thedrifter
11-14-06, 12:03 PM
November 14, 2006
New lawmakers vie for spots on military committees
By Rick Maze
Some newly elected lawmakers are hoping for seats on the armed services and veterans’ affairs committees.
Intentions are becoming clearer, although committee assignments won’t be made for weeks — or in some cases maybe not until next year if difficulties surface in working out a power-shifting agreement between Democrats who will control the new Congress and the Republicans now in charge.
Sen. Jim Webb, R-Va., the Marine combat veteran and former Navy secretary, is asking for a seat on armed services or foreign relations. Both committees will be adding Democrats and eliminating Republicans. None of the other arriving Democratic freshman senators are talking about either committee, so Webb may be able to pick his favorite.
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont wants a seat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, where his predecessor, Sen. Jim Jeffords, also an independent, has served for years.
Senators typically serve on three or four committees, but are restricted to serving on no more than one or two of the most influential panels. Armed services and foreign relations are considered top committees.
In the House, lawmakers serve on three committees.
Among those asking for a seat on armed services is former Army Capt. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., a veteran of Iraq and Bosnia. Murphy had been a constitutional law professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.
Doug Lamborn, a Republican elected to a seat formerly held by incumbent Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., has asked for an armed services seat. Hefley has been a member of that committee and Lamborn, who is not a veteran, served on the state, veteran and military affairs committee in the Colorado Senate.
Also trying to fill a vacant seat is Phil Hare, D-Ill., elected to the seat being vacated for health reasons by Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill., a Marine veteran and ranking Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Hare, who served six years in the Army Reserve, worked on veterans’ issues for Evans.
Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., also wants a veterans’ affairs committee seat, which makes sense because he won election to a seat held by his father, Rep. Michael Bilirakis, R-Fla. The elder Bilirakis has been a champion of disabled military retirees who have sought to eliminate an offset in their retired pay.
Tim Walz, D-Wis., who spent 24 years in the reserve components before retiring in 2005 after serving in Afghanistan, also wants a seat on veterans’ affairs. Walz, who defeated incumbent Rep. Gil Gutknecht, ran a campaign based on a promise to do more for service members and veterans.
Some people that might be expected to show interest in serving on the armed services committee are not.
Retired Navy Vice Adm. Joe Sestak, who seems a natural to be an armed services committee member because of his military experience — including a stint as the Navy’s director for the Quadrennial Defense Review during the Clinton administration, has asked to be on the House committees involved with tax legislation, education policy and appropriations.
Although he defeated Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., who was vice chairman and the second-ranking Republican on armed services, that committee is not on Sestak’s wish list.
Navy Reserve Lt. Cmdr. Chris Carney, D-Pa., an intelligence officer who defeated incumbent Rep. Don Sherwood, appears to have a guaranteed seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which allocates money to federal programs, including defense.
Sherwood, who served four terms in the House, was an appropriations committee member. Carney was promised the appropriations seat by Democratic leaders during the election in an effort to eliminate concern that the district would lose clout if a Democrat were elected.
The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reported a bit of military trivia in its Monday edition. Incoming Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Tucson, Ariz., does not have military experience herself and has not indicated her committee preferences, but the paper reports she is dating Navy Capt. Mark Kelly, a fighter pilot and astronaut.
Ellie
New lawmakers vie for spots on military committees
By Rick Maze
Some newly elected lawmakers are hoping for seats on the armed services and veterans’ affairs committees.
Intentions are becoming clearer, although committee assignments won’t be made for weeks — or in some cases maybe not until next year if difficulties surface in working out a power-shifting agreement between Democrats who will control the new Congress and the Republicans now in charge.
Sen. Jim Webb, R-Va., the Marine combat veteran and former Navy secretary, is asking for a seat on armed services or foreign relations. Both committees will be adding Democrats and eliminating Republicans. None of the other arriving Democratic freshman senators are talking about either committee, so Webb may be able to pick his favorite.
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont wants a seat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, where his predecessor, Sen. Jim Jeffords, also an independent, has served for years.
Senators typically serve on three or four committees, but are restricted to serving on no more than one or two of the most influential panels. Armed services and foreign relations are considered top committees.
In the House, lawmakers serve on three committees.
Among those asking for a seat on armed services is former Army Capt. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., a veteran of Iraq and Bosnia. Murphy had been a constitutional law professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.
Doug Lamborn, a Republican elected to a seat formerly held by incumbent Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., has asked for an armed services seat. Hefley has been a member of that committee and Lamborn, who is not a veteran, served on the state, veteran and military affairs committee in the Colorado Senate.
Also trying to fill a vacant seat is Phil Hare, D-Ill., elected to the seat being vacated for health reasons by Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill., a Marine veteran and ranking Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Hare, who served six years in the Army Reserve, worked on veterans’ issues for Evans.
Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., also wants a veterans’ affairs committee seat, which makes sense because he won election to a seat held by his father, Rep. Michael Bilirakis, R-Fla. The elder Bilirakis has been a champion of disabled military retirees who have sought to eliminate an offset in their retired pay.
Tim Walz, D-Wis., who spent 24 years in the reserve components before retiring in 2005 after serving in Afghanistan, also wants a seat on veterans’ affairs. Walz, who defeated incumbent Rep. Gil Gutknecht, ran a campaign based on a promise to do more for service members and veterans.
Some people that might be expected to show interest in serving on the armed services committee are not.
Retired Navy Vice Adm. Joe Sestak, who seems a natural to be an armed services committee member because of his military experience — including a stint as the Navy’s director for the Quadrennial Defense Review during the Clinton administration, has asked to be on the House committees involved with tax legislation, education policy and appropriations.
Although he defeated Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., who was vice chairman and the second-ranking Republican on armed services, that committee is not on Sestak’s wish list.
Navy Reserve Lt. Cmdr. Chris Carney, D-Pa., an intelligence officer who defeated incumbent Rep. Don Sherwood, appears to have a guaranteed seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which allocates money to federal programs, including defense.
Sherwood, who served four terms in the House, was an appropriations committee member. Carney was promised the appropriations seat by Democratic leaders during the election in an effort to eliminate concern that the district would lose clout if a Democrat were elected.
The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reported a bit of military trivia in its Monday edition. Incoming Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Tucson, Ariz., does not have military experience herself and has not indicated her committee preferences, but the paper reports she is dating Navy Capt. Mark Kelly, a fighter pilot and astronaut.
Ellie