural and technological challenges that would be best addressed with a flexible, sector-by-sector approach that empowers the Border Patrol agents on the ground with the resources they need. What you need in San Diego is very different from what you need in Eagle Pass, Tex.

Many senior government officials, CIA, FBI, counter terrorism officials - when they look back at the decade, they effectively conclude that the United States overreacted after 9/11.

I've often found, as I did with 'Bourne,' where I was inspired by the events of Iran-Contra when I designed the CIA for the 'Bourne' franchise, that the reality of how things work is usually more compelling than the superficial, made-up version that Hollywood sometimes does.

I joined the CIA in 1985 as an operations officer in the Clandestine Service.

My CIA godfather told me he'd never heard any American speak Japanese so well.

I wouldn't even know - and I spent three years in the CIA - I wouldn't even know how you'd start a covert action program in a place like Iran. It would be extraordinarily difficult.