As the White House signaled a willingness to re-examine U.S. surveillance, the nation’s top intelligence officials defended their operations in an appearance on Capitol Hill. Speaking before the House Intelligence Committee, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said spying on foreign leaders is a standard practice.

James Clapper: “It’s one of the first things I learned in intel school in 1963, that this is a fundamental given in the intelligence business, is leadership intentions, no matter what level you’re talking about. That can be military leaders, as well.”

In his testimony, Clapper said the White House was regularly briefed on National Security Agency surveillance overseas, though he did not say if President Obama was personally informed. Obama has denied knowing the NSA tapped the phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Appearing alongside Clapper, the NSA’s director, General Keith Alexander, denied reports of collecting data on millions of Europeans.

Gen. Keith Alexander: “Chairman, the assertions by reporters in France, Le Monde, Spain, El Mundo, and Italy, L’Espresso, that NSA collected tens of millions of phone calls are completely false. This not information that we collected on European citizens. It represents information that we and our NATO allies have collected in defense of our countries and in support of military operations.”

As Clapper and Alexander issued a defiant stance, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a measure that would rein in several NSA practices, including the bulk collection of U.S. phone records.