CNN

(CNN) – Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra and former CIA and State Department official Cofer Black will advise former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on intelligence and terrorism issues, his presidential campaign announced Thursday.

Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, will oversee Romney’s Intelligence Policy Advisory Group, while Black will head the governor’s Counter-Terrorism Policy Advisory Group. The formation of these new campaign advisory panels comes the same week that the top commander in Iraq testified before Congress about the situation in the war torn country and several hours before President Bush was set to address the nation on the topic.

“We have made progress in securing our homeland since 9/11, but we still have much work to do,” Romney said in a statement released by the campaign. The former Massachusetts governor also said that “effective intelligence-gathering and counter-terror efforts that can prevent further attacks” are “critical” to the country’s security.

–CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart